The history of NHL expansion (part 1)

With the NHL’s announcement about adding Seattle as its 32nd team for the 2021-22 season, taking a look back at the league’s expansion history seems to be interesting for fans. Since the first round of expansion in 1967, the NHL has grown from the Original Six to 31 teams. Here’s a brief history of the league’s expansion.

1942: With the demise of the Brooklyn Americans, the league’s Original Six era starts. The Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Montreal Canadians make up the league for the next 25 seasons.

1967: The league adds six teams, the largest expansion in the history of professional sports. The addition of the Los Angeles Kings, California Seals (renamed the Oakland Seals and later the California Golden Seals), Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues, and Philadelphia Flyers brings the league from six to 12 teams.

1970: The league expands to 14 teams after adding the Vancouver Canucks, owned by Tom Scallen, and the Buffalo Sabres, owned by brothers Northrup Knox and Seymour Knox III. Vancouver was home to the Millionaires, the team that won the 1915 Stanley Cup, two years before the debut of the NHL.

1972: The New York metropolitan area gets its second NHL team and the South gets its first. The New York Islanders, based in the Long Island town of Uniondale, New York, join the league as do the Atlanta Flames, although the team moves to Calgary 8 years later.

1974: The pattern of adding of two teams every two years keeps going on when the Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals join the league. However, the Kansas City Scouts play only two seasons in the city before moving to Denver under new name the Colorado Rockies. In 1982, the team comes back and becomes the New Jersey Devils.