The National Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 33 teams —26 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered to be the top ranked professional ice hockey league in the world, with players from 17 countries as of the 2023–24 season. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) also views the Stanley Cup as one of the "most important championships available to the sport". The NHL is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.
Stephen Gregory Yzerman is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player currently serving as executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he spent all 22 seasons of his NHL playing career. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he is a Detroit sports icon and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. After his retirement as a player, he served in the front office of the Red Wings, and then as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, while also being executive director for Team Canada in two Olympics.
Jaromír Jágr is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger and owner of Rytíři Kladno of the Czech Extraliga (ELH). He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames, serving as captain of the Penguins and the Rangers, between 1990 and 2008. After leaving the Rangers in 2008, he played three seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with Avangard Omsk. He returned to the NHL in 2011 with the Flyers and remained in the league for seven more years before being assigned by the Flames in 2018 to HC Kladno. Having played in 37 professional seasons and over 2,000 professional games, Jágr has had the longest playing career in professional ice hockey history. He is the most productive European player who has ever played in the NHL and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Tahir "Tie" Domi is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Known as an enforcer, he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets over a 16-year NHL career. He is the Maple Leafs' all-time leader in penalty minutes in franchise history and is third overall in penalty minutes in NHL history. He is also the player with most fighting majors in NHL history, with 333.
The Houston Aeros were a professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League (IHL) and the American Hockey League (AHL). The team played in Houston, Texas, at The Summit from 1994 until 2003 and the Toyota Center from 2003 to 2013. In the IHL, the team operated as an independent minor league team from 1994 to 2001, though the team occasionally accepted players on loan from various National Hockey League (NHL) clubs for development. Upon joining the AHL for the 2001–02 season, they became the primary affiliate of the one-year-old NHL expansion team, the Minnesota Wild, a partnership they maintained until the franchise's relocation in 2013. While the team's only formal partnership with the Dallas Stars was a partial affiliation agreement during the 2004–05 season, Dallas occasionally sent some of their prospects to the Aeros on individual loans from 1993 to 2005, until the establishment of the Iowa Stars gave Dallas its own primary farm team.
Martin Pierre Brodeur is a Canadian–American former professional ice hockey goaltender and current team executive. He played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), 21 of them for the New Jersey Devils, with whom he won three Stanley Cup championships and five Eastern Conference championships in 17 postseason campaigns. He also won two Olympic gold medals with Team Canada in the 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympic Games, as well as several other medals with Team Canada in other international competitions. Brodeur is widely regarded as one of the greatest goaltenders of all time. In 2017, he was named by the league as one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players", and the following year, he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Patrick Jacques Roy is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former goaltender and executive. He is the head coach of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Roy previously served as the head coach for the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, as well as the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). In 2017, he was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history and was hailed in sports media as "king of goaltenders".
Dominik Hašek is a Czech former ice hockey goaltender who mostly played for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). Widely regarded as one of the best goaltenders of all time, Hašek also played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, and Ottawa Senators in his 16-season National Hockey League (NHL) career before finishing his career in Europe. While in Buffalo, he became one of the league's finest goaltenders, earning him the nickname "The Dominator". His strong play has been credited with establishing European goaltenders in a league previously dominated by North Americans. He is a two-time Stanley Cup champion, both with the Red Wings.
Zdeno Chára is a Slovak former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played 24 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins, and Washington Capitals between 1997 and 2022. Standing at 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) tall, Chára is the tallest person ever to play in the NHL, earning him the nickname "Big Z".
Joseph Steven Sakic is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He played his entire 21-year National Hockey League (NHL) career, which lasted from 1988 to 2009, with the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche franchise. Named captain of the team in 1992, Sakic is regarded as one of the greatest team leaders in league history and was able to consistently motivate his team to play at a winning level. Nicknamed "Burnaby Joe", Sakic was named to play in 13 NHL All-Star Games and selected to the NHL First All-Star Team at centre three times. Sakic led the Avalanche to Stanley Cup titles in 1996 and 2001, being named the most valuable player of the 1996 playoffs, and honoured as the MVP of the NHL in 2001 by the hockey writers and his fellow players. He is one of six players to participate in the first two of the team's Stanley Cup victories, and won the Stanley Cup a third time with the Avalanche in 2022 while serving as the team's general manager. Sakic became the third person, after Milt Schmidt and Serge Savard, to win the Stanley Cup with the same franchise as a player and general manager.
Michael Barry Sullivan is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the fourth round, 69th overall, by the New York Rangers in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. Sullivan has also played for the San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames, Boston Bruins, and Phoenix Coyotes. Internationally, he represented the United States twice, including at the 1997 World Championship.
Alexander Mikhailovich Ovechkin is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger and captain of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Ovi" and "the Great Eight" in reference to his jersey number, Ovechkin is widely regarded as one of the greatest goal scorers of all time. Second only to Wayne Gretzky for all-time goal scoring, Ovechkin also holds many records, including the most power play goals, most goals in away games, most overtime goals, and most goals with the same team in NHL history. He is the third NHL player, after Gordie Howe and Gretzky, to score 800 goals in the regular season.
Pavel Kubina is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Atlanta Thrashers and Philadelphia Flyers from 1998 to 2012.
Sidney Patrick Crosby is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Sid the Kid" and dubbed "The Next One", he was selected first overall by the Penguins in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Born and raised in Halifax, Crosby was considered one of the most lauded prospects in ice hockey history and is widely regarded as one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time.
Charles Joseph Sylvanus Apps, was a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1936 to 1948, an Olympic pole vaulter and a Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario. In 2017 Apps was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
John Arthur Davidson is a Canadian-American professional ice hockey executive and former player, who serves as president of hockey operations, alternate governor, and interim general manager for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). As a goaltender, he played in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers, and helped the Rangers reach the 1979 Stanley Cup Finals.
The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey is the National Hockey League's (NHL) annual championship series. The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional sports trophy, and one of the "most important championships available to the sport [of ice hockey]" according to the International Ice Hockey Federation.
Craig Berube is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. Nicknamed "Chief", Berube played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames, Washington Capitals and New York Islanders. After retirement, Berube served as head coach of the Flyers for two seasons, and the St. Louis Blues for parts of six seasons, winning the Stanley Cup in 2019 as then-interim head coach. Berube additionally served as national team scout for Canada at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, under Blues general manager Doug Armstrong.
Paul Stastny is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey center who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets, Vegas Golden Knights, and Carolina Hurricanes.
Derek Dorsett is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played for the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Blue Jackets drafted him in 2006 in the seventh round, 189th overall. After nine years in the NHL, Dorsett retired after repeated injuries to his neck. He is currently the assistant to the head coach of the Upper Arlington ice hockey team. Dorsett was best known for his role similar to that of an enforcer.
