The National Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams – 25 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.
The Arizona Coyotes were a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area, which competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division and the Pacific Division (1998–2020) in the Western Conference, and the West Division (2020–2021). They played at America West Arena in downtown Phoenix from 1996 to 2003, at Glendale's Gila River Arena from 2003 to 2022, and at Mullett Arena in Tempe from 2022 to 2024.
Christos Konstantinos Chelios is a Greek-American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He was one of the longest tenured players in the National Hockey League (NHL), and is a three-time Stanley Cup champion—one with the Montreal Canadiens and two with the Detroit Red Wings.
Martin Ručinský is a Czech former professional ice hockey player who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Ručínský was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round as the 20th overall selection in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft on 22 June 1991.
Kevin Weekes is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 348 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is now a studio analyst for NHL Network, appearing on shows like On the Fly and NHL Tonight, while also calling weekly showcase games. He also calls games on ESPN/ABC, and makes regular studio appearances during games and on ESPN's weekly hockey show, The Point.
Joseph Robert Micheletti is an American ice hockey analyst and reporter, and a former defenseman who played in 142 World Hockey Association (WHA) games with the Calgary Cowboys and Edmonton Oilers between 1977 and 1979, and 158 National Hockey League (NHL) games with the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Rockies between 1979 and 1982. He is the brother of former NHL player Pat Micheletti.
Paul William Woods is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1977 through 1984.
William Barrett Heisten is an American former professional ice hockey forward. He played 10 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New York Rangers during the 2001–02 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 2001 to 2008, was spent in the minor leagues.
John David Barrett is a Canadian retired ice hockey player.
Frederick William Barrett is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 745 games in the National Hockey League with the Minnesota North Stars and Los Angeles Kings between 1970 and 1984.
David Barrett Reece is a retired American professional ice hockey goaltender who played the 1975–76 season with the Boston Bruins. He posted an NHL record of seven wins, five losses and two ties, with two shutouts and a 3.32 goals against average.
The 1987–88 Toronto Maple Leafs season saw the Maple Leafs finish in fourth place in the Norris Division with a record of 21 wins, 49 losses, and 10 ties for 52 points. Despite posting the second-worst record in the league, they qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs on the last day of the season in part due to playing in an extremely weak Norris Division; the division champion Detroit Red Wings were the only team in the division with a winning record. Their .325 winning percentage is the third-worst in franchise history and one of the lowest ever for a playoff qualifier. For an NHL team, their .325 percentage is the worst mark to qualify for the playoffs for a team that played at least 70 games. They lost to the Red Wings in six games in the Division Semi-finals, including an embarrassing 8–0 defeat in Game 4.
In the 1992–93 season, ABC televised five weekly playoff telecasts on Sunday afternoons starting on April 18. In the 1993–94 season, ABC televised six weekly regional telecasts on Sunday afternoons beginning in March. ABC then televised three weeks worth of playoff games on first three Sundays.
The National Hockey League (NHL), a professional ice hockey league active in the United States and Canada, is broadcast over the radio mainly in its participating countries.
NHL Radio is the official national radio broadcaster of the National Hockey League, covering the Stanley Cup Finals, both Conference Finals, selected early round playoff action, the All-Star Game, the NHL Winter Classic and a selected number of regular-season games. The package was distributed by Westwood One and premiered in the 1993-94 season. This arrangement lasted through the end of the 2007-08 season until it was relaunched for the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals, through the network's NBC Sports Radio service. The contract was continued for the 2016-17 season with a playoff game of the week, both conference finals, the Stanley Cup Finals, the Winter Classic and select regular season games being added. The NBC Sports Radio brand was dropped in 2020; Westwood One will syndicate the broadcasts directly. In 2021, Sports USA Radio Network took over the national radio rights to the NHL.
Barrett Hayton is a Canadian ice hockey centre currently playing for the Utah Hockey Club of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 5th overall by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.
The 2022 NHL Winter Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 1, 2022, at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The 13th edition of the Winter Classic, it matched the St. Louis Blues against the Minnesota Wild; the Blues won, 6–4. The game was originally scheduled for 2021 but was postponed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
John Gerard Leonard is an American professional ice hockey player for the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL). Leonard was drafted in the sixth round, 182nd overall, by the San Jose Sharks in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.
The NHL on TNT is an American presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games produced by TNT Sports, and televised on TNT and streamed on Max in the United States.
