Ice hockey is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Two opposing teams use ice hockey sticks to control, advance, and shoot a vulcanized rubber hockey puck into the other team's net. Each goal is worth one point. The team with the highest score after an hour of playing time is declared the winner; ties are broken in overtime or a shootout. In a formal game, each team has six skaters on the ice at a time, barring any penalties, including a goaltender. It is a full contact game and one of the more physically demanding team sports.
The National Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams – 25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. 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 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 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) views the Stanley Cup as one of the "most important championships available to the sport". The NHL is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which opened in 2016. Kris Knoblauch is the head coach as of November 12, 2023, and Stan Bowman was named general manager on July 24, 2024. The Oilers are one of two NHL franchises based in Alberta, the other being the Calgary Flames. Their proximity has led to a fierce rivalry known as the "Battle of Alberta".
Gordon Howe was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. From 1946 to 1980, he played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA); his first 25 seasons were spent with the Detroit Red Wings. Nicknamed "Mr. Hockey", Howe is often considered the most complete player ever to play the game and one of the greatest of all time. At his retirement, his 801 goals, 1,049 assists, and 1,850 total points were all NHL records that stood until they were broken by Wayne Gretzky, who himself has been a major champion of Howe's legacy. A 23-time NHL All-Star, he shares the NHL record for seasons played with Chris Chelios, and his all-time NHL games played record of 1,767 was only surpassed in 2021 by Patrick Marleau. In 2017, Howe was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players".
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.
The National Hockey League All-Star Game is an exhibition ice hockey tournament that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many of the League's star players playing against each other. The game's proceeds benefit the pension fund of the players, and the winning team is awarded $1,000,000 towards a charity of their choice.
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.
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".
Manon Rhéaume is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. An Olympic silver medalist, she achieved a number of historic firsts during her career, including becoming the first woman to play in an exhibition game in any of the major North American pro-sports leagues.
A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penalties are called and enforced by the referee, or in some cases, the linesman. The offending team may not replace the player on the ice, leaving them short-handed as opposed to full strength. When the opposing team is said to be on a power play, they will have one more player on the ice than the short-handed team. The short-handed team is said to be "on the penalty kill" until the penalty expires and the penalized player returns to play. While standards vary somewhat between leagues, most leagues recognize several common varieties of penalties, as well as common infractions.
The 2007–08 NHL season was the 91st season of operation of the National Hockey League (NHL). It began on September 29, 2007, and the regular season ended April 6, 2008. The Stanley Cup playoffs ended on June 4, with the Detroit Red Wings defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins to win the Stanley Cup. The 56th NHL All-Star Game was held in Atlanta, Georgia, as the Atlanta Thrashers hosted the event at Philips Arena on January 27, 2008. The hosting by Atlanta was rescheduled from 2005, when a lockout cancelled the entire 2004–05 season.
The 2008 NHL Winter Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 1, 2008, at Ralph Wilson Stadium near Buffalo, New York. It was the league's inaugural Winter Classic game, and was contested between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres; the Penguins won, 2–1, in a shootout on a goal by captain Sidney Crosby. The event was the NHL's second outdoor regular season game, and the first outdoor regular season professional ice hockey game to be played in the United States. Due to the snowy conditions, the game was at the time colloquially referred to as the "Ice Bowl" by residents of the area and Sabres' fans. The event was sponsored by AMP Energy, and was televised in the United States on NBC and in Canada on CBC and RDS.
The 2012–13 NHL season was the 96th season of operation of the National Hockey League (NHL). The regular season began on January 19, 2013, and ended on April 28, 2013, with the playoffs to follow until June. The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins in six games to win the Stanley Cup.
The 2017–18 NHL season was the 101st season of operation of the National Hockey League. With the addition of a new expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights, 31 teams competed in an 82-game regular season. The regular season began on October 4, 2017, and ended on April 8, 2018. The 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs began on April 11, 2018, and concluded on June 7, with the Washington Capitals winning their first Stanley Cup in the Finals over the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.
The Stadium Series is one of the series of regular season outdoor games played in the National Hockey League (NHL). This event is distinct from the NHL's other two series of outdoor games, the NHL Winter Classic, played in a different NHL city every year, and the NHL Heritage Classic. Games in the Stadium Series have been held in either late January, February, or early March in a football or baseball stadium in the United States. The first Stadium Series was held in 2014 and consisted of seven teams participating in four games held in three venues. In 2015, only one game in the Stadium Series was held, while in 2016 and in 2024, two games were held. From 2017 to 2023 and again in 2025, only one game was scheduled per year.
The NHL 100 Classic was a regular season outdoor National Hockey League (NHL) game held on December 16, 2017. The game featured the Ottawa Senators playing the Montreal Canadiens at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa. It was the first of the three scheduled outdoor regular season games in the 2017–18 NHL season.
