As most hockey fans know, the National Hockey League all started with six teams, a passion for the game and many players from different countries. For 25 years, the NHL was comprised of what everyone considered the “original six” teams by 1967: the Montreal Canadiens, the Boston Bruins, the New York Rangers, the New Jersey Devils, the Toronto Maple Leaves and the Chicago Blackhawks.
In 1917, Toronto and Montreal had teams, but it wasn’t until 1926 that the other four teams were all included in the NHL and began competing against each other with the names they still hold today. Today, all six teams are still recognized franchises in the NHL.
Photo Credit: chillerinstict.com
Because these were the only teams for awhile, championship statistics that have been kept by the NHL are considered skewed to many people. These six teams have had more years and more opportunities than other teams that joined later in the NHL’s history. It took 25 years to double the size of the league and by 1974, 18 teams had finally been recognized by the NHL, so it is easy for the original six to have inflated numbers from the beginning years.
Since the league’s expansion, 30 teams make up the National Hockey League in America and Canada. Because so many other teams were added, the original six teams have not been in the spotlight as much as they were in the past. The Maple Leafs, for example, have won 13 Stanley Cup championships in their franchise history, but none of those have come since the expansion of the NHL.
Some critics say that this is the case for all of the original six teams because none of them have performed too well since the late 1970s. But, unlike fans of other sports such as football or baseball, the fans of the original hockey teams do not consider the other sports teams as special as the original hockey teams.
“It’s cool being a fan of a team that contributed so much to the sport of hockey,” Anthony Talarico, a New York Rangers fan, says.
Fans of the original six teams take great pride in recognizing that the team they root for helped form one of the biggest leagues in professional sports.
“It turns out that every sports teams I like was one of the original teams,” Anthony Bennice, a Boston Bruins fan, says. “It gives you a different sense of pride because of the team’s history.”
Being a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, I can’t say that I understand feeling proud of a team that formed in the early 1900s and help shape one of my favorite sports of all time. Many of my friends from college and other original six team fans I have met throughout the years are deeply proud, and sometimes almost act as if their teams are superior to all others, in my opinion. But, who doesn’t act like that when it comes to die hard sports fans?
So far this season, the Montreal Canadiens are the only undefeated team in the NHL. If they can follow the successful season they had last year, this season will look promising for “Habs” fans. Same goes for the Chicago Blackhawks. They have seen quite a bit of success within the last few years, which has pleased many fans and, quite honestly, many bandwagon fans. They have won the Stanley Cup three times within the last five years, bringing the spotlight back to the original six more than it has been since the expansion.
Most fans of all NHL teams at least respect what the original six means to the game of hockey, even if they do not support one of those teams. I know I do, even though I am not a fan of most of those teams whatsoever.
Jessica Blondell 