The National Hockey League (NHL) was founded over 100 years ago, in 1917, in Montreal, Canada. Since then it’s been a premier source of entertainment for hockey fans not only in North America, but worldwide. Just in the last thirty years, the NHL has undergone one strike and three lockouts, but it’s always stuck around to deliver thirsty hockey fans the sweet juice that is top-notch hockey action.
There are currently thirty-one teams in the NHL, with twenty-four based in the United States and seven based in Canada. The NHL is well-known for a period beginning in 1942 where there were only six teams: the Boston Bruins, the Detroit Red Wings, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the New York Rangers, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Montreal Canadiens, collectively known as the “Original Six.” Thereafter, teams gradually joined the league to bring the total to the current thirty-one.
Along the way, however, there were plenty of hockey teams that came and went; teams that joined the NHL only to disband and leave the league sometime later. Who exactly were these teams that joined and then dropped out of the NHL and why did they have to leave?
Here are some of the most well-known NHL teams that have come and gone:
Montreal Wanderers (1917-1918)
The Montreal Wanderers was a team that was founded in 1903 and began playing in the NHL right when it was formed in 1917.
Despite their fourteen-year history prior to the NHL and being one of the founding teams, the Wanderers didn’t last long in the league. In fact, they lasted exactly four games in the NHL before they stopped playing.
Four games into their first NHL season, the Wanderers’ home rink, the Montreal Arena, burned down in a fire that was started in the arena’s ice-making plant. The team was already on thin ice, having lost two of their star players and lacking a decent roster of players because of World War I efforts. The team ultimately decided to disband because of their poor roster and the loss of their arena.
Ottawa Senators (1917-1934) and St. Louis Eagles (1934-1935)
Yes, the Ottawa Senators hockey team that’s a part of the NHL today is a different team than the one that helped found the NHL.
The (original) Senators was formed in 1883, and both before and after the team started playing in the NHL, they experienced a lot of success. They won numerous titles for pre-NHL leagues and won four Stanley Cups while they were a part of the NHL
Despite the success of the team, however, the Ottawa market for hockey was too small. The Senators began encountering serious financial problems in 1927, and by 1934, the burden had become too great for the team to be able to continue in the NHL. Because of the difficulties, the team relocated to St. Louis, Missouri to become the St. Louis Eagles so the players could continue to participate in the NHL. But, alike the Montreal Wanderers, the St. Louis Eagles didn’t last long.
When the Eagles were inducted into the NHL, they retained their position as part of the Canadian division, even though they were based in Missouri. That division placement required the team to frequently travel to Canada, which was a massive expense for the ownership. After only one year (it was an abysmal year, too; they went 11-31-6), the St. Louis Eagles disbanded and dropped out of the league.
New York (Brooklyn) Americans (1925-1942)
The New York Americans are one of the best-known discontinued teams in NHL history.
The Americans were founded in 1925 and joined the NHL the same year. Right from the start of their career, the Americans had trouble finding success in their hockey games. In their first ten seasons, they were only able to make the playoffs once. In their entire history, they never won a Stanley cup, and posted a disappointing record of 255-402-127 over seventeen seasons.
At the time the New York Americans were operating, the Great Depression (a period of worldwide economic depression) was taking its toll. The team had a lifetime of financial difficulties, and in 1942, with World War II limiting the roster of available players, the New York Americans officially disbanded and withdrew from the NHL.
The withdrawal of the New York Americans would go down in history, however, as the final move which kickstarted the well-known “Original Six” era. From 1942-1967, the NHL operated with the same six teams; no more, no less. At the end of that twenty-five-year period, more teams (including the one I’m about to mention) joined the NHL in what was known as the “Expansion Era.”
Quebec Nordiques (1979-1995)
Formed in 1972, the Quebec Nordiques played seven seasons in a league called the “World Hockey Association (WHA)” before joining the NHL in 1979. Starting right off in 1980, the Nordiques made the playoffs seven years in a row, although they never managed to take home the Cup in their history.
For a while in the 80s, the Nordiques held an intense rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens. Both teams competed intensely with each other to see which would be considered the better Quebec-based team. In 1987, however, the answer became clear.
In the 1987-88 season, the Nordiques finished last in their division, ending their playoff streak. In the next two years, the team posted back-to-back worst league records, the second one a dreadful 12-61-7.
In the 1992-93 season, with the recently acquired Mats Sundin and Owen Nolan, the Nordiques posted an incredible result, doubling their point total of 52 from the previous season to 104. Even with the rapid improvement and increased fan support in the last few years of the team’s NHL stint, the Nordiques fell prey to Quebec’s small and insufficient market for hockey.
In 1995, the Nordiques were forced to move their franchise to Denver, Colorado, where they were renamed the Colorado Avalanche; a team which still plays in the NHL today.
The five teams mentioned weren’t the only ones that joined and then withdrew from the NHL. In fact, a total of nineteen teams played in the NHL for some time before leaving the league. More recently, you may remember the swap when the Winnipeg Jets relocated to Arizona to become the Coyotes in 1996. Fifteen years later, in 2011, the Jets franchise was re-established through the purchase of the former Atlanta Thrashers.
With the unstable state of some NHL teams, it was no doubt difficult for the fans of the cities who lost teams throughout history. They found themselves, suddenly, with nobody to cheer for or, at least, nobody to cheer for as hard as their former home team. I like to think, however, that a hockey fan is a hockey fan, regardless of having a home team to cheer for or not.
The good news? The franchises of all the current NHL teams are more stable than ever before, so it’s unlikely that any of the current teams will fade away anytime soon. And even if they do, the NHL boasts millions of fans. Hockey will always exist in some form or another because the fans of a team or a sport determine whether a legend dies—-and the legends of all the NHL teams that have come and gone will never die.
