NHL Preseason

The National Hockey League (NHL) is the world's premier professional ice hockey league and is based in North America comprising 32 teams: 25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the US and Canada. The preseason takes place in September and October each year before the start of the regular season in mid- to late-October. Teams and fans get the opportunity to warm up and feel the excitement of the coming season as well as test out newly acquired skaters!

📜 NHL Preseason History

The NHL was formed in 1917 and originally consisted of just 4 teams that were entirely based in Canada - hence the name “National”. In 1924, the league expanded into the United States and from 1942 to 1967, the league had 6 teams who are still referred to as the “Original 6”: Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Detroit Red Wings. In 1967, 1974, 1979, 2000, 2017, and 2021, the league gradually welcomed new franchises and now sits at 32 teams.

Due to the growing popularity of ice hockey and the NHL, preseason training has developed into warmup games where fans can go to see their team play and players can prepare for the new season before they begin competing for the Stanley Cup.

💯 NHL Preseason Format & Scoring

NHL preseason games do not count towards anything other than pride and training. Teams use the matches as an opportunity to prepare for the new season. Each NHL regulation game is 60 minutes long: composed of 3 x 20-minute periods with an intermission between periods. At the end of regulation time, the team with the most goals wins the game.

These are preseason games as the teams and the fans gear up for the new season!