Who are the Original Six?
6 teams namely Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings are the original six in the National Hockey League.
These six teams didn’t become a part of the NHL at the same time but are presently the oldest active members of the league. However, only two of the original six are a part of the NHL charter - Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. Both Canadiens and Maple Leafs became a part of the NHL in 1917.
The remaining four teams joined later. While the Boston Bruins made their first NHL appearance in 1924, the Chicago Blackhawks, the New York Rangers, and the Detroit Red Wings followed them in 1926.
Entry of new clubs in NHL
After nearly 30 years of running with only these 6 teams, NHL decided to increase the number of teams and hence, 6 more clubs were made a part of the league, taking the total number of clubs to 12. These 6 new clubs were Minnesota North Stars, St. Louis Blues, Philadelphia Flyers, California Seals, Los Angeles Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Only the Blues, Flyers, Kings and Penguins are currently active franchises in the league.
Oldest club in NHL
The Montreal Canadiens are the oldest club in the league and also the oldest active professional hockey club in the world. It was earlier a part of the National Hockey Association, which comprised the teams from Ontario and Quebec, and is considered to be the direct predecessor of the National Hockey League.
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