NHL Hockey Teams Quiz

During the 2021 NHL season, the NHL will welcome its 32nd franchise. There is still a lot of mystery surrounding what the team name and logo will be (as of the writing of this quiz), but more information should be coming soon.

The Las Vegas Golden Knights are the newest NHL team, as they began playing in 2017-18. They nearly won the Stanley Cup in their first season and have been a success during their first few seasons.

Believe it or not, the Anaheim Ducks were actually named after the team from the Disney film "The Mighty Ducks." The movie released in 1992 and the Walt Disney Company founded the Ducks franchise in 1993.

The Montreal Maroons were founded in 1924 as a team for the English people living in the city. While they had some success and won a few Stanley Cups, they only lasted in the league until 1938.

The Amalie Arena is the home arena of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning are fresh off of one of the best regular seasons in NHL history in 2018-19. However, they ended up getting swept in the first round of the playoffs.

In addition to being the oldest NHL team, the Montreal Canadiens also have the most successful history of any team in the NHL. In their 100+ years in the NHL, the Montreal Canadiens have won a total of 24 Stanley Cups.

While many of the defunct or relocated teams we have mentioned have had short stints, that wasn't the case for the Hartford Whalers. They existed from 1979 to 1997, before moving to Carolina and becoming the Hurricanes.

From 1967 to 1993, the Minnesota North Stars enjoyed a decent run in the NHL. But beginning the following season, the team up and moved to Dallas and shortened their name to the Stars.

Despite most of the best hockey players on the planet coming from Canada, a Canadian team hasn't actually won the Stanley Cup for over two decades. The last to do it was the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.

Before they called Alberta home, the Flames resided down in Georgia. The Atlanta Flames were an NHL team from 1972 until 1980. They had decent success but never won a playoff series. The team moved due to financial struggles.

While the Toronto Maple Leafs have come close at times, they haven't been able to win another Stanley Cup since 1966-67, which was the year before the expansion mentioned in the last question. So the Maple Leafs have never won a cup since the league expanded from the Original Six.

Throughout their nearly 20 years in the NHL, the Quebec Nordiques would enjoy moderate success. Once they moved to Colorado and became the Avalanche, they soon became one of the best teams in the NHL.

The Cleveland Barons enjoyed a very quick tenure in the NHL as they only last two years from 1976 to 1978. The team merged with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978. As a result, they are the last NHL team to cease operations and not relocate or re-brand.

While many players will play for a couple of different teams during their careers, no one has played with more teams than Mike Sillinger. He played with a whopping 12 different teams in his career and was traded 9 times.

While there is often mention of the "Original Six," that era didn't occur until many decades after the NHL was born. The first season of the NHL took place in 1917, and there were 4 teams: Montreal Wanderers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Hockey Club.

While the Penguins were bounced out of the playoffs embarrassingly in 2019, the team is only a few years removed from winning back to back Stanley Cups. They won it in both 2016 and 2017.

The Hamilton Tigers were an NHL team that existed from 1920 to 1925. While most teams who became defunct did so for financial reasons, the Hamilton Tigers folded as a result of all of their players going on strike.

The Pittsburgh Pirates were an NHL team from 1925 to 1930, when the Great Depression caused financial struggles for the team and many others like them. Despite sharing the same name, there is no connection between the teams.

Wayne Gretzky is universally lauded as the best player to ever play in the NHL. Despite this, he moved around a lot during his career. His final season was 1998-99, which he spent with the New York Rangers.

While the team was originally the Phoenix Coyotes when the Jets moved to Arizona in 1996, the name has since been changed to the Arizona Coyotes. The current Winnipeg Jets in the NHL today stem from the Atlanta Thrashers.

It should come as no surprise that the Montreal Canadiens have the most wins out of any NHL team. They have been around longer than anyone else. They also have the second highest winning percentage.

While the Blues have been in the NHL for a very long time, they were not the first St. Louis team to join the league. The St. Louis Eagles joined the NHL in 1934. Unfortunately, financial struggles due to the Great Depression led to them only being around for one single season.

In 1967, the NHL underwent a significant expansion. For a few decades prior, the league was made up of only 6 teams. This expansion doubled that and brought the league up to 12 teams. Many of those expansion teams are still in the league today.

While they are still quite a distance from catching up to the Montreal Canadiens, the 11 Stanley Cups won by the Detroit Red Wings is the most by an American team and the third most by any team in NHL history.

While they made the playoffs and actually performed quite well this season, the New York Islanders struggled to fill their arena during home games. While some NHL teams average over 20,000 fans a game, the Islanders has less than 12,500.

After the great expansion of 1967 that brought the NHL to 12 teams, the league added two more in 1970. The Canucks and the Sabres are still in the league today. Nowadays, teams are typically added one at a time.

While the Washington Capitals are now among the best teams in the NHL, that certainly wasn't the case during their inaugural season of 1974-75. They had a record of 8-67-5, which is the worst in history. They also allowed almost 450 goals.

While they've had their fair share of success and great players over the years, no team has suffered more losses than the Toronto Maple Leafs. They have nearly 2800 losses as of this quiz, which is about 100 or so more than next closest.

The Buffalo Sabres started the 2018-19 NHL season in great fashion but soon began to struggle and missed the playoffs once again. The Sabres haven't been to the playoffs in 8 straight seasons, which has to be frustrating for the fans.

The Edmonton Oilers dynasty of the 1980s were the highest scoring teams in history. Their 1983-84 season featured 446 goals scored, and they are the only team to score more than 400 in a season. They did it 5 times.

The first team in the bloodline of the New Jersey Devils was the Kansas City Scouts. They existed from 1974 to 1976 but eventually moved to Colorado and became the Rockies. The team would move a final time (in 1982) to become the New Jersey Devils.

The Vancouver Canucks made the interesting choice to name Roberto Luongo their team captain in 2008. Because NHL rules didn't allow this, he didn't perform the standard on-ice duties of the captain. He relinquished the title in late 2010.

Of the current 31 teams in the NHL, 12 teams have never won a Stanley Cup. Many of the teams have come within a couple of games of winning one but couldn't manage to do it. Many currently good teams have never won one, so we could see this number shrink soon.

In a series that shocked nearly everyone in the hockey world, the Columbus Blue Jackets collected their first ever playoff series win by sweeping the Tampa Bay Lightning, who many thought were the favorites to win the Stanley Cup.

Before 1927, the Stanley Cup could be awarded to teams from a variety of different leagues. But once the WHL ceased to exist in 1926, the NHL was the only show in town. The Ottawa Senators won the Stanley Cup in 1927.