Ice hockey grew out of stick-and-ball games played on frozen ponds in Britain and Canada. The first recorded indoor game was played in Montréal on March 3, 1875, organized by James Creighton, and McGill University students wrote early rules soon after. The NHL was founded in Montréal on November 26, 1917.
Nobody invented hockey in a single moment. It came together over decades, as winter versions of field games met Canadian ice, and then a few people in Montréal wrote it down. Here is how the game was created and how it became the NHL you watch today.
How was hockey invented?
People have played games with a curved stick and a ball for centuries: hurling in Ireland, shinty in Scotland, bandy in England and northern Europe, and stick games played by Indigenous peoples in North America. When those games moved onto frozen ponds, the result looked a lot like early hockey. Soldiers and settlers in 19th-century Canada played versions of it on the ice wherever they were stationed, and several Canadian towns, including Windsor, Nova Scotia and Kingston, Ontario, have claimed to be its birthplace.
What turned those pond games into modern ice hockey was organization: an indoor rink, a fixed number of players, a flat puck instead of a ball, and written rules.
Where was the first organized hockey game played?
The first recorded indoor game of ice hockey was played on March 3, 1875, at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montréal. It was organized by James Creighton, a young man from Halifax who had brought the game with him. The teams used a flat wooden disc instead of a ball, so it would stay on the ice rather than fly into the crowd. A newspaper report of the game survives, which is why historians treat that date as the start of organized hockey.
A couple of years later, students at McGill University in Montréal published a set of rules, and clubs formed in Montréal, Ottawa, Québec City and Kingston. By the 1880s there were city leagues and annual winter carnival tournaments.
How did the Stanley Cup start?
In 1892 the Governor General of Canada, Lord Stanley of Preston, donated a silver bowl as a trophy for the best amateur team in Canada. It was first awarded in 1893. The Stanley Cup soon became the prize every team wanted, and as the game turned professional in the early 1900s, the Cup went with it. Read the full story in Stanley Cup history.
When was the NHL founded?
The National Hockey League was founded on November 26, 1917, at a meeting in Montréal. It replaced the National Hockey Association, which had fallen apart over disputes among its owners. The first NHL clubs were the Montréal Canadiens, the Montreal Wanderers, the Ottawa Senators and a Toronto team; the Quebec Bulldogs held a franchise but did not play the first season. The first games were played on December 19, 1917.
The Wanderers dropped out after their arena burned down a few weeks into that first season. The NHL survived, and in 1924 the Boston Bruins became its first team in the United States.
What was the Original Six era?
From 1942 to 1967 the NHL had just six teams: the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montréal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. These "Original Six" clubs built many of the league's great rivalries and dynasties, including the Canadiens' five straight Cups from 1956 to 1960.
How did the NHL grow to 32 teams?
- 1967: The NHL doubled in size to 12 teams, adding Los Angeles, Minnesota, Oakland (the California Seals), Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.
- 1970s: More expansion, plus a rival league. The World Hockey Association started in 1972 and competed for players until 1979, when four of its teams, Edmonton, Hartford, Québec and Winnipeg, joined the NHL.
- 1980s: Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers rewrote the record book. Gretzky's trade to Los Angeles in 1988 helped spread the game across the US Sun Belt.
- 1990s and 2000: Nine new teams: San Jose, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Anaheim, Florida, Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus and Minnesota. Several existing teams also moved, including Québec to Colorado, Winnipeg to Phoenix, Hartford to Carolina and Minnesota to Dallas.
- 2010s and 2020s: Atlanta moved to Winnipeg in 2011. Vegas joined in 2017, Seattle in 2021, and Utah in 2024, when the Arizona Coyotes' hockey operations moved to Salt Lake City.
Today the league has 32 teams. See all NHL teams.
How has the game changed?
Hockey has changed a lot since 1875:
- Forward passing was not always allowed. Early hockey was played more like rugby, with players carrying the puck forward. Forward passes were gradually allowed in different zones in the 1920s.
- Goalie masks became standard after Jacques Plante of the Canadiens started wearing one in a game in 1959.
- Helmets became mandatory for players entering the NHL starting in 1979-80.
- Overtime and the shootout replaced tie games in 2005-06, and 3-on-3 overtime arrived in 2015-16 (see overtime rules).
- The red line stopped mattering for passes in 2005-06, when the two-line pass rule was dropped, opening up the game (see offside).
Hockey beyond the NHL
Hockey has been an Olympic sport since 1920, and NHL players have taken part in several Olympic tournaments, including 2026 in Milan and Cortina. Women's hockey joined the Olympics in 1998, and the Professional Women's Hockey League began play in 2024. College hockey, junior hockey in Canada and the major European leagues feed players into the NHL every year.
Frequently asked questions
- How was hockey invented?
- Ice hockey grew out of older stick-and-ball games, such as hurling, shinty and bandy, played on frozen ponds. Modern hockey took shape in Canada, where the first recorded indoor game was played in Montréal in 1875.
- Where was ice hockey invented?
- Modern ice hockey was developed in Canada. The first recorded organized indoor game was played at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montréal on March 3, 1875.
- Who invented hockey?
- No one person invented hockey, but James Creighton organized the first recorded indoor game in Montréal in 1875 and is often called the father of organized hockey. McGill University students published early rules soon after.
- When was the NHL founded?
- The NHL was founded on November 26, 1917, in Montréal. Its first games were played on December 19, 1917.
- When did the NHL get its first American team?
- The Boston Bruins joined the NHL in 1924 as the league's first team based in the United States.
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