To 30 in 30, and What Else?

30 in 30



From 1970 to 2000, the NHL more than doubled in size, going from 12 franchises to 30.


In 1970, the next stage of expansion began with the addition of the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks, teams who were not selected for the 1967 expansion.


Another two years later saw the addition of the New York Islanders and Atlanta Thrashers, the latter of whom would go on to become the Calgary Flames in 1980 and in 1974, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts joined. The Scouts would later become the Colorado Rockies and end up as the New Jersey Devils we know today.


1978 marked a strange event for the expanding NHL. The California Golden Seals, now the Cleveland Barons, merged with the North Stars, reducing the number of NHL teams to 17. This was the first time the league had decreased in size since the Original Six era began.


In 1979, the NHL would take four World Hockey Association teams: the Oilers, Whalers, Nordiques and Jets.


The expansion would calm until 1991 when a new wave of expansion was initiated by the addition of the San Jose Sharks. The Senators and Lightning would join in 1992 and the Panthers and Mighty Ducks in 1993.


In 1998, the Nashville Predators brought the total number of teams to 27 and the 1998 addition of the Atlanta Thrashers brought the total to 28.


The turn of the century, and 30 years since the NHL moved to 12 teams, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild would bring the league to 30 teams, a total that remained for more than 15 seasons until the addition of the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 and the plans to introduce Seattle in 2021.





What Else?


So, apart from expanding and expanding and expanding again, alongside a few relocations (only some which have been covered here) what else actually happened in this 30-year period? Here is just a flavour:


Number 9 takes 9 years to retire- Gordie Howe was and still remains today considered one of the NHL’s all-time greats. In 1971, he announced his retirement after an illustrious 25-year career where he scored over 700 goals. He would not last long in retirement and would return to hockey to play for the World Hockey Association’s Houston Aeros in 1973 and would return to the NHL in 1979, playing alongside his sons Mark and Marty. He would go on to score his 800^th NHL goal, before finally retiring at age 52 in 1980, after he had become the oldest ever to play. In 1997/98 he played in one game for the Detroit Vipers to make him the first to play in six decades.


Wayne Gretzky- Wayne Gretzky, also a player who would go on to be one of the greatest of all time, laced up for the NHL's Edmonton Oilers in 1979. Gretzky was one of the best goalscorers in hockey and still today holds the record for the most NHL goals all time at 894. He would play for the Oilers, Kings, Blues and Rangers over the course of a 1,487 game career until he retired in 1999 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and his number retired league-wide by the NHL.

Bobby Orr- As well as setting a host of records, Bobby Orr is famous for arguably the most iconic hockey photo of all time. The photo shows him flying through the air, almost horizontally, with his arms raised to celebrate the victory. The St Louis Blues may have been swept in four games by the Bruins who won their first Stanley Cup since 1941, but Blues defenseman Noel Picard had his role to play in one of the most recognizable hockey images as he was the one who had tripped Orr.