Original Six

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The Original Six is the term used by fans of ice hockey to refer to the six teams that made up the National Hockey League from the 1942-43 season through to before the league's expansion in 1967. They are:

• Montreal Canadiens (1909, charter member of NHL in 1917)
• Toronto Maple Leafs (charter member in 1917)
• Boston Bruins (1924)
• Detroit Red Wings (1926)
• Chicago Blackhawks (1926)
• New York Rangers (1926)

The term is a misnomer; as shown above, only the two Canadian teams were charter members of the NHL, and three other expansion teams (the Montreal Maroons, the New York Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates) were all likewise added to the league after its foundation. The Boston Bruins were the first American franchise, and the other three American teams joined the league in an earlier expansion that enlarged the league to ten teams, its maximum size before 1967. But all six of them do date from the league's first decade, and the six teams formed the entire league for 25 years after such franchises as the Maroons, Americans, and the original Ottawa Senators were bankrupted by the Great Depression. After World War II, the NHL owners consistently rejected any bids for expansion, and in the eyes of many observers changed the criteria for entry every time with a bent to defeating any such bid. They also reneged on promises to allow the still-extant Maroons and Americans to rejoin the league.

The small league that was left meant that the number of players at the NHL level was also small, resulting in a very high quality of play. There was none of the dilution of talent seen in the NHL in the later "expansion era". The same teams would play each other up to 14 times each season; rivalries would develop, and it was easy for fans to become familiar with all of the players. The league at times played to arenas filled to 95% capacity.

Some criticize the era as having a playoff system which was too easy (only two teams were eliminated after the regular season) and featuring too many dominant teams (Montreal never missed the playoffs between 1949 and 1967 and Detroit and Toronto only missed three times each, leaving the other three teams to compete for the one remaining berth).

The league was also criticized at that time for tolerating autocratic and monopolistic practices by the owners. At one point, for instance, Red Wings owner James Norris, Sr. effectively owned the Blackhawks as well, and was also the largest stockholder in the Rangers. He also had significant influence over the Bruins by way of mortgages extended to the team to help keep it afloat during the Depression.

Beyond that, rosters were very static — until the burgeoning of career lengths in the 1980s, only one twenty-year player in NHL history started his career after 1964 — and it is generally accepted that the weakest Calder Trophy winners of all time were selected in the 1950s and 1960s. In partial consequence, the league was almost entirely composed of Canadians who had come up through the junior and minor pro leagues. American, European, and college players were all but unknown.

By the 1960s it was becoming increasingly obvious that if the NHL did not expand, a rival league would fill the void. The American Football League was proving to be highly successful at this time, convincing many people that a rival hockey league would also succeed. In particular, the Western Hockey League had moved into a number of major Pacific Coast markets, and had accumulated strong rosters with talent barred from the static rosters of the NHL. This, plus the prospect of more lucrative U.S. television contracts finally convinced the six owners to go ahead with expansion. See 1967 NHL Expansion.

All six of the Original Six franchises are still in existence, with no major identity changes (though the Black Hawks became the "Blackhawks" in 1986), and no relocations to other cities.

Though 1942 is the widely accepted year for the beginning of the Original Six era, it was not until the 1959-60 NHL season that every active player had played for Original Six teams only. The last player who did not fall into this category, former Brooklyn Americans player Ken Mosdell, retired after the 1959 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The last active player from the Original Six era was Wayne Cashman, who last played during the 1983 Stanley Cup Playoffs with Boston. The last active goalie from the Original Six era was Rogatien Vachon, who retired in 1982.