The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional sports organization of ice hockey teams in North America.Ligue Nationale de Hockey (LNH) is its French name. NHL has the honor of being the premier professional ice hockey league in the world and one of the North American major professional sports leagues. The NHL is divided into two fifteen-team conferences. Three five-team divisions are in each conference.

The league was founded in 1917 in Montreal, Quebec. Initially it was composed of five teams. A series of expansions, reductions and relocations has resulted the number of teams to 30. Out of these 30 teams, 24 teams have their base in the United States while six are in Canada. The 2004–05 season was completed cancelled due a labour dispute.However, the league has staged a successful 2005–06 regular season and 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

A large majority of the players in the NHL are Canadians as the sport was originated in Canada.The NHL's continued expansion into the United States has resulted in the increase of the percentages of American and European players over the past 25 years.

In the Canadian National Hockey Association (NHA), there were series of disputes between Eddie Livingstone, owner of the Toronto Blueshirts and the owners of other teams, the owners of the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, and Quebec Bulldogs. In order to settle these issues and to talk about the NHA’s future, they met at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal. Eventually, It led to the creation of the National Hockey League in 1917. Among its founding teams were the Canadiens, Wanderers, Senators, and the newly-created Toronto Arenas.

The NHL's teams were very successful on the ice even though the league struggled to stay in business during its first decade. The NHL was the only league competing for the Cup by 1926.The NHL then started a process of expansion: the Boston Bruins (the first U.S.-based NHL franchise) and Montreal Maroons entered the league in 1924–25; the New York Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates entered in the 1925–26 season; and the New York Rangers, Chicago Black Hawks , and Detroit Cougars (now known as the Red Wings) entered in the 1926–27 season. The number of teams in the NHL was risen to 10.

By 1942 the NHL was reduced to six teams due to the Great Depression and the onset of World War II. These six teams (the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers) are collectively known as the Original Six. These were the only teams in the National Hockey League for the next quarter-century.

National Hockey League games are played on a hockey rink. It is a rectangular ice rink with rounded corners and surrounded by a wall. It is measured 25.91 by 60.92 metres (85 by 200 ft) in the NHL. The center line divides the ice in half. Icing violations are judged by this line. There are two blue lines that divide the rink roughly into thirds, which divide the ice into two attacking and one neutral zone. There is a thin red goal line spanning the width of the ice near the end of both ends of the rink. It is used to judge goals and icing calls.

After testing in the American Hockey League, a trapezoid area behind each goal net has been introduced during the start of the 2005–2006 season.The goaltender can only play the puck within that area or in front of the goal line; if the goaltender plays the puck behind the goal line and not in the trapezoid area, a 2 minute minor penalty for delay of game is assessed by the referees.

The NHL is considered one of the four major professional sports leagues in the USA. The other three leagues are Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the National Basketball Association. Hockey has the smallest total fan base of the four leagues, the lowest television dollars, and least amount of sponsorship. In Canada, It is reverse. Hockey is the most popular of these four major sports in Canada. The league benefits from having the highest number of ticket buying fans of the four leagues.

The National Hockey League presents several trophies each year. The Stanley Cup is the most prestigious team award. It is awarded to the league champion at the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Presidents' Trophy is another prestigious award that is given to the team that has the most points in the regular season There are also numerous trophies that are awarded to players based on their statistics during the regular season.