The National Hockey League was established in 1917 as the successor to the National Hockey Association (NHA). Founded in 1909, the NHA began play in 1910 with seven teams in Ontario and Quebec, and was one of the first major leagues in professional ice hockey. 

The NHL is followed by millions and consists of 32 teams and is already a well-established national league; the Eastern Conference contained 16 teams with eight teams each, the Atlantic Division and Metropolitan Division while the Western Conference had 15 teams (seven in the Central and eight in the Pacific). 

Each team play throughout the regular season playing at home and away games, all to make it to the playoffs and the famous Stanley Cup. Each of the 32 teams plays three or four games against the seven other teams in its division, three games against the eight teams in the other division in its conference and two games against the 16 teams from the other conference.

In the Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final, home-ice advantage goes to the team that had the better regular-season record, regardless of the teams’ final standing in their respective divisions. Eleven Division Championships and three Stanley Cup Final victories make the Colorado Avalanche one of the most successful clubs overall in the league (1996, 2021 and 2022)