subject: Be a NHL fans [print this page] The league NHL was organized in 1917 in Montreal, Canada after the suspension of operations of its predecessor organization, the National Hockey Association (NHA), which had been founded in 1909.It started with four teams and, through a series of expansions, contractions, and relocations, the league is now composed of 30 active franchises. After a "lockout" that led to the cancellation of the entire 200405 season, the league resumed play under a new collective bargaining agreement that included a salary cap. In 2009, the NHL enjoyed record highs in terms of sponsorships, crowds and television audiences.
The NHL draws many highly skilled players from all over the world and currently has players from about 20 different countries.Although Canadians have historically constituted the majority of the players in the NHL, over the past four plus decades the percentages of American and European trained players have increased both because of the NHL's continued expansion from six to thirty clubs since 1967, and the increased availability of highly skilled European players, especially from former Eastern Bloc countries.
Outside of Canada and the United States, NHL games are broadcast across Europe on ESPN America which takes feeds from Versus, FSN, TSN and CBC (including Hockey Night in Canada), and MSG. Games can also be seen in the UK on ESPN, on Fox Sports in Australia, on SKY Sport in Italy, on Viasat Sport in Russia, Norway, Finland, and Denmark on Viasat Hockey in Sweden and in Portugal on SportTV. In the Americas, NHL games are broadcast across Mexico, Central America and Dominican Republic on SKY Latin America. Stanley Cup games can also be viewed in New Zealand on Sky Network Television or ESPN.
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite of what's next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station: so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.
