National Hockey League: Difference between revisions
Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.9.2
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In "the beginning" <ref>the roots of the league go back to 1917 with four teams (among them the Canadiens and Maple Leafs) and grew to as many as ten before the Great Depression and World War 2 forced the league to downsize</ref>, there were the "Original Six", the six teams that formed the NHL from the folding of the New York Americans in 1942 until the league's expansion in 1967.
* ''[[Boston (useful notes)|Boston]] Bruins'': Current [[Stanley Cup]] champs. First NHL team south of the border. Famous former players include Bobby Orr, Cam Neely and Ray Bourque. Current captain and defenseman [[The Big Guy|Zdeno Chára]] is the tallest guy ever to play in the league<ref> 6'9" (2.06m)</ref>. Have won the 2nd most titles among US teams, behind Detroit. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDpKx4w_NIc They don't like Montreal.]
* ''[[The Windy City|Chicago]] Blackhawks'': A team with both history (Tony Esposito, Bobby Hull) and rising stars (Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews). Known for the longest time of having an incredibly stingy owner who would place the bottom line over winning the [[Stanley Cup]]. Interestingly, as soon as said owner died ([[0% Approval Rating|to boos from the fans]] when asked for a moment of silence), his son took over and changed things. One of those things was finally allowing home games to be broadcast on Chicago TV. That has pushed CSN Chicago and WGN to their highest ratings ever. Even NBC and Versus have enjoyed some of the highest ratings they've had for playoff games. [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|Everyone was very happy]] and the team suddenly played very well. They really don't like Detroit and they don't like Vancouver much [https://web.archive.org/web/20141030110027/http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago_sports_mob/2011/04/vince-vaughn-taunts-roberto-luongo.html either].
* ''[[Motor City|Detroit]] Red Wings'': Consistently good (have made the playoffs the last 21 years) within recent memory and therefore hated outside Detroit. The general dislike is newer than a lot of people think, since the post-expansion revival came after almost twenty years of being somewhat of a league [[Butt Monkey]] and a strenuous rebuilding process. Before then, there just weren't as many teams to pass the Cup around to, but they were the most dominant of the American-based teams. Fans have a habit of chucking [[Everything's Squishier with Cephalopods|octopi]] onto the ice during the playoffs (in the Original Six days a playoff team needed to beat two teams in best-of-7, thus eight wins, to win the Cup). The feelings between them and Chicago are mutual, but Detroit fans tend to have [[Sarcasm Mode|more creative chants]].
* ''[[Montreal]] Canadiens'': AKA the Habs<ref>for "Les Habitants", an old term for French-origin inhabitants of Quebec</ref>. Older than the NHL; their history begins in the NHL's predecessor league, the National Hockey Association. Has won 24 championships, a feat surpassed only by the [[Baseball|New York Yankees]]. Also the last Canadian team to win the Cup (1993). Goaltender Jacques Plante made the goalie mask regular gear after stopping an Andy Bathgate slapshot with his nose in 1959. Pretty much the team of French Canada with the departure of the Quebec Nordiques to Colorado in 1995. Their long, storied history includes some legendary French players: Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Jean Beliveau, Guy Lafleur and Patrick Roy. [[The Rival|They hate Toronto with a passion]], they surely don't like Boston, and they really don't like [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jimZ1tSdPY0 Zdeno Chara].
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