The National Ice Hockey League, referred to as the National Ice Hockey League, is a professional sports league composed of North American ice hockey teams. The National Hockey League is the highest level professional hockey game in the world and one of the four major professional sports in North America. * * * Team is divided into two areas, East and West, and each area is divided into three sub-areas.

The alliance was founded in Montreal, Quebec 19 17. Initially, it had five teams. After a series of expansion, there are now 30 teams, 24 in the United States and 6 in Canada. After the cancellation of the whole 2004-2005 season due to the strike of players, the league was successful in the 2005-2006 season and the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Traditionally, most players are Canadian because of the Canadian origin of the league. After the national ice hockey league actively expanded to the United States, the number of European players and American players increased significantly compared with the high standards of other leagues and the output of ready-made high-level players after the collapse of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe. Even so, half of the players in the 2005-2006 season were born in Canada.