Author: Buffalo Winter

Most neophytes to NHL Hockey when initially hearing or reading the words, “Original Six” make the supposition this means the first six teams to play in the National Hockey League, nothing could be farther from the truth.

On a beautiful December night in 1917, the NHL began its first season with five teams and a 22-game schedule and they were:

Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Wanderers (withdrew in 1918)

Ottawa Senators

Quebec Bulldogs (1918 sold, reinstated next season, 1920 shift to Hamilton)

Toronto Arenas   (name changed to St Patricks in 1918)

And it was not until the 1924-25 season that the NHL awarded two more franchises for Boston and Montreal increasing the league to six teams the original six teams to play in the NHL were:

Boston Bruins

Hamilton Tigers

Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Maroons

Ottawa Senators

Toronto St Patricks

For the 1925-26 NHL season Hamilton withdrew and the NHL awarded two more franchises to Pittsburgh and New York to increase the league to seven teams creating the original seven teams to play in the NHL and they were:

Boston Bruins

Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Maroons

New York Americans

Ottawa Senators

Pittsburgh Pirates

Toronto St Patricks

During the off-season before the 1926-27 NHL season began, three more franchises are awarded to New York, Chicago, and Detroit enlarging the NHL to double digits for the first time with 10 teams and they were:

Boston Bruins

Chicago Blackhawks

Detroit Cougars

Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Maroons

New York Americans

New York Rangers

Ottawa Senators

Pittsburgh Pirates

Toronto Maple Leafs (Toronto sold during off-season initiating name change)

The NHL stayed intact for nearly three seasons but for the 1930-31 NHL season, Detroit changes their name from Cougars to Falcons and Pittsburgh transferred to Philadelphia and changed their name to the Quakers creating a fresh NHL 10 team look and they were:

Boston Bruins

Chicago Blackhawks

Detroit Falcons

Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Maroons

New York Americans

New York Rangers

Ottawa Senators

Philadelphia Quakers

Toronto Maple Leafs

The next season 1931-32 Philadelphia withdrew from the NHL and Ottawa requested a one-year withdrawal reducing the NHL to eight teams they were:

Boston Bruins

Chicago Blackhawks

Detroit Falcons

Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Maroons

New York Americans

New York Rangers

Toronto Maple Leafs

For the 1932-33 NHL season Detroit changes their name again settling on the Red Wings, Ottawa resumes play and the NHL denies St Louis a franchise because of the burdensome travel costs the NHL has increased by one for a nine-team league and they were:

Boston Bruins

Chicago Blackhawks

Detroit Red Wings

Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Maroons

New York Americans

New York Rangers

Ottawa Senators

Toronto Maple Leafs

For the 1934-35 NHL season Ottawa went against the NHL and transferred to St Louis and became the St Louis Eagles keeping the NHL at nine teams but with a slightly altered line-up and they were:

Boston Bruins

Chicago Blackhawks

Detroit Red Wings

Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Maroons

New York Americans

New York Rangers

St Louis Eagles

Toronto Maple Leafs

The next NHL season 1935-36 the NHL terminated the St Louis franchise bringing the league back down to eight teams and two seasons after this in 1937-38 the Montreal Maroons withdrew creating a seven-team league and they were:

Boston Bruins

Chicago Blackhawks

Detroit Red Wings

Montreal Canadiens

New York Americans

New York Rangers

Toronto Maple Leafs

In the early 1940s for the 1941-42 NHL season the New York Americans change their name to Brooklyn Americans but the following season 1942-43 they withdrew dropping the NHL down to six teams and they were:

Boston Bruins

Chicago Blackhawks

Detroit Red Wings

Montreal Canadiens

New York Rangers

Toronto Maple Leafs

The NHL remained at six teams for the next 24 seasons until the six-team expansion for the 1967-68 NHL season brought the NHL up to 12 teams, two divisions (East & West), and a 74-game schedule and they were:

Boston Bruins                              California Seals (Oakland by Dec)                        

Chicago Blackhawks                  Los Angeles Kings

Detroit Red Wings                       Minnesota North Stars

Montreal Canadiens                    Philadelphia Flyers

New York Rangers                       Pittsburgh Penguins

Toronto Maple Leafs                 St Louis Blues

It was this season when sports writers coined the term “original six” for the East Division teams without giving any sort of moniker for the West Division teams and since this expansion fans have mistakenly embraced the “original six” term to mean the actual first six NHL teams.

In 1996 most of us were shocked at the Buffalo Sabres new colors, logo, and sweater, but HC Nolan explained how a white bison is a symbol of good fortune, and indeed it was as the Sabres finished first in the 1997 Northeast Division.

Buffalo’s End of the Century Stanley Cup Finals appearance in ‘99 and two more solid seasons of making it to the Conference Finals in 2005 and 2006 highlighted a few good seasons while sporting the white bison head logo/sweater during the 10 seasons the sweater was employed.

The Buffalo Sabres are going to wear a new black and red third sweater for 12 contests during the upcoming season beginning in November through April which includes a redesigned white bison head logo.  

The differences in the white bison logos begin with the Buffalo Sabres using one less color as the retro bison head logo utilized two grays, with colors of red, black, and white while the modern version although similar uses only one gray.

When Mr. Tuch a Sabres fan in his youth was shown the new third logo/sweater video he reminisced about, “All the posters up in my room…Dominik Hasek, Ryan Miller a couple of goalies…Maxim Afinogenov, Tim Connolly guys like that.”

Buffalo scheduled 12 Home Games to sport the third sweater with the first appearance Wednesday, November 23^rd versus St. Louis on ‘90s Night, and the 12^th third sweater donning will be on the final game of the season against Ottawa on Fan Appreciation Night Thursday, April 13^th.

Looking forward to seeing the newest Sabres third sweater.

Power Forward Right Wing Kyle Okposo a six-footer who tips the scales at a solid 220 pounds had a dynamic season during the 2021-2022 campaign with 21 goals and served as one of the two Alternate Captains for the Buffalo Sabres.

Mr. Okposo scores Buffalo’s first goal of the 2021-2022 season and his 20^th goal when his child was a “reporter” interviewing her dad on “Kids Day” at the arena and said, “Hi Dad, so can I call you Kyle, Mr. Okposo, Okie, what do you want?”.

After Mr. Okposo scored a point or more per game for two seasons in the USHL and WCHA as a teenager, his next season he would play for three teams, half of his sophomore Div 1 season, the AHL for 35 games and his nine-game NHL debut.

The seventh selection in the first round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Islanders had a couple of 18 and 19-goal seasons and three seasons over 20 goals before signing with Buffalo.

The year Mr. Okposo was born in 1988 the Buffalo Sabres were led by Hall-of-Famers Mr. Dave Andreychuk, Mr. Phil Housley, and a thirty-something from the Islanders, Mr. Clark Gillies.

Now under his fourth Sabres head coach in HC Granato, Mr. Okposo has now been utilized for his consummate skills and experience and with one year remaining on his contract, this upcoming season could be his best year yet.

It took 24 seasons from the inception of the NHL in 1917 before the first Stanley Cup Finals Sweep happened in 1941 when Boston swept Detroit and two seasons later Detroit swept Boston in the 1943 series.

In all there were five Stanley Cup Finals Sweeps during the 1940s with Toronto becoming the first NHL team to win back-to-back Stanley Cups with consecutive sweeps versus Detroit in the 1948 and 1949 Finals.

The only other decade to have five Stanley Cup Finals Sweeps was during the 1990s when Detroit also earned consecutive series sweeps with their back-to-back 1997 and 1998 Cup championships.

There are four NHL teams, (Toronto, Montreal, New York {Islanders}, and Detroit), that have won back-to-back Stanley Cups with consecutive sweeps and Montreal is the only team to have done so twice as well as completing a league-best six Stanley Cup Finals Sweeps.   

In over 100 NHL seasons of play, the 20 Stanley Cup Finals Sweeps all have taken place during a 57-season span from 1941 to 1998 making it 24 seasons since a Stanley Cup Finals Sweep has occurred.

Nine different NHL teams have earned a Stanley Cup Finals Sweep and 11 different NHL teams have been swept in the Stanley Cup Finals with one team getting swept in three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals by two different teams:

The upcoming season marks a Quarter of a Century worth of NHL seasons not producing a single Stanley Cup Finals Sweep highlighting the strength and parity of each team in the Finals.

It is always interesting to see a player signed or traded away come back for the first game against their former teams and most Hockey fans will pay attention on December 9^th when the Flames visit the Blue Jackets in Ohio to see how Mr. Johnny Gaudreau does in his first game versus his former team.

For October there are five interesting first games versus former teams worth watching beginning on October 14^th  with probably the second most anticipated one to watch as Mr. Brent Burns goes back to San Jose as a ‘Cane.

Mr. Kevin Fiala has spent more NHL time in Nashville but has blossomed from a decent 20-goal scorer to his first 30-goal campaign for the Wild so a surprising signing with the Kings makes the October 15^th matchup in Minnesota compelling.

A twin bill on October 21^st highlighting Detroit and Chicago as Mr. Dominik Kubalik is signed away from deep-dive rebuilding Blackhawks and Seattle signed Cup champion Mr. Andre Burakovsky for the opening act in Colorado.

Carolina asked for and received multiple picks for Mr. Tony DeAngelo and a seventh-rounder marking the initial conflict between the newest Broad Street Bully against his former team in Philadelphia on October 29^th for a divisional engagement.  

Two games in November add to the Holiday atmosphere with both contests being played on November 19^th first the Capitals sign Cup champion goaltender Mr. Darcy Kuemper and take on the Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche in Washington.

Secondly, Calgary led by Mr. Jonathan Huberdeau and Mr. MacKenzie Weegar battle their former team Florida while the Panthers have former Flames Mr. Matthew Tkachuk to complete the night’s action in the Sunshine State.

The last two games one on New Year’s Eve have Toronto and Colorado partying in Denver on December 31^st as Cup champion Mr. Nicolas Aube-Kubel signs with the Leafs for one year and one million dollars.   

The one game in 2023 on January 12^th highlights the Winnipeg Jets coming into Buffalo to possibly face their former backup goaltender Mr. Eric Comrie.