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TheOriginal Six (French:six équipes originales) are the teams that composed theNational Hockey League (NHL) between1942 and1967. The six teams are theBoston Bruins,Chicago Black Hawks,[a]Detroit Red Wings,Montreal Canadiens,New York Rangers, andToronto Maple Leafs. After serving as the league's only teams for 25 seasons, they were joined by six new franchises in the1967 NHL expansion.
Despite the moniker, the Six are not the original teams of the NHL. The Canadiens and Maple Leafs are the two members of this group that are charter members (1917–18 season) of the NHL.[1] However, in addition to the 25 seasons as the only teams, the Original Six are considered a set for having joined the league by 1926, and thus being the NHL's oldest active franchises by a margin of at least 41 seasons versus any other team.
The Original Six have the most combinedStanley Cup titles among NHL franchises; the Canadiens hold the most wins at 24. The Maple Leafs, who won thelast Stanley Cup of the Original Six era, are the only Original Six franchise to have not returned to theStanley Cup Final since the 1967 expansion. As of completion of the2024 Stanley Cup Final, the other five Original Six teams have won 21 of the 56 Stanley Cups awarded since the 1967 expansion.
| Team name | Location | Founded | Stanley Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | Montreal, Quebec | 1909 (joined NHL in 1917) | 24 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Toronto, Ontario | 1917 | 13 |
| Boston Bruins | Boston, Massachusetts | 1924 | 6 |
| Chicago Black Hawks[a] | Chicago, Illinois | 1926 | 6 |
| Detroit Red Wings | Detroit, Michigan | 11 | |
| New York Rangers | New York City, New York | 4 |
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The NHL consisted of 10 teams during the 1920s, but the league experienced a period of retrenchment during theGreat Depression, losing thePittsburgh Pirates/Philadelphia Quakers,Ottawa Senators/St. Louis Eagles, andMontreal Maroons in succession to financial pressures. TheNew York/Brooklyn Americans, one of the league's original expansion franchises, along with the Bruins and Maroons, lasted longer but played as wards of the league from 1936 onward.World War II and its own economic strains severely depleted the league's Canadian player base since Canada entered the war in September 1939, and many players left for military service. The Americans suspended operations in the fall of 1942, which left the NHL with just six teams.
Despite various outside efforts to initiate expansion after the war, including attempted revivals of the Maroons and Americans franchises, the league's membership remained at six teams for the next 25 seasons. This was the longest static period without expansion, team moves or contraction in the history of the league, and also featured the longest period without any team changing arenas. The next longest streak, from the2000 expansion toSaint Paul, Minnesota, andColumbus, Ohio, to the 2011 move of theAtlanta Thrashers toWinnipeg, is not even half as long; only two other periods (1982–1991 and 2011–2017) lasted longer than five seasons. The 25 seasons is also the second-longest period without expansion, team moves or contraction in North American sports history, behind onlyMajor League Baseball (MLB), which saw only stadium changes between the move of theoriginal Baltimore Orioles toNew York in 1903 and theBoston Braves moving toMilwaukee in 1953, a span of 50 seasons.
The Original Six era has been criticized for having aplayoff format that was too easy, since the top four teams in theregular season advanced to the playoffs. At least, the playoff system was too easy for the top three teams in the league: Montreal, Toronto, and Detroit.[2] The standings were very static. Montreal missed the playoffs only once between1943 and1967 (in1948), and Toronto missed the postseason four times, while Detroit missed three times, which left the three remaining teams to compete for the final playoff berth. Montreal won 10 of the 25 Stanley Cup titles awarded during the Original Six era, Toronto won nine, and Detroit won five. Chicago won only one Stanley Cup during that era (in1961), and Boston and New York won no Cups.
It was not a coincidence that two of the dominant teams were based in Canada, and the third was based in an American city that borders Canada. The league had a rule that gave each team exclusive rights to negotiate contracts with promising local players within 50 miles (80 kilometres) of its home ice. A player who was not within the 50-mile limit was free to field offers from any team.[3] Once a player agreed to an NHL sponsorship-level contract, the NHL club could assign him to its sponsored junior squad, its "sponsorship list."
Since theToronto and theMontreal metropolitan areas contained abundant ice hockey prospects, that put them at a major recruiting advantage over Boston, New York, and Chicago, which had very few such prospects in their territories. Detroit hadSouthwestern Ontario as part of its territory and so it did not have the major advantage of the Canadian teams, but it was better positioned than the other American ones.[4]
In practice, all six teams recruited players from Canada by sponsoring minor league, junior, and amateur teams.[5] As a result, the league was almost entirely composed of Canadians, who had come up through the junior and minor professional leagues. The league boasted a small amount of good American players during the 1940s including the All-Star goalkeepersFrank Brimsek andMike Karakas, defencemanJohn Mariucci, and forwardCully Dahlstrom. At the beginning of the Original Six era, the Chicago Black Hawks were owned by MajorFrederic McLaughlin, a fiercely patriotic man who tried to stock his roster with as many American players as possible. However, he died in 1944, and his estate sold the team to a group controlled by the Norris family, which also owned the Red Wings. After that time, the Black Hawks had only a few American-born players just like the other American-based teams, while the Canadian teams had very few. The only American-born Maple Leafs player during the entire era wasGerry Foley, who was born inWare, Massachusetts, but grew up inGarson, Ontario, and played just four games for Toronto, although he played two full seasons for the New York Rangers. The Canadiens' only American-born skater wasNorm Dussault, a forward who was born inSpringfield, Massachusetts, but grew up inSherbrooke, Quebec. An American goaltender,John Aiken, also played exactly half a game for Montreal on March 13, 1958; he was aBoston Bruins team employee who filled in for his team's opponent as an emergency replacement whenJacques Plante was injured during the second period of a game at theBoston Garden. The family of the Detroit-bornCharlie Burns moved to Toronto when he was a child; he was a four-year regular with Detroit and Boston from 1958 to 1963.
Very few American-developed NHL players emerged in the 1950s and 1960s.Tommy Williams was the only U.S. citizen to play regularly. Both Williams and Mariucci complained about anti-American bias, and U.S. Olympic team starsJohn Mayasich[6] andBill Cleary[7] turned down offers from NHL teams. Although there were several European-born players (such as theSlovak-born Hall of FamerStan Mikita), who immigrated to Canada as children, the only European-born and trained player of the era wasSweden'sUlf Sterner, who briefly played for the Rangers in1965.[8] The league's firstblack player,Willie O'Ree, came up during that era; he played for the Bruins between 1958 and 1961 but turned out to be the only black player until the 1970s.
After World War II, all six NHL owners consistently rejected any bids for expansion, namely a bid for theAmerican Hockey League'sCleveland Barons team in 1952. In the eyes of many observers, the criteria for entry were changed every time with a desire to defeat any such bid.[9] The owners also reneged on promises to allow the extant but dormant Maroons and Americans franchises to reactivate.[10]
Those phenomena had the impact of limiting player movement, and as a result, the Original Six rosters were very static.[11] Until the lengthening of careers in the 1980s, only one 20-year player in NHL history,Larry Robinson, started his career after 1964, and it is generally accepted that the weakestCalder Trophy winners (rookies of the year) of all time were selected in the 1950s and the 1960s.[12]
The league toleratedmonopolistic practices by the owners. At one point, for instance, Red Wings ownerJames E. Norris effectively owned the Black Hawks as well and was also the largest stockholder in the Rangers.[13] He also had significant influence over the Bruins by way of mortgages extended to the team to help keep it afloat during the Great Depression, which led some critics to joke that NHL stood for "Norris House League."[13]
The control of owners over their teams was absolute, with poor labour conditions for the players.[5] Whenever players were sent to the minors, they had their salaries cut, and their relocation costs were not covered.[5] Players were signed by a team as early as 16, and they were thenowned by that team for their entire careers, which then directed their development.
A player pension plan had been formed in 1946, but the financials were kept a secret from the players, who had to accept whatever pension payments the owners unilaterally decided. The stark labor conditions led to several players' disputes, including a 1957 antitrust action and attempted union formation; the owners' control was further visible when four-time Stanley Cup champion and Red Wings forwardTed Lindsay, a main force agitating for a players' union in 1957, was sent to the last-place Black Hawks. Subsequent actions in the early 1960s by Toronto playersBob Baun andCarl Brewer finally led to the 1967 formation of theNational Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), though inaugural NHLPA executive directorAlan Eagleson continued to obfuscate the pension's financials while he skimmed money from the plan, exposed only in 1989.
As the more conservative owners left the NHL, a younger guard that was more receptive to expansion entered the league. By 1963, when Rangers governorWilliam M. Jennings first introduced to his peers the idea of expanding the NHL,Major League Baseball (MLB) and theNational Football League (NFL) were adding teams, and theAmerican Football League (AFL) was becoming an attractive alternative to the NFL. Jennings proposed the NHL add two new teams on theAmerican West Coast for the1964–65 season, and based his argument on concerns that theWestern Hockey League (WHL) intended to operate as a major league in the near future and possibly compete against the NHL for talent. He also hoped that a West Coast presence would make the NHL truly national and improve the league's chances of returning to national television in the United States (its broadcast deal withCBS had expired in 1960). While the governors did not agree to Jennings' proposal, the topic of expansion arose every time that the owners met from then on. In 1965, the league decided todouble in size by adding six teams, and in February 1966, expansion franchises were awarded toLos Angeles,Minnesota,Philadelphia,Pittsburgh,St. Louis, and theSan Francisco–Oakland area. The six new clubs would begin play in the1967–68 season. Thus, with Toronto's six-game victory over Montreal in the1967 Stanley Cup Final, the Original Six era came to a close.
The first dozen seasons (1967–68 to1978–79) of theexpansion era saw the continued dominance by Original Six teams, including theBobby Orr-led Bruins in the early 1970s and the Canadiens' dynasty at the end of that decade. The expansion teams, by comparison, were not as dominant during that same time period. During those dozen seasons, only one expansion team hoisted the Cup, thePhiladelphia Flyers (in1974 and1975), and only oneStanley Cup Final series featured two expansion teams (the Flyers' 1975 win over theBuffalo Sabres). By the early 1980s, after further expansion, amerger with theWorld Hockey Association (WHA), and changes in conference/division alignment and playoff structure, expansion teams began reaching clear parity with the Original Six. Indeed, the1979 Stanley Cup Final between the Canadiens and Rangers would be the last Finals featuring any Original Six team until1986, when the Canadiens claimed the Cup, as well as the last all-Original Six Final until Chicago's win over Boston in2013 (that playoff season featured all of the Original Six teams for the first time since1995–96).[14]
With the exception of Toronto, since the dawn of the expansion era every Original Six team has played in the Stanley Cup Finals at least four times and won the Cup at least once (the Maple Leafs have not competed in a finals series since winning in 1967, thelongest active NHL championship drought). The Montreal Canadiens have twice won the Cup by defeating other Original Six clubs in every series of the playoffs – in1978 (beating Detroit, Toronto, and Boston) and 1979 (beating Toronto, Boston, and New York). Also, the1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins are the only team to also win the Cup after beating three of the Original Six (New York and Boston in the Wales Conference playoffs, and Chicago in the finals). Twice, the Eastern Conference champion beat two Original Six teams before being defeated by another in the Stanley Cup Finals – theCarolina Hurricanes in2002 (beat Montreal and Toronto, lost to Detroit) and the Philadelphia Flyers in2010 (beat Boston and Montreal, lost to Chicago). In the2013–14 season, the League moved the Red Wings to the Eastern Conference, leaving Chicago as the only Original Six team in the Western Conference. In the2015 playoffs, theTampa Bay Lightning became the first team to face only Original Six franchises in the four-round playoff era, beating Detroit, Montreal, and New York in the Eastern playoffs before falling in theStanley Cup Final to Chicago.[15]
The last active player from the Original Six era wasWayne Cashman, who retired with the Boston Bruins in 1983. The final active player and official in any on-ice capacity for the league was linesmanJohn D'Amico, who retired at the end of the1986–87 season.
According toForbes in 2015, five of the Original Six teams were the top five most valuable NHL clubs – the Rangers at approximately $1.2 billion, the Canadiens at $1.18 billion, the Maple Leafs at $1.15 billion, the Blackhawks at $925 million, and the Bruins at $750 million. The Red Wings ranked eighth at $600 million.[16][17]
Records current as of the end of the2024 Stanley Cup Final[update].
| Opponent | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games played | Wins | Losses | Ties | OT/SO losses | Series played | Wins | Losses | Games played | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||
| Chicago Black Hawks[a] | 598 | 274 | 240 | 79 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 28 | 18 | 9 | 1 | |
| Detroit Red Wings | 618 | 258 | 260 | 95 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 38 | 23 | 15 | 0 | |
| Montreal Canadiens (seeBruins–Canadiens rivalry) | 761 | 294 | 353 | 103 | 11 | 34 | 9 | 25 | 177 | 71 | 106 | 0 | |
| New York Rangers | 669 | 305 | 254 | 97 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 47 | 26 | 19 | 2 | |
| Toronto Maple Leafs (seeBruins–Maple Leafs rivalry) | 688 | 308 | 269 | 98 | 13 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 90 | 46 | 43 | 1 | |
| Opponent | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games played | Wins | Losses | Ties | OT/SO losses | Series played | Wins | Losses | Games played | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||
| Boston Bruins | 598 | 245 | 270 | 79 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 28 | 9 | 18 | 1 | |
| Detroit Red Wings (seeBlack Hawks–Red Wings rivalry)[a] | 753 | 294 | 363 | 84 | 12 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 81 | 43 | 38 | 0 | |
| Montreal Canadiens | 574 | 162 | 304 | 103 | 5 | 17 | 5 | 12 | 81 | 29 | 50 | 2 | |
| New York Rangers | 598 | 252 | 244 | 98 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 24 | 14 | 10 | 0 | |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 659 | 271 | 288 | 96 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 38 | 15 | 22 | 1 | |
| Opponent | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games played | Wins | Losses | Ties | OT/SO losses | Series played | Wins | Losses | Games played | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||
| Boston Bruins | 618 | 265 | 252 | 95 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 38 | 15 | 23 | 0 | |
| Chicago Black Hawks[a] (seeBlack Hawks–Red Wings rivalry) | 753 | 375 | 277 | 84 | 17 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 81 | 38 | 43 | 0 | |
| Montreal Canadiens | 608 | 218 | 288 | 96 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 62 | 29 | 33 | 0 | |
| New York Rangers | 605 | 273 | 222 | 103 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 13 | 10 | 0 | |
| Toronto Maple Leafs (seeMaple Leafs–Red Wings rivalry) | 683 | 290 | 293 | 93 | 7 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 117 | 59 | 58 | 0 | |
| Opponent | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games played | Wins | Losses | Ties | OT/SO losses | Series played | Wins | Losses | Games played | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||
| Boston Bruins (seeBruins–Canadiens rivalry) | 761 | 364 | 282 | 103 | 12 | 34 | 25 | 9 | 177 | 106 | 71 | 0 | |
| Chicago Black Hawks[a] | 574 | 309 | 160 | 103 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 81 | 50 | 29 | 2 | |
| Detroit Red Wings | 608 | 294 | 209 | 96 | 9 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 62 | 33 | 29 | 0 | |
| New York Rangers | 641 | 343 | 200 | 94 | 4 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 73 | 38 | 33 | 2 | |
| Toronto Maple Leafs (seeCanadiens–Maple Leafs rivalry) | 768 | 366 | 301 | 88 | 13 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 78 | 46 | 32 | 0 | |
| Opponent | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games played | Wins | Losses | Ties | OT/SO losses | Series played | Wins | Losses | Games played | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||
| Boston Bruins | 669 | 267 | 301 | 97 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 47 | 19 | 26 | 2 | |
| Chicago Black Hawks[a] | 598 | 248 | 250 | 98 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 24 | 10 | 14 | 0 | |
| Detroit Red Wings | 605 | 229 | 264 | 103 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 23 | 10 | 13 | 0 | |
| Montreal Canadiens | 641 | 204 | 337 | 94 | 6 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 73 | 33 | 38 | 2 | |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 626 | 238 | 284 | 95 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 35 | 19 | 16 | 0 | |
| Opponent | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games played | Wins | Losses | Ties | OT/SO losses | Series played | Wins | Losses | Games played | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||
| Boston Bruins (seeBruins–Maple Leafs rivalry) | 688 | 282 | 295 | 98 | 13 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 90 | 43 | 46 | 1 | |
| Chicago Black Hawks[a] | 659 | 292 | 267 | 96 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 38 | 22 | 15 | 1 | |
| Detroit Red Wings (seeMaple Leafs–Red Wings rivalry) | 683 | 300 | 284 | 93 | 6 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 117 | 58 | 59 | 0 | |
| Montreal Canadiens (seeCanadiens–Maple Leafs rivalry) | 768 | 314 | 347 | 88 | 19 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 78 | 32 | 46 | 0 | |
| New York Rangers | 626 | 293 | 226 | 95 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 35 | 16 | 19 | 0 | |
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