National Hockey League

The league was founded in 1917 in Montreal, Quebec, and its predecessor organization is the National Hockey Association which was founded in 1909. It started with four teams and now composed of 30 teams, 24 of which are located in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NHL attracts many highly skilled players from all over the world. Nowadays the league has a larger number of players from about 20 different countries. Canadians constitut over half of the players because both the sport and the league originated from Canada. Many American and European players have increased in the past 25 years, because the NHL continue to expand into the United States.

The coming of 2010 Winter Classic

The National Hockey League announced a piece of important information which is about the 2010 NHL Winter Classic on Aug. 17. The NHL's annual outdoor game will begin on New Year's Day with the Boston Bruins.

Last season's 2009 Bridgestone/NHL Winter Classic attracted 5.6 million North American TV audience and more than 750,000 visitors gathered on NHL.com. In 2008 the Eastern Conference rivals also received the SportsBusiness Journal "Sports Event of the Year" award for its inaugural edition. In 2008, the NHL Winter Classic between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins sold out the 74,000 tickets in just 20 minutes. Last year's Winter Classic received more than 240,000 ticket requests between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings.

Stephane Yelle is acquired by Hurricanes

President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes Jim Rutherford announced that the team has agreed to add center Stephane Yelle on a one-year contract.

In 2008-09, Yelle scored seven goals and 11 assists in 77 regular-season games with Boston Bruins. He has scored 92 goals and 165 assists,collecting 458 penalty minutes in 921 career NHL regular-season games with Colorado, Calgary and Boston. Yelle was originally drafted by New Jersey in the eighth round in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. On behalf on the Avalanche he won the Stanley Cup in 1996 and 2001.

Red Wings acquire Williams

Detroit Red Wings announced that the team has signed forward Jason Williams to a one-year contract. Williams played in 80 games last season with Atlanta Thrashers and Columbus Blue Jackets. In 376 career NHL games, Williams has 205 points in all. He also played 128 games for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of American Hockey League.

Williams was originally selected by Detroit on September 18, 2000. In 233 games with the Red Wings, he got 49 goals and 67 assists.

Boyd remains in Flames

General Manager Darryl Sutter of Calgary Flames announced that the team have agreed to re-signed forward Dustin Boyd. He can continue to play on the ice in his Flames jersey.

Boyd is a native of Winnipeg, in the game he scored 11 goals and 11 assists in 71 games. Now he is in his third season with the Flames, getting 20 goals and 18 assists for 38 points in 132 career NHL games.

Peeters becomes goaltending consultant in Ducks

Pete Peeters was made goaltending consultant last month by Ducks. He joins the Ducks after serving as the Edmonton Oilers' goaltending coach for the last eight seasons.

In his first full NHL season in 1979-1980 Peeters helped the Philadelphia Flyers build a undefeated record, which is the longest in NHL history. In his 13-year career, Peeters appeared in 489 career games with Philadelphia, Boston and Washington. He was also chosen All-Star for four times, appearing in the mid-season classic in 1980, 1981, 1983 and 1984.We are looking forward to seeing him wearing Ducks jersey.

Lauer was made assistant coach

Lauer joins the group of people in Senators including assistant coach Greg Carvel, goaltending coach Eli Wilson and video coach Tim Pattyson. The Senators also add Chris Schwarz as the team's conditioning coach and Dom Nicoletta as assistant athletic therapist.

Lauer played 30 games with the Senators in 1993, and served as Clouston's assistant for five seasons with the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League(WHL). During his seasons with the Ice from 2002 to 2006, the team won 40 games three times.

Nichol was sent to Sharks

Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Wilson of San Jose Sharks announced that the club has signed Scott Nichol who is originally from Predators.The contract lasts for one year."He utilizes his speed and compete-factor to be involved every time he steps on the ice. We’re very familiar with his game and we're happy to have him on our team as opposed to playing against him."said Wilson.

Nichol has spent the last four seasons with the Nashville Predators. In 43 games during the 2008-09 season, Nichol collected 10 points with 41 penalty minutes. He has played in 417 NHL games for Nashville, Chicago, Calgary and Buffalo, collecting 92 points in all.

Chipchura joins in Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey announced on July 11 that they have signed forward Kyle Chipchura to a one-year contract. In 2007-08, Chipchura led the Hamilton Bulldogs to the first Calder Cup Championship, scoring 13 points and 20 penalty minutes in 22 AHL contests.

Last season Chipchura registered 3 points and 5 penalty minutes in 13 regular games with the Canadiens. He also got 35 points with 65 penalty minutes in 51 AHL games. Besides, Chipchura acted as a captain of Canada’s gold-medal squad at the 2006 World Junior Championship and led the team with four goals in six games.

Kovalev was back to Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens reported that the club have re-signed forward Alexei Kovalev to a two-year contract. Kovalev helped the Canadiens in scoring with 65 points in 78 games though he was sent home for a few days during the season.This season he had 34 goals and 84 points, and led the Canadiens to the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Kovalev never played with captain Saku Koivu who is an unrestricted free agent, obviously it showed that he wasn't ready for a top-line character.

Begin joined Dallas Stars

The Montreal Canadiens forward Steve Begin left his original team and joined Dallas Stars in exchange for Stars' defenseman Doug Janik in March.This season he joined 42 games for the Canadiens,getting 6 goals and 4 assists.It is said that he is an energetic player who plays a significant role in the team.

This season Janik has played in 13 games with the Stars ,getting only a single assist with 2 penalty minutes.And in 159 NHL games,he has got 3 goal and 13 assists with 121 penalty minutes for the Sabres,Lightning and Stars.

Multiyear extension between NHL and NBC

A new joint announcement was made by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and President of NBC Sports Ken Schanzer through the 2010-11 season. The goal of this extension is sharing partnership,programming and production innovations,awards and critical acclaim.

"The NHL/NBC partnership has been terrific. Our association has led to such technical innovations as the 'Inside the Glass' reporting and to such programming advancements as the extremely popular Winter Classic," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final was broadcast television's most-watched hockey game in 36 years, which makes clear the NHL and NBC are building an audience, are building momentum and are perfectly positioned to continue growing the game."

Schanzer said: "We're thrilled to be able to continue our relationship with the NHL and build on all the positive momentum on and off the ice. Together, we have attained viewership milestones not seen in more than three decades. And the Winter Classic, in just two years, has become one of the highlights of the sports calendar. We strongly believe this is a league that is poised for continued growth."

This multiyear extension will play a significant role in improving the partnership.