Original Six
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Original Six were the group of National Hockey League ice hockey teams which existed, before expansion of the league, from 1942-1967. They were:

• Toronto Maple Leafs
• Montreal Canadiens
• Detroit Red Wings
• Boston Bruins
• Chicago Blackhawks
• New York Rangers.

Many fans look back wishfully upon the days of the original six where each team was made up with elite players and great rivalries could easily develop between teams that played each other so frequently. This desire is especially strong among Maple Leaf fans as their team has done little of consequence since expansion in 1967. This is generally only true of fans of these six teams, however.

It should also be acknowledged that the original six were not the original founding teams of the NHL. During the 1920s and 1930s the league was much larger with cities like Pittsburgh, Ottawa, and Quebec City all having franchises. Many of the smaller cities' teams did not survive the Great Depression and the Second World War leaving only the "original six."

The original article can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_Six.
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