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The National Hockey League (or NHL) is the largest and most successful North American professional hockey league.
The NHL provides Canadians and Americans with the highest caliber and most entertaining hockey on the continent.
The NHL was created in 1917 by a group of Canadian and American businessmen.
Their two central goals were to create a league that provided the most entertaining hockey in North America and generated revenues and profits.
This was a somewhat new idea at the time.
While there were some for-profit leagues in existence, most were amateur.
This meant that players, coaches, and owners of teams were not allowed to make money from playing the game of hockey.
It took several decades for the NHL to become the most dominant league.
In the early days, a few professional or commercial leagues competed with the NHL for the public’s entertainment dollar.
Leagues competed vigorously for the best players in order to be successful and attract spectators and fans.
While this was beneficial to players because they could command higher salaries, it was bad for business because owners’ expenses skyrocketed.
As a result, many teams and leagues went bankrupt.
By the 1930s, however, the NHL remained as the only major professional league in North America. This effectively kept players’ salaries down and reduced expenses.
The NHL’s team owners realized that in order for the league to be a successful commercial business, they would have to stop competing against each other off the ice.
This was best accomplished by ensuring that only one major league existed, so that competition was reduced.
To this day, the same business model is followed, and the NHL is still the only major professional hockey league in North America.
For several decades in the mid-twentieth century, the NHL owners were extremely successful financially.
They generated very high profits because, having a monopoly on in the hockey market, they could limit the sale and trade of players.
When players signed on to a team, they generally did so for life, and at the pay rate determined by the owner.
Players were forced to accept these conditions because there were no other leagues in existence.
This all changed in the 1970s when players organized to form a players’ union.
Through the collective bargaining process, players gradually fought owners for higher pay and greater rights.
Today, many players are very wealthy for this reason.
If it was not for the players’ union, it is likely they would still be working in similar conditions to those during the early days of the NHL: low pay and little freedom to move from team to team.
With NHL owners and players cooperating, the NHL continues to be the most successful and entertaining hockey league in North America.
Teams across Canada and the United States compete for the prized Stanley Cup, the most sought-after trophy in North American hockey.
国家冰球联盟（NHL）是北美最大、最成功的职业冰球联盟。NHL为加拿大和美国人提供了北美大陆上最高水平和最具娱乐性的冰球比赛。NHL由一群加拿大和美国商人于1917年创立。他们的两个核心目标是创建一个能够提供北美最具娱乐性的冰球比赛并产生收入和利润的联盟。这在当时是一个有些新颖的想法。虽然当时存在一些营利性联盟，但大多数都是业余联盟。这意味着球员、教练和球队老板不允许通过打冰球来赚钱。NHL花了数十年才成为最具统治力的联盟。在早期，一些职业或商业联盟与NHL竞争公众的娱乐消费。各联盟为了成功并吸引观众和球迷，都在积极争夺最优秀的球员。虽然这对球员有利，因为他们可以要求更高的薪水，但这对企业不利，因为老板的开支猛增。结果，许多球队和联盟都破产了。然而，到20世纪30年代，NHL仍然是北美唯一的主要职业联盟。这有效地压低了球员的薪水并降低了开支。NHL球队老板意识到，为了使联盟成为一个成功的商业企业，他们必须停止在冰场外相互竞争。最好的办法是确保只有一个主要联盟存在，从而减少竞争。时至今日，仍然遵循同样的商业模式，NHL仍然是北美唯一的主要职业冰球联盟。在20世纪中叶的几十年里，NHL老板在经济上非常成功。他们获得了非常高的利润，因为他们垄断了冰球市场，他们可以限制球员的销售和交易。当球员签约一支球队时，他们通常会终身签约，并按照老板决定的工资标准签约。球员们被迫接受这些条件，因为没有其他联盟存在。这一切在20世纪70年代发生了变化，当时球员们组织起来成立了一个球员协会。通过集体谈判，球员们逐渐与老板们争取更高的薪水和更大的权利。今天，许多球员因此变得非常富有。如果不是因为球员协会，他们很可能仍然在与NHL早期类似的条件下工作：低工资，而且几乎没有从一支球队转到另一支球队的自由。在NHL老板和球员的合作下，NHL仍然是北美最成功和最具娱乐性的冰球联盟。加拿大和美国的球队都在争夺令人垂涎的斯坦利杯，这是北美冰球中最令人梦寐以求的奖杯。