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.

Red Wings add Berrtuzzi

It is reported that the Detroit Red Wings has signed free agent forward Todd Bertuzzi to a one-year contract. Bertuzzi was originally picked at the first round draft of the New York Islanders in 1993. And he spent last season with the Calgary Flames where he got 44 points in 66 games.

Now Bertuzzi returns to Detroit for the second time in his career, he has played in 8 regular-season games and 16 playoff games for the Red Wings in 2006-07.

Right winger Jannik Hansen remains in Canucks

Vancouver Canucks President and General Manager Mike Gillis announced to the media that the Canucks Jannik Hansen will continue to stay in the team. Hansen was originally selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the 9th round in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Hansen recorded 21 points in 55 games when he played with the Canucks. He has set 6 goals, 15 assists and 21 points in a single season and ranked 25th among all Rookies in the League.

Kyle Wellwood remains in Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver Canucks General Manager Mike Gillis announced today the center Kyle Wellwood
would remain in the team. In 263 NHL regular season games with Vancouver and Toronto,
Wellwood has got 135 points and 18 penalty minutes.

Wellwood recorded 27 points in 74 games in 2008-09 with Vancouver. He finished career highs for
18 goals , 10 play goals and 3 goals in a single season. He also added six points in ten playoff
games.

Dan LaCosta's two-way contract with Blue Jackets

General Manager Scott Howson announced Columbus Blue Jackets have re-signed goaltender Dan LaCosta to a two-way National Hockey League-American Hockey League contract. As far as I am concernd, NHL jerseys look much more cheerful than AHL jerseys.

LaCosta won the first game of his NHL career against San Jose on February 7. In his second career NHL game, he stopped all 31 shots on February 10. He was around Blue Jackets' fourth pick in the 2004 Entry Draft.

Zajac is happy to remain in Devils

It was announced that Zajac had signed a multi-year contract to continue to stay in New Jersey."I was anxious to see what was going to take place, but I'm happy to be with the Devils. It's an exciting team and I'm happy to be a part of that."Zajac said.

Now he can focus on the season ahead."We wanted something that myself and the organization would be comfortable with, and we were able to come to terms on that," he said. "I think we're both excited for the future here."

Marc Bergevin has been promoted by Blackhawks

Chicago Blackhawks announced that they have promoted Marc Bergevin to Director of Player Personnel. Bergevin served as an assistant coach on Joel Quenneville's staff last season, helping the Blackhawks reach the Western Conference Finals for the first time.

According to Blackhawks General Manager Stan Bowman, Bergevin will help to improve the progress of the organization."We are excited to promote Marc into this role," Bowman said. "We are very confident he will have a successful transition as we continue to strengthen our hockey operations department."

Kotalik will continue to stay in Rangers

According to TSN,New York Rangers have decided to re-sign forward Ales Kotalik. "Ales is a strong, hard-working player with good skating ability and a heavy shot.” Rangers General Manager Glen Sather said. They also think Kotalik will fit well into their system and will provide additional offense.

He had 20 goals and 43 points in 75 games with the Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers last season. Kotalik was a sixth-round pick of the Sabres in the 1998 Entry Draft, having 121 goals and 251 points in 445 NHL games.

Lightning add defenseman Ohlund

Tampa Bay Lightning have signed defenseman Mattias Ohlund, Executive Vice President and General Manager Brian Lawton announced last month. He is added in order to solidify the team and lead the Lightning's young defensive stuff. "We are thrilled Mattias elected to sign with the Tampa Bay Lightning today," said Lawton.

Ohlund has played in 770 career NHL games with Vancouver. He has got 93 career goals and 325 points. He is the Canucks' leader leading the team during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons. He was nominated by the NHL All-Star game in 1998-99 and the NHL All-Rookie Team in 1997-98. He also earned the Canucks' Most Outstanding Defenseman award in 2005-06. In all ohlund has played in 52 career playoff games, recording nine goals and 28 points, ranking 11th among the Vancouver all-time playoff points list.

The game between Sharks and Bruins was watched by most audience in Feb

It was reported by VERSUS that the Sharks/Bruins game was the most-watched regular-season game among households in Feb.It broke the record made by Penguins/Red Wings 2008 Stanley Cup Final game in Nov.VERSUS,which celebrates real game and the cable television home of the NHL,had earned a 5 national HH rating for the telecast.And the network has gained 29-percent increase in household impressions and 30-percent increase in total viewrship.

On the other hand in Boston it had received a 3.1 HH rating and made VERSUS the No.1 cable network in San Francisco,Oakland and San Jose market.

Angelidis and Fitzgerald sign new contracts with NHL

Vice president Jason Karmanos and Assistant General Manager of the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes agreed to sign one-year contracts with forward Mike Angelidis and defenseman Zack Fitzgerald for 2009."Mike and Zack each bring tough, gritty play to the Hurricanes organization," said Karmanos. "Mike has been a key member of our AHL team in the past three years, and Zach is a stay-at-home defenseman that adds necessary depth to our defense."

Both of them are 24 years old.Angelidis has played 67 regular-season games in 2008 with Carolina's American Hockey League affiliate,earning 25 points.He will make $500,000 at the NHL level in 2009.After playing the 2008-09 season with Manitoba of the AHL,Fitzgerald joins the Carolina organization.His deal will pay him $500,000 in the NHL or $60,000 in the AHL in 2009-10.

Gary Roberts is going to retire from NHL

After a 21-year career including 1224 games,910 points and a Stanley Cup title,Linghting's left wing Gary Roberts told the media about his retirement."Today, I am officially announcing my retirement from the National Hockey League," said Roberts. "I am extremely grateful for having had the opportunity to be a part of this great league. The game has been so good to me and I will always be thankful for having had so many years doing what I loved to do."

"Gary has done everything we could have asked or expected of him this year," said Lightning Executive Vice President and General Manager Brian Lawton. "Although we wish things had been better to date for the club, we are extremely grateful to Gary for his contributions both on and off the ice. His leadership, professionalism and guidance will be felt for years because our young players were able to watch, listen and learn from one of the true greats of the game."