In the National Hockey championship, there are 30 independent ice hockey teams. Every of the teams will play 82 official NHL games every year. Many teams will have to travel from the USA and Canada to play games. Minimizing the amount of travel needed to play this schedule is vital to the teams of the league (In 2011, the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and renamed themselves the Jets. The Thrashers were formerly in the Southeast Division and the Eastern Conference. Next year they will probably be in the Western conference. Now the NHL must figure out how to realign their divisions).
The NHL is arranged by:
- Two conferences, each consisting of 15 teams.
- Six divisions, each consisting of 5 teams.
- Each conference contains three whole divisions.