Talk:History of the National Hockey League/1992–present

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The National Hockey League (NHL) has endured a tumultuous period of history in recent years. It has grown from 22 teams in 1992 to 30 today as the league expanded across the United States. Repeated labour conflicts interrupted play in 1992, 1994–95 and 2004–05; the latter caused the entire 2004–05 NHL season to be canceled, the first time in North American history that a sports league has canceled an entire season in a labour dispute. Four franchises have relocated during this time: the Minnesota North Stars became the Dallas Stars (1993), the Quebec Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche (1995), the Winnipeg Jets became the Phoenix Coyotes (1996), and the Hartford Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes (1997).

In 1993, the Montreal Canadiens celebrated the Stanley Cup's 100th anniversary with their 24th championship. They remain the last Canadian team to capture the trophy. The 1994 New York Rangers broke the Curse of 1940, winning their first title in 54 years. The NHL's southern expansion, often maligned by Canadians and fans in the Northeastern United States, has led to championships by the Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes and Anaheim Ducks in the last decade.

Manon Rheaume became the first female player in the NHL when she suited up for the Lightning in a 1992 pre-season game. Wayne Gretzky passed Gordie Howe as the NHL's all-time leading scorer in 1994 when he scored his 802nd career goal. Mario Lemieux overcame non-Hodgkin lymphoma to finish his NHL career with more than 1,700 points and two championships, and now owns the Pittsburgh Penguins. Today's NHL is led by arguably its two biggest young stars: Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Sidney Crosby of the Penguins.

The Canada Cup gave way to the World Cup of Hockey in 1996, while NHL players first competed in the 1998 Winter Olympics. To promote itself worldwide, the NHL played regular season games in Japan in 1996, and throughout Europe since 2007. The league also played its first outdoor regular season games with the Heritage Classic between the Canadiens and the host Edmonton Oilers in 2003, and the Winter Classic, held on New Year's Day 2008 and 2009 in Buffalo, New York and Chicago, Illinois respectively.

Increased use of defence-focused systems contributed to decreased scoring in the late 1990s, leading some to argue that the NHL's talent pool had been diluted by the 1990 expansion plan. The league has attempted several times to alter its rules to increase scoring. It began awarding teams a single point for losing in overtime in 1998, hoping to reduce the number of tie games. In 2005, ties were eliminated altogether as the penalty shootout was introduced to ensure that all games have a winner.

Southward expansion
The 21-team era ended in 1990, when the league revealed ambitious plans to double league revenues from $400 million within a decade and bring the NHL to 28 franchises during that period. The NHL quickly announced three new teams: The San Jose Sharks, who began play in the 1991–92 season, and the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning, who followed a year later. The Lightning made NHL history when goaltender Manon Rheaume played a period of an exhibition game, September 23, 1992. In doing so, Rheaume became the first woman to play in an NHL game. One year later, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Florida Panthers began play as the NHL's 25th and 26th franchises respectively. The two new franchises were granted as part of the NHL's attempts at regaining a network television presence by expanding throughout the American south. The NHL's southward push continued in 1993 as the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas, Texas to become the Dallas Stars.

In 1994, the players were locked out by the owners because of a lack of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The 1994–95 NHL lockout lasted 104 days and resulted in the season's being shortened from a planned 84 games to 48. The owners insisted on a salary cap, changes to free agency and arbitration in the hopes of limiting escalating salaries, the union instead proposed a luxury tax system. Just as the entire season seemed to be lost, an 11th-hour deal was agreed on. The owners failed to achieve a full salary cap but the deal was initially hailed as a win for the owners. The deal was not enough to save two teams in Canada's smallest NHL markets. The revenue disparity between large and small market teams, exacerbated by the falling value of the Canadian Dollar, forced the Winnipeg Jets to relocate to Phoenix, Arizona, becoming the Coyotes. The Hartford Whalers followed, becoming the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997. The NHL continued it expansion into cities in the Southern United States. In 1998, the Nashville Predators joined the league, followed by the Atlanta Thrashers the following year. To further market their players, the NHL decided to have its players play in the Winter Olympics, starting in 1998, at the Nagano Games. In 2000, the league added two franchises, boosting the total number to 30. The NHL returned to Minnesota with the Minnesota Wild and added a franchise in Columbus, Ohio.

2004–05 lockout
By 2004, the owners were claiming that player salaries had grown far faster than revenues, and that the league as a whole lost over US$300 million in 2002–03. As a result, on September 15, 2004 Gary Bettman announced that the owners again locked the players out before the start of the 2004–05 season. On February 16, 2005, Bettman announced the cancellation of the entire season. As with the 1994–95 lockout, the owners were again demanding a salary cap, which the players were unwilling to consider until the season was on the verge of being lost. The season's cancellation led to a revolt within the union. NHLPA president Trevor Linden and senior director Ted Saskin took charge of negotiations from executive director Bob Goodenow. By early July, the two sides had agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement. The deal featured a hard salary cap, linked to a fixed percentage of league revenues and a 24% rollback on salaries.

21st century
Hoping to reduce the number of tie games during the regular season, the NHL decided that beginning in the 1999–2000 season, in any game tied after regulation time, both teams would be guaranteed one point, while the team that won in overtime would earn a second point. The Edmonton Oilers hosted the NHL's first regular season outdoor hockey game, the Heritage Classic on November 22, 2003. The game against the Canadiens was held at Commonwealth Stadium before a then-record crowd of 57,167 fans who endured temperatures as low as −18 degrees Celsius (0 degrees Fahrenheit). In the 2005–06 season, the NHL eliminated tie games, as the shootout was introduced to decide all regular season games tied after the five-minute overtime period. The shootout was one of several rule changes made in 2005, as the league attempted to open the game up after the lockout. One of the most controversial changes was the league's zero-tolerance policy on obstruction penalties. The league hoped that the game could be opened up if it cracked down on "clutching and grabbing". The tighter regulations have met with numerous complaints about the legitimacy of some calls, that players are diving to draw penalties, and that officials are not calling enough penalties. The changes initially led to a sharp increase in scoring. Teams combined to score 6.1 goals per game in 2005–06, more than a full goal per game higher than in the 2003–04 season. This represented the highest increase in offence since 1929–30. However, scoring has rapidly declined since, approaching pre-lockout totals in 2007–08.

In the 2005–06 season, rookies Ovechkin and Crosby began their careers. In their first three seasons, they have each won both the Art Ross and Hart trophies; Crosby in 2007, and Ovechkin in 2008. The success of the Heritage Classic led to the scheduling of more outdoor games. The Sabres hosted the 2008 NHL Winter Classic on New Year's Day 2008, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a shootout before a crowd of 71,217 at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The second Winter Classic was held January 1, 2009 at Wrigley Field in Chicago between the Blackhawks and Red Wings.