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Denis Potvin

Denis Potvin

Denis Potvin (born Ottawa, Ontario, October 29, 1953) is a former player in the National Hockey League. National Hockey League Potvin played defenseman for the New York Islanders from 1973-1988. He won three Norris Trophies as the NHL's best defenseman (1976, 1978, 1979), and won four consecutive Stanley Cups with the Islanders between 1979-1983. Potvin came into the league with extraordinarily high (and unfair) expectations of being the next Bobby Orr. Nobody could follow the great Boston defenseman, naturally, but upon Orr's decline and then retirement, Potvin immediately became the premier back-liner in the game. He was, at the time, the only defenseman besides Orr to score 30 goals and 100 points. Moreover, he was a far more traditional defender than Orr and an extremely physical player, particularly emphasizing the now lost art of the hip check. After his peak in the 70s, Potvin also began suffering a series of injuries that impeded optimal performance, especially during the regular season. During the Islanders Stanley Cup years, Potvin missed more than 1 in every 4 games, although he still managed to be selected a 1st Team All Star in 1981 and averaged 16 goals and 45 assists while playing only an average of 59 games per season. Potvin was generally not a beloved player around the NHL, but was especially reviled by fans of the rival New York Rangers, who, in every game, gleefully exclaimed "Potvin sucks!"—and just as often chanted, in reference to Potvin's alleged domestic marital problems, "Beat your wife, Potvin! Beat your wife!" As a testament to the immense success the Potvin-led Islanders experienced -- quite often at the expense of the Rangers -- Rangers fans to this day continue to taunt Potvin at every game, even though Denis hasn't played in the NHL in almost 20 years. Potvin retired with the record for most goals, assists, and points by a defenseman, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. He currently is a color commentator for Florida Panthers television broadcasts on Fox Sports Net Florida.

Ottawa, Ontario

:This article is about the capital city of Canada. For other meanings see Ottawa (disambiguation). Ottawa is the capital of Canada and the country's fourth largest city. It is located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern part of the province of Ontario, at the northern edge of the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor, about 400 km (250 miles) east of Toronto and 190 km (120 miles) west of Montreal. The population of the city proper is 808,391, while the population of the larger Ottawa region is 1,146,790 (2004). The mayor of the city is Bob Chiarelli.

History

The Ottawa region was long home to First Nations peoples who were part of the Algonquin. The Algonquin called the river the Kichi Sibi or Kichissippi, meaning "Great River". The first European settlement in the Ottawa region was that of Philemon Wright who started a community on the Quebec side of the river in 1800. Wright discovered that transporting timber by river from the Ottawa Valley to Montreal was possible and Ottawa was soon booming based almost entirely off timber. Government backed sponsored immigration schemes brought over both poor Irish Catholics and Protestants to settle farm land in and around present day Ottawa, beginning in 1817 which began a steady stream of Irish immigration to the area over the next few decades. Along with French Canadians, many worked on the canal project and later in the timber trade. The region grew even further in importance in Upper Canada when the Rideau Canal was completed and constructed by Colonel John By in 1832 to connect Ottawa with Kingston and Lake Ontario. After the work was completed on the canal, Ottawa became the centre for lumber milling in Canada as the industry quickly expanded further up the Ottawa River. Sometimes violent disturbances would arise amongst competing interests attempting to procure the best positions within the timber trade itself. Ottawa was then known as Bytown, named after Colonel By until it was renamed Ottawa in 1855. Original city leaders of Bytown include a number of Wright's sons, most notably Ruggles Wright. Nicholas Sparks, Braddish Billings and Abraham Dow who were the first to settle on the Ontario side of the Ottawa river. Abraham Dow On December 31, 1857, Queen Victoria was asked to choose a common capital for Canada East and Canada West (modern Quebec and Ontario) and chose Ottawa. There are old folk tales about how she made the choice: that she did so by sticking her hatpin on a map roughly halfway between Toronto and Montreal, or that she liked watercolours she had seen of the area. While such stories have no historical basis, they do illustrate how arbitrary the choice of Ottawa seemed to Canadians at the time. While Ottawa is now a major metropolis and Canada's fourth largest city, at the time it was a sometimes unruly logging town in the hinterland, far away from the colony's main cities, Quebec City and Montreal in Canada East, and Kingston, and Toronto in Canada West. In fact, the Queen's advisors had her pick Ottawa for two important reasons: first, it was the only settlement of any significant size located right on the border of Canada East and Canada West (Quebec/Ontario border today), so it was a clever compromise between the two colonies and their French and English populations; second, the War of 1812 had shown how vulnerable the major cities were to American attack, since they were all located very close to the border. Ottawa's position in the back country made it more defensible, while still allowing easy transportation via the Ottawa River to Canada East and the Rideau Canal to Canada West. Two other considerations were that Ottawa was at a point nearly exactly midway between Toronto and Quebec City (about 500 km as the crow flies) and that the small size of the town made it less likely that politically motivated mobs could go on a rampage and destroy government buildings, as had been the case in the previous Canadian capitals. Rideau Canal The original Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa was destroyed by fire on February 3, 1916. The House of Commons was temporarily relocated to the recently constructed Victoria Memorial Museum, currently the Canadian Museum of Nature, located about 1 km south of Parliament Hill on Metcalfe Street. A new Centre Block was completed in 1922, the centre-piece of which is a dominant Gothic revival styled structure known as the Peace Tower which has become a common emblem of the city. Canadian Museum of Nature On September 5, 1945, only weeks after the end of World War II, Ottawa was the site of the event that many people consider to be the official start of the Cold War. A Soviet cipher clerk, Igor Gouzenko, defected from the Soviet embassy with over 100 secret documents. At first, the RCMP refused to take the documents, since the Soviets were still allies of Canada and Britain, and the newspapers were not interested in the story. After hiding out for a night in a neighbour's apartment listening to his own being searched, Gouzenko finally persuaded the RCMP to look at his evidence, which provided proof of a massive Soviet spy networking operating in western countries, and, indirectly, led to the discovery that the Soviets were working on an atomic bomb to match that of the Americans. In 2001, the old city of Ottawa (estimated 2005 population 350,000) was amalgamated with the suburbs of Nepean (135,000), Kanata (70,000), Gloucester (120,000), Rockcliffe Park (2,100), Vanier (17,000) and Cumberland (55,000), and the rural townships of West Carleton (18,000), Osgoode (13,000), Rideau (18,000) and Goulbourn (24,000), along with the systems and infrastructure of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, to become one municipality. Ottawa-Carleton used to be just Carleton County before 1969 and consisted of what is now the City of Ottawa except for Cumberland.

Geography

1969 Ottawa is situated on the south bank of the Ottawa River, and contains the mouths of the Rideau River and Rideau Canal. The oldest part of the city (including what remains of Bytown) is known as Lower Town and occupies an area between the canal and the rivers. Across the canal to the west lies Centretown (often just called "downtown"), which is the city's financial and commercial hub. Between here and the Ottawa River, the slight elevation of Parliament Hill is home to many of the capital's landmark government buildings, and is the Legislative seat of Canada. The City of Ottawa includes many urban areas. The main one extends a considerable distance to the east, west and south of the centre, and includes the former cities of Gloucester, Nepean and Vanier the former village of Rockcliffe Park and the suburban communities of Manotick and Orléans. Across the Ottawa River, which forms the border between Ontario and Québec, lies the city of Gatineau (formerly comprised of the towns of Gatineau, Hull, Aylmer, Buckingham and Masson-Angers). Although administered separately, the two cities both fall within the remit of the National Capital Commission and for many purposes are considered a single metropolitan area, called the National Capital Region. The combined population of Ottawa and Gatineau exceeds one million residents. Around the main urban area is an extensive greenbelt, administered by the National Capital Commission for conservation and leisure, and comprising mostly forest farmland, and marshland. In addition to the main urban area, there is the Kanata urban area consisting of the urbanised part of the former city of Kanata and the former village of Stittsville (pop. 70,320). There are also a number of satellite towns and rural communities that are also urban areas (urban fringes) that lie beyond the greenbelt but are administratively part of the Ottawa municipality. These are Constance Bay (pop. 2,327); Kars (pop. 1,539); Metcalfe (pop. 1,610); Munster (pop. 1,390); Osgoode (pop. 2,571); and Richmond (pop. 3,287). Richmond Ottawa itself is a single-tiered city, meaning it is in itself a census division and has no county or regional municipality government above it. Ottawa is bounded on the west by Renfrew County and Lanark County; on the south by the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville and the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry; on the east by the United Counties of Prescott and Russell; and on the north by the Regional County Municipality of Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais and the City of Gatineau. Ottawa is made up of 11 historic townships, 10 of which are from historic Carleton County and one from historic Russell. They are Cumberland, Fitzroy, Gloucester, Goulbourn, Huntley, March, Marlborough, Nepean, North Gower, Osgoode and Torbolton.

Climate

Ottawa has a range of temperatures from +40°C in the summer to -40°C in the winter, making it the second coldest capital city in the world (after Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia). This 80 degree range in temperature, allows Ottawa to boast a variety of annual activities and the requirement of a wide range of clothing. Snow and ice are dominant during the winter season. Ottawa receives close to 250 cm (100 inches) of snowfall. Average January temperature is -11°C (12°F), although days well above freezing and nights below -40°C are both not uncommon in the winter. The snow season is quite variable; in an average winter, a lasting snow cover is on the ground from late November until early April, although some years are snow-free until around or past Christmas. Ice storms are also relatively common, even if compared with other parts of the country. One such large storm caused power outages and affected the local economy, and came to be known as the 1998 Ice Storm. Summers are fairly warm and humid in Ottawa, although they are typically short in duration. The average July maximum temperature is 27°C (80°F), although temperatures of 40°C or higher are not uncommon. During periods of hot weather, high humidity is often an aggravating factor, especially close to the rivers. Spring and fall are variable, prone to extremes in temperature and unpredictable swings in conditions. Hot days above 30°C (86°F) have occurred as early as April or as late as October, as well as snow well into May and early in October (although such events are unusual). Average annual precipitation averages around 950 mm (37 in.). There are about 2,060 hours of average sunshine annually (47% of possible). Destructive summer weather events such as tornadoes, major flash floods, extreme heat waves, severe hail and remnant effects from hurricanes are rare, but all have occurred before.

Transportation

hurricane train system]] Ottawa is served by VIA Rail passenger service, by a number of airlines which fly into Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (called by that name only outside of Canada. In Canada, it is better known as Ottawa International) and by a number of long distance bus companies, including Greyhound . The capital city of Canada is also served by a network of freeways, the main one being provincial Highway 417 (called The Queensway), Ottawa-Carleton Regional Road 174 (Formerly Provincial Highway 17), and the newly constructed Highway 416 (Veterans' Memorial Highway), connecting Ottawa to the rest of the 400-Series Highway network in Ontario. Highway 417 is also the Ottawa portion of the Trans-Canada Highway. The city also has a few Scenic Parkways (Promenades), such as the Ottawa River Parkway, and has a freeway connection to Quebec Autoroute 5, in Hull. For a complete listing of the parkways and roads in Ottawa, see the List of Ottawa roads. Ottawa's main mass transit company is OC Transpo, a service provided by the City of Ottawa. The bus transit system includes the Transitway, a network of mostly grade-separated, extremely high-frequency, reserved bus rapid transit lanes with full stations instead of stops. There is also a pilot-project diesel light rail system called the O-Train. See Ottawa Rapid Transit. Both OC Transpo and the Quebec-based Société de transport de l'Outaouais (STO) operate bus services between Ottawa and Gatineau. The Rideau Canal, which starts in Kingston, Ontario, winds its way through the city. The final flight of locks on the canal are between Parliament Hill and the Château Laurier. Also, during the winter season the canal is usually open and is a form of transportation downtown for about 7.8 km for ice skaters (from a point near Carleton University to the Rideau Centre)and forms the [http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/skateway/index_e.asp world's longest skating rink]. There is a large network of pedestrian and cycling trails that wind their way through much of the city, including trails along the Ottawa River, Rideau River, and Rideau Canal. In combination with a growing network of on-street bicycle lanes, it is possible to cycle between many of the major sites and office areas in the region. Ottawa sits at the confluence of three major rivers: the Ottawa River, the Gatineau River and the Rideau River. The Ottawa and Gatineau rivers were historically important in the logging and lumber industries, and the Rideau as part of the Rideau Canal system connecting the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River with the Ottawa River.

Notable buildings and institutions

Ottawa River Some of the notable buildings in Ottawa include the Parliament Buildings, where Canada's government resides; 24 Sussex Drive, the home of the Prime Minister of Canada; and Rideau Hall, the home of the Governor-General of Canada. Ottawa also has most of Canada's national museums, including the National Gallery of Canada, Canadian War Museum, Canada Science and Technology Museum, Canada Aviation Museum and Canadian Museum of Nature. The Canadian Museum of Civilization is located across the Ottawa River in Gatineau, Quebec. Ottawa is also the home of the University of Ottawa, Carleton University, Algonquin College, and La Cité Collégiale. Federal buildings in the National Capital Region are managed by the Public Works Canada, while most of the federal lands in the Region are managed by the National Capital Commission or NCC; its control of much undeveloped land gives the NCC a great deal of influence over the city's development. As with other capital cities, the word Ottawa is also used to refer by metonymy to the country's federal government, especially as opposed to provincial or municipal authorities.

Primary industries

Ottawa's primary employers are the Canadian federal government and high technology. Major companies such as MBNA Canada Bank, Nortel, Alcatel, JDS Uniphase, Mitel, Bell Canada, TELUS, IBM, Corel and Cognos have offices in the city.

Sports

Cognos of the National Hockey League play.]] Ottawa is home to two major league sports teams, the Ottawa Senators ice hockey team (established 1992) of the National Hockey League and the Ottawa Renegades (established 2002) Canadian football team of the Canadian Football League. The Senators play at the Corel Centre and the Renegades at Frank Clair Stadium. Ottawa is also home to a minor league baseball team, the AAA farm team of the Baltimore Orioles, the Ottawa Lynx of the International League. Ottawa also has a major junior ice hockey team, the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey League. Ottawa's two major universities, Carleton University and the University of Ottawa both have athletic associations; the team names are the Carleton Ravens and the Ottawa Gee Gees respectively. Ottawa's top soccer (football) team is the Ottawa Fury who play in the women's W-League and the men's USL Premier Development League. Harness and Horse racing can be found at Rideau Carleton Raceway off Albion Road and Auto racing can be found at the Capital City Speedway off Highway 7. The city also supports many casual sporting activities, such as skating on the Rideau Canal or curling in winter, cycling and jogging along the Ottawa River and Rideau Canal in summer, playing Ultimate all year round (especially through the [http://www.ocua.ca/ O.C.U.A.]), skiing and hiking in the Greenbelt, and sailing on Lac Deschenes, part of the Ottawa River or golfing on many of the golf courses in the Ottawa area. During the coldest parts of winter there is ice fishing on the Ottawa river.

Politics

In addition to being the capital of Canada, Ottawa is politically diverse with regard to local politics. Most of the city traditionally supports the Liberal Party, although only some parts of the city are consistent Liberal strongholds. Perhaps the safest areas for the Liberals are the ones dominated by francophones, especially in Vanier and central Gloucester. Central Ottawa is usually more left-leaning, and the New Democratic Party can win ridings there as government unions and activist groups are fairly strong. Some of Ottawa's suburbs are swing areas, notably central Nepean and, despite its francophone population, Orléans. The southern and western parts of the old city of Ottawa are generally moderate or slightly left of centre but periodically swing to the Conservative Party The farther one goes from the city centre - into suburban fringes like Kanata and Barrhaven and rural areas - the voters tend to be increasingly conservative, both fiscally and socially. This is especially true in the former Townships of West Carleton, Goulbourn, Rideau and Osgoode, which are more in line with the staunchly conservative areas in the surrounding counties. However not all rural areas support the Conservative Party. Rural parts of the former township of Cumberland, with a large number of francophones, traditionally support the Liberal Party, though their support has recently weakened. Ottawa became Northwest Territories capital when it reverted to 1870 constitutional status, after Alberta, and Saskatchewan were carved out in 1905. From 1905 to 1951 almost all of the council members were civil servants living in Ottawa. From 1951 to 1967 the territory alternated legislative sessions with various Northwest Territories communities. Ottawa only held legislative sessions of the council. Fort Smith, Northwest Territories became the administrative center and officially housed the civil service from 1911 to 1967.

Demographics

Fort Smith, Northwest Territories According to the Canada 2001 Census, there are 774,072 people, 310,132 households, and 210,875 families residing in the city. The population density is 278.6/km². The linguistic makeup (mother tongue) of the city is 63.6% anglophone, 15.0% francophone, 0.9% both languages, 20.3% allophone. Provincial law requires the City of Ottawa to have a policy respecting its use of French and English; accordingly, City Council has passed an official bilingualism policy recognising both of Canada's official languages as having the same rights, status and privileges within the municipal government. This policy is controversial. See also Bilingualism in Ottawa for a greater discussion of the City's official bilingualism policy. Other languages include (20% sample data):
- Chinese: 3.0% (includes Mandarin, Cantonese and "other Chinese")
- Arabic: 2.7%
- Italian: 1.4%

Ethnic origin

The racial makeup of the city is 80.90% White, 4.54% Black, 3.62% Chinese, 2.84% South Asian, 2.67% Arab, 1.14% Southeast Asian, 1.13% Aboriginal, 0.85% Latin American, 0.66% West Asian, 0.64% Filipino, 0.20% Japanese, 0.19% Korean, 0.31% other, 0.33% multiple responses. ;European
- The European or White population is very diverse, but three groups dominate. The French, English and Irish each represent over 20% of the population and if grouped together, constitute almost 70% of the total population. However, those who claim Scottish, German, and Italian backgrounds are sizable. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, new immigrants from Bosnia, and Yugoslavia created a substantial Eastern European population. ;Black
- For many years, the Black population in Ottawa was very small, and was chiefly those of Jamaican origin. In the 1990s, Haitian refugees fleeing poverty and political unrest gave the Black population an increased influx. In the past three years, Ottawa has seen sharp growth in the Somali, and Ethiopian population. ;Chinese
- The Chinese have been in Ottawa since the 1800s, but in the 1990s, Ottawa saw growth in the Chinese population as many moved from Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Many of them are wealthy adherents to Buddhism and forms of Christianity. ;Arab
- Arabs have also lived in Ottawa for many generations. However, there numbers were quite small until the late 1980s to 1990s when substantial numbers of Lebanese, Syrians, Palestinians, and later Egyptians started to enter mostly as refugees. Others races include Asians, Hispanics, and Filipino.

Religion

In 2001, 79.2% (Roman Catholic 56.2%, Protestant 21.8%, Orthodox, and other 3.3%) Christian, 3.9% Muslim, 1% Jewish, 0.9% Buddhists, and the remaining consists mostly of non-religious people.

Family and age

There are 210,875 families, of which 72.8% are married couples living together, 11.1% are common-law couples, and 13.2% have a female householder with no husband present. The age profile of the city is spread out: 25.3% are under the age of 19, 6.9% from 20 to 24, 32.5% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36.7 years. For every 100 females, there are 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.1 males. The median income for a working individual in the city is $39,713, and the median income for a family is $73,507. Males have a median income of $47,203 versus $31,641 for females. The per capita income for the city is $23,061.

Population history

;Current borders
- 1901 - 101,102
- 1911 - 123,417
- 1921 - 152,868
- 1931 - 174,056
- 1941 - 206,367
- 1951 - 246,298
- 1961 - 358,410
- 1971 - 471,931
- 1981 - 546,850
- 1991 - 678,147
- 2001 - 774,075 Source: [http://www.ottawa.ca/city_services/planningzoning/facts/data_handbook/who/table_2_en.shtml City of Ottawa] ;Agglomeration
- 1851 - 7,800
- 1861 - 14,700
- 1871 - 21,500
- 1881 - 27,400
- 1891 - 44,200
- 1901 - 59,500
- 1911 - 87,100
- 1921 - 108,000
- 1931 - 127,000
- 1941 - 155,000
- 1951 - 215,000
- 1961 - 429,800
- 1971 - 596,200
- 1981 - 693,300
- 1991 - 952,200
- 2001 - 1,070,000 Source: [http://www.rootsweb.com/~canon/research-topic-misc-population.html Ontario GenWeb]

Local media

Education

- Algonquin College
- Carleton University
- La Cité Collégiale
- Saint Paul University
- University of Ottawa

Items of interest

University of Ottawa University of Ottawa The National Research Council of Canada's shortwave time signal station, CHU, is located in Ottawa.

Geographical features

- List of Ottawa bridges
- List of Ottawa buildings
- List of Ottawa churches
- List of Ottawa schools
- List of Ottawa's 10 tallest skyscrapers
- List of embassies and high commissions in Ottawa
- List of Ottawa neighbourhoods
- List of Ottawa parks
- List of Ottawa roads
- National Capital Region

Events

- Canada Dance Festival
- Ottawa Dragon Boat Race Festival
- Ottawa Fringe Festival
- Ottawa International Children's Festival
- Ottawa International Hockey Festival
- Winterlude is an annual winter carnival held each year in February. It is focused on the Rideau Canal.
- Tulip Festival each May Ottawa receives a gift of several hundred thousand tulips from the royal family of the Netherlands. These are displayed throughout the city.
- Canada Day is one of Ottawa's most important holidays and people from across the nation visit to celebrate the nation's birthday.
- Ottawa SuperEX is an eleven-day exhibition with entertainment and amusements that takes place every August.
- [http://www.hopehelps.com/ Hope Volleyball Summerfest] is the world's largest volleyball tournament with more than 25,000 players and spectators attending a gigantic beach party with funds going to local charities.
- [http://www.chamberfest.com/ Ottawa Chamber Music Festival] is the world's largest festival of chamber music, held annually.
- Ottawa Bluesfest is an annual outdoor music festival, dubbed the largest blues festival in Canada.
- [http://www.ottawajazzfestival.com/ Ottawa Jazz Festival] is an annual outdoor music festival highlighting local, national and international jazz musicians.
- [http://ottawa.awn.com/ Ottawa International Animation Festival] is an annual international animation festival featuring works of the film makers from all over the world.

Motto

"Advance" is the motto of the Ottawa [http://ottawa.ca/city_services/culture/2_8_en.shtml] and The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa. From the [http://www.camerons.ca/cameronhome.htm Highlander's homepage]:

The 43rd Ottawa and Carleton Battalion of Rifles was first permitted to adopt the motto "ADVANCE" and to bear the same upon its appointments in accordance with General Order - 82 dated 13 January, 1882. This motto has been perpetuated by all successors to the 43rd, including the Regiment today. It is the motto of the City of Ottawa.

Although Ottawa is often associated with the Governor's Generals Foot Guards (who wear the distinctive scarlet tunic and Bearskin headdress, and parade regularly on Parliament Hill during the summer), the Cameron Highlanders have a special privilege: marching with bayonets fixed when they march through town. This is part of the "Freedom of the City" honour, accorded to the unit by the mayor of Ottawa in May 1969.

External links

- [http://www.ottawa.ca/ City of Ottawa's website]
- [http://www.ottawastart.com/ OttawaStart.com]
- [http://www.parliamenthill.gc.ca/text/hillcam_e.html Parliament Hill Webcam]
- [http://collections.ic.gc.ca/bytown/ Musée Bytown Museum]
- [http://www.copanational.org/PlacesToFly/airport_view.php?pr_id=1&ap_id=170 Page about the Ottawa International Airport in the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association's Places to Fly directory - includes photos of the airport]
- [http://www.ottawa-information-guide.com/ Ottawa-Information-Guide.com]
- [http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/magazine/so05/indepth/ Interesting Facts About Ottawa from Canadian Geographic]
- [http://www.greatcanadianrivers.com/rivers/ottawa/culture-home.html Ottawa River article] Category:Ottawa Category:Capitals in North America zh-min-nan:Ottawa ko:오타와 ja:オタワ simple:Ottawa, Ontario

1953

1953 (MCMLIII) is a common year starting on Thursday.

Events

January

- January 7 - President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb.
- January 12 - Estonian emigres find a government in exile in Oslo
- January 13 - Marshal Josip Broz Tito chosen President of Yugoslavia
- January 15 - Georg Dertinger, foreign minister of East Germany, is arrested for spying
- January 20 - Change of US presidency from Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) to Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961).
- January 22 - The Crucible, a drama by Arthur Miller, opens on Broadway
- January 24 – Mau Mau rebels in Kenya kill Ruck family – father, mother and a 6-year-old son
- January 26 - Walter Ulbricht announces that the agriculture will be collectivized in East Germany
- January 28 - Derek Bentley is executed for murder in Wandsworth Prison
- January 31-February 1 - North Sea flood of 1953 kills 1,835 people in the southwestern Netherlands (especially Zeeland), 307 in the United Kingdom and several hundred at sea, including 132 on the ferry Princess Victoria in the Irish Sea

February

- February 1 - Surge of North Sea Flood of 1953 continues from the previous day.
- February 5 - The movie Peter Pan premieres (Roxy Theatre, New York City).
- February 11 - President Eisenhower refuses clemency appeal for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.
- February 11 - The Soviet Union breaks diplomatic relations with Israel.
- February 13 - Transsexual Christine Jorgenson returns to New York after successful sexual reassignment surgery in Denmark
- February 18 - The first 3D film, Bwana Devil opens.
- February 19 - Censorship: Georgia approves the first literature censorship board in the United States
- February 28 - James D. Watson and Francis Crick announce that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA.

March-April

- March 1 - After an all-night dinner with Soviet Union interior minister Lavrenty Beria and future premiers Georgi Malenkov, Nikolai Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev, Joseph Stalin collapses, having suffered a stroke that paralyzed the right side of his body.
- March 1 - Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg made the deputy constable and lieutenant governor of Windsor Castle
- March 5 - After 29 years of ruling the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin dies.
- March 6 - Georgy Maksimilianovich Malenkov succeeds Josef Stalin as Premier and First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
- March 11 - U.S. B-47 bomber accidentally drops an atom bomb on Mars Bluff, South Carolina. Fortunately it fails to detonate.
- March 13 - United Nations Security Council nominates Dag Hammarskjöld as United Nations Secretary General
- March 14 - Nikita Khruschev selected general secretary of the Soviet communist party
- March 17 - Nuclear test in Nevada - with 1620 spectators in 3.4 km
- March 18 - An earthquake hits western Turkey killing 250.
- March 25-26 – Lari Massacre in Kenya – Mau Mau rebels kill up to 150 kikuyu
- March 26 - Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine.
- April 7 - Dag Hammarskjöld is elected United Nations Secretary General.
- April 8 – Jomo Kenyatta is sentenced for seven years in prison for alleged organization of Mau Mau Rebellion
- April 13 - Ian Fleming publishes his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale in the United Kingdom
- April 25 - Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish their description of the double helix structure of DNA.(::Watson, J. D. and Crick, F. H. C. (1953). [http://www.nature.com/genomics/human/watson-crick/index.html Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid]. Nature 171, 737-738.)

May

DNA
- May 2 - Hussein is crowned King of Jordan.
- May 2 - 38-year-old Stanley Matthews finally wins the FA Cup at his third attempt, in the famous 'Matthews Final'
- May 9 – France agrees to the provisional independence of Cambodia with the king Norodom Sihanouk
- May 10 - Town of Chemnitz in East Germany becomes Karl Marx Stadt
- May 11 - The Waco Tornado: A F5 tornado hits in the downtown section of Waco, Texas killing 114.
- May 18 - At Rogers Dry Lake, California Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier (she flew in a F-86 Sabrejet at an average speed of 652.337 miles-per-hour).
- May 25 - Nuclear testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test.
- May 29 - Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay perform the first successful ascent to the summit of Mount Everest.

June-July

Mount Everest
- June 2 - Coronation of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom at Westminster Abbey.
- June 8 - Flint-Worcester Tornadoes: A tornado hits in Flint, Michigan and kills 115. This is the last tornado to claim more than 100 lives.
- June 8 - Austria and Soviet Union form diplomatic relations
- June 9 - CIA Technical Services Staff head Sidney Gottlieb approves of the use of LSD in a MKULTRA subproject.
- June 9 - Flint-Worcester Tornadoes: A tornado spawned from the same storm system as the Flint tornado hits in Worcester, Massachusetts killing 94.
- June 12 - Currency reform causes riots in Czechoslovakia
- June 13 - Hungarian Prime Minister Mátyás Rákosi is replaced by Imre Nagy.
- June 16 - Soviet Union and Yugoslavia form diplomatic relations
- June 17 - Workers Uprising: In East Germany, the Soviet Union orders a Division (military) of troops into East Berlin to quell a rebellion.
- June 18 - Egypt declares a republic
- June 19 - Execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
- June 30 - The first Chevrolet Corvette is built at Flint (Michigan)
- July 4 - Strikes and riots in coal mining regions in Poland
- July 5 - First meeting of the assembly of the European Economic Community in Strasbourg, France
- July 10 – Soviet official paper Pravda announces that Lavrenti Beria has been deposed from his positions as a head of NKVD
- July 18 - Flood in the Hodno island in Japan - 1700 dead, 7000 injured
- July 26 - Fidel Castro and his brother lead a disastrous assault on the Moncada Barracks - preliminary to the Cuban Revolution.
- July 27 - Korean War ends: The United States, People's Republic of China, North Korea, and South Korea sign an armistice agreement.

August-October

- August 5 - Operation Big Switch, operation to repatriate prisoners of war after the Korean War
- August 7 - Ohio admitted as a U. S. state, retroactive to 1803.
- August 8 - Soviet prime minister Georgi Malenkov announces that Soviet Union has a hydrogen bomb
- August 11 - Earthquake devastates islands of the Ionian Sea
- August 13 - 4 million workers go on strike in France to protest austerity measures
- August 17 - Addiction: First meeting of Narcotics Anonymous in Southern California, see October 5.
- August 18 - Kinsey report
- August 19 - Cold War: The CIA helps to overthrow the government of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran and retain Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on the throne (see: Operation Ajax).
- August 20 - French government oust the sultan of Morocco and exiles him to Corsica
- August 20 - USA gives West Germany 382 ships it captured during World War Two
- August 25 - General strike ends in France
- September 3 - Birthday, Cheryl Tutson, 1953
- September 5 - United Nations does not accept Soviet Union's suggestion to accept China as a member
- September 7 - Nikita Khrushchev becomes head of the Soviet Central Committee.
- September 25 - Hurricane in South-East Asia - over 1000 dead
- September 25 - First German prisoners of war return from Soviet Union to West Germany
- September 26 - Rationing of sugar ends in the United Kingdom
- October - The UNIVAC 1103 is the first commercial computer to use random access memory.
- October 5 - First meeting of Narcotics Anonymous (first planning session was held August 17)
- October 9 - Konrad Adenauer is re-elected as a German chancellor
- October 12 - "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" opens at Plymouth Theatre, New York.
- October 30 - Cold War: US President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally approves the top secret document National Security Council Paper No. 162/2, which states that the United States' arsenal of nuclear weapons must be maintained and expanded to counter the communist threat.

November-December

- November 5 - David Ben Gurion resigns as a prime minister of Israel
- November 9 - Cambodia becomes independent from France.
- November 9 - King Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia dies
- November 21 - Authorities at the British Natural History Museum announce that the skull of the "Piltdown Man", one of the most famous fossil skulls in the world, is a hoax.
- November 23 - Moscow announces that Lavrenti Beria has been executed
- November 25 - England lose 6-3 to Hungary at Wembley Stadium, their first ever loss to a continental team at home
- November 29 - French paratroopers take Dien Bien Phu
- December 2 - United Kingdom and Iran reform diplomatic relations
- December 8 - US president Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his Atoms for Peace address to the UN General Assembly in New York City
- December 23 – Soviet Union announces officially that Lavrenti Beria has been executed
- December 24 - 153 people die as a result of the Tangiwai disaster when the railway bridge collapses at Tangiwai, New Zealand sending a fully loaded passenger train into the Whangaehu River
- December 30 - The first color television sets go on sale for about $1,175 (American dollars).

Births

January-February

- January 4 - George Tenet, American Central Intelligence Agency director
- January 8 - Bruce Sutter, baseball player
- January 10 - Pat Benatar, American singer
- January 10 - Bobby Rahal, American race car driver
- January 19 - Desi Arnaz Jr., American actor
- January 21 - Paul Allen, American entrepreneur
- January 22 - Jim Jarmusch, American director
- January 26 - Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
- February 7 - Dan Quisenberry, baseball player (d. 1998)
- February 8 - Mary Steenburgen, American actress
- February 11 - Philip Anglim, American actor
- February 11 - Jeb Bush, brother of President George W Bush and son of George H.W. Bush and Barbara Pierce Bush
- February 11 - Alan Rubin, American musician
- February 17 - Norman Pace, British actor and comedian
- February 21 - William Petersen, American actor
- February 25 - José María Aznar, Spanish politician
- February 25 - Martin Kippenberger, German artist

March-May

- March 1 - Richard Bruton, Irish politician and economist
- March 6 - Jan Kjærstad, Norwegian author
- March 6 - Jacklyn Zeman, American actress
- March 12 - Carl Hiaasen, American author
- March 12 - Ron Jeremy, American actor
- March 16 - Isabelle Huppert, French actress
- March 16 - Richard Stallman, American free software proponent
- March 23 - Chaka Khan, American singer
- March 26 - Elaine Chao, U.S. Secretary of Labor
- April 1 - Barry Sonnenfeld, American film producer and director
- April 11 - Guy Verhofstadt, Prime Minister of Belgium
- April 11 - Andrew Wiles, British-born mathematician
- April 16 - J. Neil Schulman, American writer and activist
- May 6 - Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- May 15 - George Brett, baseball player
- May 15 - Mike Oldfield, English composer
- May 16 - Pierce Brosnan, Irish actor
- May 19 - Victoria Wood, British comic actress
- May 20 - Robert Doyle, Australian politician
- May 24 - Alfred Molina, English actor
- May 26 - Michael Portillo, English politician
- May 29 - Danny Elfman, American composer
- May 30 - Colm Meaney, Irish actor

June-August

- June 1 - David Berkowitz, American serial killer
- June 8 - Bonnie Tyler, Welsh singer
- June 13 - Tim Allen, American actor
- June 21 - Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan
- July 14 - Bebe Buell, American model and singer
- July 15 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide, President of Haiti
- July 15 - Mila Pivnicki, First Lady of Canada
- July 29 - Geddy Lee, Canadian musician (Rush)
- August 5 - Rick Mahler, baseball player (d. 2005)
- August 9 - Robert Cray, American musician
- August 11 - Hulk Hogan, American professional wrestler
- August 18 - Louie Gohmert, American politician
- August 19 - Benoît Régent, French actor (d. 1994)
- August 31 - György Károly, Hungarian author

October-December

- October 2 - Brandon Wilson, American author and explorer
- October 7 - Christopher Norris, British actress
- October 7 - Tico Torres, American musician (Bon Jovi)
- October 9 - Tony Shalhoub, American actor
- October 12 - Serge Lepeltier, French politician
- October 12 - Les Dennis, British comedian and television presenter
- October 22 - Jeff Goldblum, American actor
- October 27 - Robert Picardo, American actor
- October 27 - Peter Firth, British actor
- October 31 - Michael J. Anderson, American actor
- November 4 - Carlos Gutierrez, American politician
- November 14 - Dominique de Villepin, Prime Minister of France
- November 18 - Alan Moore, English writer and magician
- November 19 - Robert Beltran, American actor
- November 19 - Tom Villard, American actor (d. 1994)
- November 28 - Ben Bolt, American guitarist
- November 23 - Francis Cabrel, French singer
- November 29 - Alex Grey, American artist
- December 6 - Gary Ward, baseball player
- December 8 - Kim Basinger, American actress
- December 13 - Ben Bernanke, American economist
- December 13 - Bob Gainey, Canadian hockey player
- December 29 - Stanley Williams, a notorious Crips street gangs (d. 2005)

Deaths

- January 1 - Hank Williams, American musician (b. 1923)
- January 28 - James Scullin, ninth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876)
- March 2 - Jim Lightbody, American runner (b. 1882)
- March 5 - Herman J. Mankiewicz, American writer and producer (b. 1897)
- March 5 - Sergei Prokofiev, Russian composer (b. 1891)
- March 5 - Joseph Stalin, Soviet leader (b. 1879)
- March 24 - Queen Mary the Dowager Queen Mother, queen of George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1867)
- March 28 - Jim Thorpe, American athlete (b. 1887)
- May 29 - Man Mountain Dean, American professional wrestler (b. 1891)
- July 26 - Nikolaos Plastiras, Greek general and politician (b. 1883)
- July 29 - Richard William Pearse, New Zealand airplane pioneer (b. 1877)
- August 22 - Jim Tabor, baseball player (b. 1916)
- September 2 - General Jonathan Wainwright, U.S. Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1883)
- September 8 - Fred M. Vinson, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1890)
- September 28 - Edwin Hubble, American astronomer (b. 1889)
- October 3 - Arnold Bax, English composer (b. 1887)
- October 8 - Kathleen Ferrier, British contralto (b. 1912)
- October 25 - Holger Pedersen, Dutch linguist (b. 1867)
- October 27 - Thomas Wass, English cricketer (b. 1873)
- November 8 - Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1870)
- November 8 - John van Melle, Dutch-born author (b. 1883)
- November 9 - Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet and author (b. 1914)
- November 21 - Larry Shields, American musician (b. 1893)
- November 27 - Eugene O'Neill, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
- November 28 - Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
- November 29 - Sam De Grasse, Canadian actor (b. 1875)
- November 30 - Francis Picabia, French painter and poet (b. 1879)
- December 18 - Robert Millikan, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1868)
- December 27 - Julian Tuwim, Polish poet (b. 1894)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Frits (Frederik) Zernike
- Chemistry - Hermann Staudinger
- Medicine - Hans Adolf Krebs, Fritz Albert Lipmann
- Literature - Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill
- Peace - George Catlett Marshall Category:1953 ko:1953년 ms:1953 ja:1953年 simple:1953 th:พ.ศ. 2496

National Hockey League

, the trophy awarded to its champion.]] The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional sports organization composed of hockey teams in the United States and Canada, where it is also known by its French name, Ligue Nationale de Hockey (LNH). It is generally regarded as the premier professional ice hockey league in the world. The NHL is often listed as one of the major professional sports leagues of North America.

History

The beginnings to The Original Six

The National Hockey League was founded in 1917 after a series of disputes within the (Canadian) National Hockey Association (NHA). The first NHL season began in 1917-18 with five teams. 1917-18 The primary conflict involved Toronto Blueshirts' owner Edward J. Livingstone. An ongoing source of controversy among fellow NHA owners, he was often accused of exploiting loopholes in league regulations to create what some viewed as unfair advantages, and had particularly incited the wrath of owners when he merged his two Toronto teams (the Ontarios and the Blueshirts) after the latter had been deprived of its top players. Livingstone sometimes offered contracts to other teams' members not to play hockey, and once campaigned to kick the Montreal Wanderers out of the league after the team tried to lure two of his top Blueshirts players. Throughout his battles with owners, Livingstone repeatedly threatened to start a rival league in the United States. In its final season (1916-17), the National Hockey Association was comprised of six teams: The Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, Toronto Blueshirts, and an army team from the Toronto-based 228th Battalion. Owners met in Montreal to consider the league's future on February 11, 1917, a day after members of the 228th Battalion, the most popular NHA team, were called into World War I action. Livingstone, unable to attend the meeting because of illness, was shocked to learn that owners had chosen to effectively eject him and the Blueshirts from the NHA. After the resignation of NHA president and Livingstone ally Frank Robinson, Livingstone stopped attending league meetings and sent a lawyer to represent his interests. When owners convened on September 29, 1917, they demanded that Livingstone sell the Blueshirts within five days. Livingstone then negotiated a deal in which the Toronto Arena Gardens would take control of the Blueshirts' daily business, with Livingstone to eventually regain control if the NHA continued operations. In response, NHA owners met at Montreal's Windsor Hotel on November 26, 1917, and formed the National Hockey League, with the Canadiens, Wanderers, Senators, Bulldogs and newly-renamed Toronto Arenas as founding members. The NHL endured a rocky inaugural season in 1917-18, starting with the temporary shuttering of the Bulldogs. On January 2, 1918, the Westmount Arena in Montreal, home to the Wanderers and Canadiens, was destroyed in a fire. The Wanderers, already a shadow of its former self, folded in the wake of the fire, ending one of the most storied franchises in the early years of Canadian professional hockey. With the Bulldogs and Wanderers out, the NHL operated with just three teams for the remainder of its opening year, and through the second season. Though Livingstone had been shut out, one of his NHA ideas — a proposal for a split regular season — was adopted by the new league and integrated into its playoff system. The Toronto Arenas became the first NHL winner of the Stanley Cup, the annual trophy awarded since 1893 to the Canadian hockey champion. A furious Livingstone, meanwhile, failed in his attempt to collect a share of profits from the Arenas, then sued the team and the NHL. The dispute lingered through the 1930s, with the Arenas since renamed the Toronto St. Patricks and ultimately the Toronto Maple Leafs. History has looked back on Livingstone and the NHL's formation with a sense of irony: The man whom league owners had worked so hard to exclude was, in the words of Canadiens owner George Kennedy, the same figure that "made [the NHL] a real league". Though the league struggled to stay in business during its first decade, NHL teams were quite successful on the ice, winning the Stanley Cup seven out of its first nine years. (The 1918-19 competition was cancelled because of the Spanish Flu epidemic that had hit Seattle). By 1926, having increased player salaries to a level that couldn't be matched by other Canadian leagues, the NHL was alone in Stanley Cup competition. The league had also expanded into the United States, with the Boston Bruins in 1924, the New York Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1925 and the New York Rangers, Detroit Cougars (later to become the Red Wings), and Chicago Blackhawks in 1926. By the end of the 1930-31 season, the NHL featured a total of 10 teams. However, the Great Depression took a toll on the league; teams such as the Pirates and the Americans folded, and even the fabled Ottawa Senators were forced to fold after moving to St. Louis because of financial difficulties. With these developments and the onset of World War II, the NHL was reduced to six teams during its 25th anniversary year of (1942) – six teams still known today, if somewhat inaccurately, as the Original Six: The Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Bruins, Rangers, and Blackhawks. World War II had provided many players their first chance to play professional hockey, but after the war, many found themselves relegated to minor leagues.

Expansion: 1967 and beyond

Minor leagues, especially in the western United States, often fielded teams that arguably could have defeated Stanley Cup champions. The rise of the Western Hockey League, which many pundits thought planned to transform into a major league and challenge for the Stanley Cup, spurred the NHL in 1967 to undertake its first expansion since the 1920s. Six new teams were added to the NHL roster, and placed in their own newly-created division. They were the Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Oakland Seals, and Pittsburgh Penguins. Three years later, the NHL added the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres as franchises. In 1972, the World Hockey Association (WHA) was formed. Though it never challenged for the Stanley Cup, its status as a viable NHL rival was unquestionable. In response to that, the NHL decided to rush its own expansion plans by adding the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames that year, along with the Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals two years later. The dilution of the talent pool, however, caused the overall quality of play to suffer. The two leagues fought for the services of hockey players and fans until the WHA folded in 1979. Four of the remaining six WHA teams merged with the NHL: The Hartford Whalers, Québec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, and Winnipeg Jets. As of 2005, the Oilers are the last remaining original WHA franchise still playing in the city where they began in the NHL.

Labour Issues

There have been three work stoppages in NHL history, all happening between 1992 and 2005. The first was a strike by the National Hockey League Players Association in April 1992 which lasted for 10 days, but the strike was settled quickly and all affected games were rescheduled. A lockout at the start of the 1994-95 forced the league to reduce the schedule from 84 games to just 48, with the teams playing only intra-conference games during the reduced season. The resulting collective bargaining agreement was set for renegotiation in 1998 and extended to September 15, 2004. Negotiations to replace the contract that expired in 2004 turned into one of the most contentious collective bargaining sessions in the history of professional sports. The league vowed to install what it dubbed "cost certainty" for its teams, but the National Hockey League Players Association countered that the move was little more than a euphemism for a salary cap, which the union initially said it would not accept. With no new agreement in hand when the existing contract expired on September 15, 2004, league commissioner Gary Bettman announced a lockout of the players union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office, causing the NHL to lose an entire season. A new collective bargaining agreement was ratified in July 2005 with a term of six years with an option of extending the collective bargaining agreement for an additional year at the end of the term, allowing the NHL to resume as of the 2005-06 season.

Post Lockout

On October 5, 2005, the first post-lockout NHL season got under way with 15 games. Of those 15 games, 11 were in front of sell out crowds. The NHL, despite negative press generated during the lockout, has success attracting fans to the initial games of the season and extends fan bases into non-traditional markets in the US such as Nashville, Atlanta, and the Carolinas.

Trophies and awards

2005]] The National Hockey League also presents numerous trophies, in addition to the Stanley Cup for the overall playoff champion, as well as the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl for the Western Conference playoff champions and the Prince of Wales Trophy for the Eastern Conference playoff champions. They include:
- Art Ross Memorial Trophy (1948 - present) -- regular season league scoring champion
- Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (1968 - present) -- perseverance and sportsmanship
- Calder Memorial Trophy (1933 - present) -- rookie of the year
- Conn Smythe Trophy (1965 - present) -- most valuable player during the playoffs
- Frank J. Selke Trophy (1978 - present) -- top defensive forward
- Hart Memorial Trophy (1924 - present) -- most valuable player during the regular season
- Jack Adams Award (1974 - present) -- coach of the year
- James Norris Memorial Trophy (1954 - present)-- most outstanding defenceman
- King Clancy Memorial Trophy (1988 - present) -- leadership and humanitarian contribution
- Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (1925 - present) -- player combining ability and sportsmanship
- Lester B. Pearson Award (1971 - present) -- most outstanding player as selected by peers
- Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy (1999 - present) -- to the goal-scoring leader during the regular season
- NHL Plus/Minus Award (1968 - present) -- highest plus/minus statistic
- Presidents' Trophy (1986 - present) - best regular season by a team
- Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award (2000 - present) -- best save percentage by a goalkeeper
- Vezina Trophy (1927 - present) -- voted to be the most outstanding goaltender
- William M. Jennings Trophy (1982 - present) -- goalkeeper(s) for the team with the fewest goals against The O'Brien Trophy was awarded in the NHL before it was retired following the 1949-50 NHL season. The Lester Patrick Trophy has been presented by the National Hockey League since 1966 to honour a recipient's contribution to hockey in the United States. Three years after retirement, players are eligible to be voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In the past, if a player was deemed significant enough, the pending period would be waived. However, only 10 individual have been honoured in this manner. In 1999 Wayne Gretzky became the last player to have the three years waived. After Gretzky's induction, the NHL declared that he would be the last one to have the waiting period omitted. The Pearson Award is the only award named after a politician.

Current organization

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Structure

Each team in the NHL plays 82 regular season games, 41 games at home and 41 on the road. Teams used to play all other teams in the league at least once, but this will no longer be the case following implementation of post-lockout changes. Teams will now play 10 interconference (that is, not in their own conference) games throughout the entire season, 1 game against each team in two of the three divisions in the opposite conference. On an observational basis, it seems as if these interconference games are being block-scheduled in two different blocks (much like baseball does with interleague play. Teams will also play 40 games against non-divisional, conference opponents (4 games against each), and 32 games within their division (8 games against each). Two points are awarded for wins, one point for losing in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for a loss in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points in each division is crowned the division champion. Each Conference consists of three divisions, so these three division champions and five more teams fill out each Conference's playoff field. In total, 16 teams (3 division champions and 5 additional teams, for a total of 8 from each Conference) qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Stanley Cup Playoffs is an elimination tournament, where two teams battle to win a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. If the score is tied at the end of the third period an overtime period is played. If the score is tied at the end of an overtime period, additional overtime periods are played until a winner is determined. Overtimes are also full periods of twenty minutes (of five-on-five hockey), rather than the five minutes (of four-on-four hockey, followed by a shootout) in the regular season. The overtime is played with golden goal rule (sudden death) so the game ends as soon as either team scores a goal. The higher-ranked team is said to be the team with the home-ice advantage. Four of the seven games are played at this team's home venue - the first and second, and, where necessary, the fifth and seventh, with the other games played at the lower-ranked team's home venue. The most recent playoff that was contested in the NHL used the following format: the division winners were seeded one through three, and then the next five teams with the best records in the conference were seeded four through eight. However, the league has yet to announce the playoff format for the 2005-06 season, and with the new scheduling format that emphasises division play, the league is reportedly exploring placing greater emphasis on division standings by taking the top 2 teams in each division, along with the teams with the next two best records for each Conference's playoff field. In the event of a tie in points in the standings, ties are broken first by amount of wins, then by record against the team that is tied (disregarding the first game played at the arena of the team that hosted more games than the other during the season series, if applicable). Next, the tied team with the better positive differential between goals scored for and against is given preference, and in the rare circumstance these tiebreakers are insufficient, the Commissioner has the authority to devise some other means of breaking the tie. The first round of the playoffs, or Conference Quarterfinals, consists of the first seed playing the eighth seed, the second playing the seventh, third playing the sixth, and the fourth playing the fifth. In the second round, or Conference Semifinals, the NHL re-seeds (unlike the NBA), with the top remaining Conference seed playing against the lowest remaining seed, and the other two remaining conference teams pairing off. In the third round, the Conference Finals, the