What If The NHL Never Developed?

The Actual History

The foundations of organized hockey in North America date back to the late 19th century. In 1875, the first indoor hockey game was played at Montreal's Victoria Skating Rink, establishing Canada as the birthplace of modern ice hockey. By the 1880s, organized amateur leagues began forming across Canada, with the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) established in 1886, becoming one of the first organized hockey leagues.

The earliest professional hockey league, the International Professional Hockey League (IPHL), was formed in 1904 but lasted only three seasons. In 1909, the National Hockey Association (NHA) was established as a professional league centered in Eastern Canada, featuring teams like the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, and Ottawa Senators. The NHA became the dominant hockey league in Canada, but internal conflicts, particularly involving Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone, led to instability.

On November 26, 1917, the National Hockey League (NHL) was born when the owners of the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, and Quebec Bulldogs met at Montreal's Windsor Hotel and agreed to suspend the NHA and form a new league. This decision was largely driven by the desire to exclude Livingstone from professional hockey. The Toronto Arenas (later renamed the Maple Leafs) joined shortly after, creating a five-team league, though Quebec did not ice a team in the first season, making it effectively a four-team competition.

The NHL's early years were marked by expansion and contraction. The league expanded into the United States in 1924 with the Boston Bruins, followed by the New York Americans, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago Black Hawks. By 1926, the NHL had become the premier professional hockey league in North America after absorbing teams from the Western Hockey League, which folded that year.

The "Original Six" era—featuring the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, and New York Rangers—began in 1942 after several teams folded during the Great Depression and World War II. This configuration remained unchanged until 1967, when the NHL expanded to twelve teams, adding franchises in Los Angeles, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Oakland, and St. Louis.

The 1970s brought further expansion and competition from the World Hockey Association (WHA), which operated from 1972 to 1979 before four of its teams (Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets, and Hartford Whalers) merged into the NHL. Through subsequent expansions in the 1990s and 2000s, the NHL grew to its current 32 teams, spreading across the United States and Canada.

Throughout its history, the NHL has witnessed legendary players like Gordie Howe, Maurice Richard, Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Sidney Crosby. The league has evolved through significant rule changes, labor disputes (including major lockouts in 1994-95, 2004-05, and 2012-13), and technological innovations. The Stanley Cup, originally donated in 1893 by Lord Stanley of Preston, has remained the league's championship trophy and one of the most recognized symbols in sports.

Today, the NHL generates approximately $5 billion in annual revenue, has a significant television presence through media deals with ESPN, TNT, and Rogers Communications, and maintains a strong international following, particularly in Canada, the United States, and Europe. The league has grown from its humble Canadian origins to become a global sports enterprise and the preeminent professional hockey league in the world.

The Point of Divergence

What if the National Hockey League never formed in 1917? In this alternate timeline, we explore a scenario where the professional hockey landscape evolved dramatically differently due to the absence of what would become North America's premier hockey organization.

The most plausible point of divergence centers around the November 1917 meeting at Montreal's Windsor Hotel. In our timeline, the owners of four NHA franchises (Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, and Quebec Bulldogs) decided to suspend the NHA and form the NHL, primarily to exclude Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone. In this alternate reality, several alternative paths could have emerged:

First, the NHA owners might have simply found a different solution to the Livingstone problem. Perhaps through legal maneuvering or a modified governance structure, the NHA could have continued operations with alterations to its constitution that limited Livingstone's influence while maintaining the league structure. This would have preserved the NHA as the premier professional hockey organization in North America.

Second, the dissatisfied owners might have failed to reach consensus at the Windsor Hotel meeting. With disagreements about how to proceed, the NHA might have continued for another season in an uneasy state, possibly leading to different team owners seeking their own paths forward without creating a unified new league.

Third, and perhaps most intriguingly, Eddie Livingstone might have successfully outmaneuvered the other owners. In our timeline, Livingstone pursued legal action against the NHL for years but never regained his position in professional hockey. In this alternate reality, Livingstone could have secured legal victories or formed strategic alliances that preserved his place in hockey, preventing the clean break that allowed the NHL to form.

Another possibility is that wartime pressures during World War I might have been more severe, causing a complete suspension of professional hockey operations rather than the formation of a new league. When play resumed after the war, the professional hockey landscape might have reorganized along entirely different lines.

Whatever the specific mechanism, the result would be the same: instead of the National Hockey League emerging as the successor to the NHA, North American professional hockey would have developed along a fundamentally different trajectory, with far-reaching consequences for the sport and broader sports culture.

Immediate Aftermath

Continued Fragmentation of Professional Hockey (1917-1925)

Without the NHL's formation, the immediate aftermath would likely see continued instability in professional hockey. The NHA might have struggled forward for a few more seasons, but the fundamental conflicts that led to the NHL's creation would still exist.

By 1919, we would likely see not one dominant league but several regional professional hockey associations competing for players, fans, and legitimacy. The Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) and Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), which existed in our timeline until the mid-1920s, would continue operating independently, creating a fragmented professional hockey landscape.

Frank Calder, who became the NHL's first president in our timeline, might instead have worked to stabilize the NHA or joined one of these competing leagues in an administrative capacity. Without his centralizing influence and vision, professional hockey would lack unified leadership during this critical developmental period.

Eddie Livingstone, the controversial owner whose conflicts with other owners precipitated the NHL's formation, would likely maintain his influence longer in this timeline. His Toronto Blueshirts might form the nucleus of an Ontario-centered league competing with the modified NHA based in Quebec and Ottawa.

The Stanley Cup as Perpetual Challenge Trophy (1917-1930)

A significant immediate consequence would be the Stanley Cup's continued role as a challenge trophy contested between champions of different leagues rather than becoming synonymous with a single league's championship as it did with the NHL.

The trustees of the Stanley Cup—initially P.D. Ross and William Foran—would continue to determine which league champions were eligible to challenge for the trophy. This would preserve the Cup's original purpose as a prize that could be contested by various league champions, amateur and professional.

Annual Stanley Cup competitions might feature match-ups between champions of the continued NHA (or its successor organization), PCHA, WCHL, and possibly newer leagues that might form in the American Northeast or Midwest. This would create a more diverse competitive landscape for hockey's ultimate prize, though potentially with less consistency in format and scheduling.

Slower American Expansion (1920-1930)

Without the NHL's systematic expansion into American markets beginning with Boston in 1924, professional hockey's growth in the United States would proceed more organically and likely more slowly.

The United States Amateur Hockey Association (USAHA), formed in 1920, might evolve into a more prominent organization filling some of the void left by the NHL's absence. Cities like Boston, New York, and Chicago would eventually develop professional teams, but these would likely emerge as part of regional leagues rather than a continent-spanning organization.

The Boston Athletic Association, which had shown interest in hockey even before the Bruins were established, might form the foundation for a New England-based professional league. Similarly, entrepreneurial figures like Tex Rickard in New York might establish localized professional circuits.

Economic Challenges Without Centralized Leadership (1925-1930)

By the late 1920s, the lack of centralized leadership would create economic challenges for professional hockey. Without the NHL's ability to coordinate schedules, standardize rules, and market the sport broadly, hockey would remain more regionally focused and financially vulnerable.

The onset of the Great Depression in 1929 would hit this fragmented hockey landscape particularly hard. Without the economies of scale and unified bargaining power that the NHL provided in our timeline, many professional teams and potentially entire leagues would fold during the economic downturn.

Players would face inconsistent salaries and uncertain career prospects. Stars like Howie Morenz, who became one of the NHL's first true superstars in our timeline, might still achieve prominence but with less national recognition and financial reward. The lack of a dominant league would make player development more haphazard, with talent scattered across numerous competing organizations.

Impact on Canadian National Identity (1920-1930)

Hockey's role in Canadian national identity would evolve differently without the NHL. The sport would remain central to Canadian culture, but its professional manifestation would be more decentralized, emphasizing regional rivalries over national narratives.

Cities like Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa would maintain strong hockey traditions, but the absence of the NHL's structure would mean Canadian hockey identity might remain more closely tied to amateur and semi-professional play, perhaps preserving more of the sport's community-based origins.

The absence of the NHL might also strengthen the position of Canadian amateur hockey. Organizations like the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) would gain prominence as the primary administrators of high-level hockey in Canada, potentially keeping the amateur ideal more central to hockey culture longer than in our timeline.

Long-term Impact

The Great Depression and Consolidation (1930-1945)

As the Great Depression deepened in the early 1930s, North American professional hockey would undergo a period of painful consolidation. Without the NHL's centralized structure that helped the "Original Six" survive this period, many professional teams would fold. By the mid-1930s, we might see the emergence of two or three regional leagues that survived the economic turmoil:

The Canadian Major Hockey League (CMHL): Centered in Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa, this league would preserve the traditional strongholds of Canadian hockey.
The Eastern American Hockey Association (EAHA): Based in the American Northeast with teams in Boston, New York, and potentially Detroit.
The Western Hockey League (WHL): Covering western Canada and potentially Chicago and Minneapolis.

These surviving leagues would slowly rebuild during the late 1930s but face another existential challenge with the outbreak of World War II. Player shortages and travel restrictions would force further contraction, with some leagues suspending operations entirely during the war years.

Post-War Restructuring and Television (1945-1960)

The post-war economic boom would revitalize professional hockey, but the landscape would look remarkably different from our timeline. Rather than the "Original Six" NHL domination, North America might see a structure more similar to European football with multiple top-tier leagues operating semi-independently:

Television would become a crucial factor in the 1950s, but without a unified NHL, television rights would be negotiated league by league and team by team, creating substantial regional variation in coverage and revenue.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) might still develop a "Hockey Night in Canada" program, but it would likely feature games from multiple leagues rather than focusing exclusively on what became NHL content.
American television networks would show less interest in hockey without the NHL's national platform, limiting the sport's exposure in the U.S. and concentrating it in traditional northern markets.

The crucial difference would be the lack of a single dominant league with continent-wide reach. Instead, hockey would evolve as a collection of regional powers with occasional inter-league competitions for prestige and the Stanley Cup.

International Hockey Development (1950-1980)

Without the NHL concentrating North American hockey talent, international hockey competitions would develop along significantly different lines:

Olympic Hockey

The amateur requirement for Olympic hockey (which existed until 1998 in our timeline) would create less tension without the NHL. North American Olympic teams would draw from collegiate and senior amateur leagues, making the competition more balanced between North America and Europe much earlier.

The Soviet Union's emergence as a hockey power in the 1950s would still occur, but the dynamic would be different. Without the clear NHL/Soviet rivalry that developed in our timeline, international hockey might see more fluid competitions between various national styles. The "Miracle on Ice" equivalent might never occur, as the distinction between professional and amateur would remain more blurred in North America.

World Championships

The IIHF World Championships would gain prominence earlier as a truly global competition. Without NHL players being unavailable due to the Stanley Cup playoffs, North American countries would likely field more competitive teams in this tournament from an earlier date.

Canada's return to the World Championships in 1977 (after withdrawing in 1970 over amateur status disputes) might never have occurred in this timeline, as Canada would likely have maintained continuous participation with top players outside the NHL system.

The Evolution of Play and Rules (1950-1990)

The playing style and rules of hockey would evolve differently without the NHL's standardizing influence:

Divergent Rule Systems: The various North American leagues might develop different rules regarding penalties, gameplay, and equipment, creating distinct regional styles of hockey.
International Influence: European playing styles would likely influence North American hockey earlier and more substantially without the NHL's dominant position setting standards.
Innovation Distribution: Innovations like curved sticks, goalie masks, and the slap shot would still develop but might spread more unevenly across leagues with different adoption rates.

The offensive explosion that characterized the 1980s NHL might occur differently or not at all, depending on how the various leagues managed rule changes regarding obstruction, goaltender equipment, and offensive zone dimensions.

The Modern Era: Media, Globalization, and Business (1990-2025)

By the 1990s, the absence of the NHL would have profound implications for hockey's place in the modern sports and entertainment landscape:

Media and Revenue

Without a unified NHL negotiating major national broadcasting deals, hockey would likely generate substantially less media revenue overall. Regional sports networks might become the primary broadcasters, similar to minor league baseball or hockey's actual position in many European countries.

The digital revolution would potentially open new opportunities for the fragmented hockey leagues. Streaming services might allow fans to follow multiple leagues more easily, creating new revenue streams in the 2000s and 2010s.

League Structure and Competitive Balance

Without the NHL's draft system and salary cap (introduced in 2005), competitive balance mechanisms would vary between leagues. Some might develop European-style promotion and relegation systems, while others might create North American-style drafts and salary constraints.

By 2025, we might see 3-5 major professional leagues across North America, each with 8-12 teams, rather than one dominant 32-team NHL. The Stanley Cup might be contested in a champions league-style tournament between the winners of these various leagues.

Player Development and Movement

The player development system would be markedly different:

Junior hockey in Canada would likely maintain stronger ties to regional professional leagues rather than functioning primarily as an NHL feeder system.
College hockey in the United States might emerge as a more direct path to professional play without the NHL's centralized draft pulling top players away.
International player movement would follow different patterns, potentially with more North American players competing in European leagues and vice versa throughout their careers.

Hockey's Cultural Position

Hockey's cultural position would differ significantly by 2025:

In Canada, hockey would remain the national sport, but with stronger regional identities tied to local leagues rather than a national NHL narrative.
In the United States, hockey would likely remain a more regionally concentrated sport, with strong followings in the Northeast and Midwest but less national presence without the NHL's expansion to Sun Belt states.
Globally, hockey might be perceived more as a collection of relatively equal major leagues (like soccer) rather than having one clearly dominant professional league.

Economic Scale

The economic scale of professional hockey would be substantially smaller without the NHL's growth to a $5+ billion industry. The combined revenue of multiple competing leagues would likely total $2-3 billion annually by 2025, with greater revenue parity between North American and top European leagues.

Player salaries would be lower at the top end but potentially more evenly distributed, and fewer players would become multi-millionaires, though professional hockey would still offer comfortable upper-middle-class livelihoods for successful players.

Expert Opinions

Dr. Stephen Hardy, Professor Emeritus of History and Sports Studies at the University of New Hampshire, offers this perspective: "The NHL's formation represented a critical moment of organizational consolidation in North American sports. Without the NHL, hockey would likely have followed a development path more similar to soccer, with multiple competing domestic leagues and a greater emphasis on international competition. The concentrated star power that defined the NHL—from Richard to Gretzky to Crosby—would have been distributed across several organizations, likely diminishing the marketing power of individual players while creating more diverse regional hockey cultures. The absence of the NHL would represent one of the great 'what-ifs' in sports business history, fundamentally altering North America's sports landscape."

Dr. Christina Adams, Sports Economist at the University of Toronto, assesses the economic implications: "The NHL's absence would have created a radically different economic structure for professional hockey. Without a single dominant league, we would likely see multiple smaller leagues with more locally-focused business models and lower overall revenue. The interesting economic question is whether this fragmentation would have created more sustainable regional operations or simply limited hockey's ability to compete with other major sports. My analysis suggests total hockey revenue across all leagues would be 40-50% lower than our current reality, but with potentially more equitable distribution across markets and possibly greater financial stability due to more modest growth expectations and player compensation."

Michael O'Hearn, Hockey Historian and author of "The Game That Wasn't," provides this cultural analysis: "Hockey's soul might have remained more authentically connected to its community roots without the NHL's corporatization. The sport's development would likely maintain stronger connections to local identities and regional rivalries rather than becoming a national entertainment product. The most fascinating aspect to consider is how the Stanley Cup would have evolved—likely remaining a true challenge cup competed for by champions of various leagues rather than becoming synonymous with a single league championship. This might have preserved some of the romantic aspects of early hockey culture that were gradually corporatized through the NHL's evolution."