The NHL is a professional sport league just like the NBA and the NFL. NHL stands for National Hockey League. The NHL was founded in 1917 in Montreal, Quebec. When the NHL was started their were only 5 teams, but through expansion and relocation there are now 30 teams. There are 24 teams in the U.S. and 6 teams in Canada. In the NHL there are 2 conferences. The Eastern Conference and The Western Conference.