Nov. 26: NHL founded in 1917, elects Calder as first president

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Nov. 26
1917:The
NHL is founded
and elects Frank Calder as its first president. The League's charter members are the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Arenas and Quebec Bulldogs.

The new league emerges from the ashes of the National Hockey Association, which suspends operations a few weeks earlier. After three days of meetings among directors of NHA franchises, the NHL is formed, with play to begin on Dec. 19, 1917.
The four-team league (Quebec elects not to field a team until 1919-20), plays a 24-game schedule, with the champion to face the winner of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association for the Stanley Cup.

MORE MOMENTS
1925:The NHL officially adds franchises in Pittsburgh and New York. The Pirates stock their team by purchasing the Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets of the USHL, while the Americans buy the roster of the NHL's Hamilton Tigers. The League also increases the number of regular-season games from 30 to 36 for the 1925-26 season.
1961:
Gordie Howe
of the Detroit Red Wings becomes the first player in NHL history to play in 1,000 regular-season games. Howe does not have a point
in the Red Wings' 4-1 loss
to the Blackhawks at Chicago Stadium.

1975:
Bobby Orr
plays his final game with the Boston Bruins. Orr has a goal and an assist in
a 6-4 victory against the New York Rangers
at Madison Square Garden. He is unable to play for the remainder of the season because of knee problems that require surgery, then signs with Chicago on June 24, 1976. Orr finishes his time in Boston with 888 points (264 goals, 624 assists) in 631 games.

1983:
Wayne Gretzky
begins an NHL-record 17-game assist streak when he has five for the Edmonton Oilers
in an 8-6 loss at the St. Louis Blues
. It comes during his 51-game point streak, also an NHL record.
1984:Two days after playing against the Red Wings, Canadiens forward
Guy Lafleur
announces his retirement. He ends his NHL career with 518 goals and Canadiens records of 728 assists and 1,246 points. Lafleur is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988 but soon after returns to play with the Rangers. He plays one season in New York and two with the Quebec Nordiques before
retiring for good
.
1999:
Steve Yzerman
scores his 600th NHL goal in Detroit's
4-2 win
against the Oilers at Joe Louis Arena. He becomes the 11th player in League history to reach 600 goals. The milestone comes a week after Yzerman's 900th assist; he joins Gretzky, Howe,
Marcel Dionne
and
Mark Messier
as the only NHL players with 600 goals and 900 assists.

2003:
Scott Stevens
sets an NHL record for games played by a defenseman when he competes for the visiting New Jersey Devils against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. It's the 1,616th NHL game for Stevens, breaking the record held by
Larry Murphy
, a former teammate with the Washington Capitals. New Jersey and Anaheim
finish in a 3-3 tie
.
2005: New York Rangers defenseman
Marek Malik
scores one of the most spectacular shootout goals ever when he beats Washington Capitals goalie
Olaf Kolzig
with a between-the-legs shot in the
15th round for a 3-2 victory
at Madison Square Garden. Malik races in on Kolzig, puts the puck between his legs and shoots it over the goaltender's shoulder for the win. It's the offensive highlight of Malik's career; he plays in 691 NHL games and finishes his career with 33 goals.

2014:Nick Bjugstad scores 21 seconds after the opening face-off and the Florida Panthers make the lead stand up for a
1-0 win against the Carolina Hurricanes
at BB&T Center. It's the second-fastest goal in a 1-0 game in NHL history, one second short of matching the record set 24 days earlier by Michael Frolik of the Winnipeg Jets in their
win against the Chicago Blackhawks
at United Center.
2018:
Patrick Marleau
of the Toronto Maple Leafs becomes the 11th player in NHL history to play in 1,600 regular-season games. He has an assist in 16:53 of ice time in
Toronto's 4-2 win
against the Boston Bruins at Scotiabank Arena.
2019: The Bruins have their biggest offensive game in Montreal in 21 years when they
defeat the Canadiens 8-1
at Bell Centre.
David Pastrnak
has his second hat trick of the season for the Bruins, who score the most goals they've had in a game at Montreal since winning 9-2 on Oct. 28, 1998. The Bruins send Montreal goalie Carey Price to the bench 1:10 into the second period, the first time in 113 starts that Price doesn't finish a game he starts.