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One of the fastest moving professional sports was founded in 1917, at a meeting in Canada. At the time, the National Hockey League was made up of two teams from Montreal, one from Ottawa and one from Quebec. There were many changes in the early years, and at one point, the NHL was down to only three teams. The first American team admitted to the league was Boston in 1924. Two years later, the Stanley Cup came under the control of the NHL. Today, artificial ice and television have turned what was a winter sport played only in the north into a game with a huge fan base. Nearly 23 million people each year attend NHL games.

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