From six teams to 31, the NHL teams quantity went up big time in 50 years.

From the 50's original 6, consisting of The Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs, last year's franchise, Las Vegas, brought the count to 31. 

Ze evoluzion

Impacts

But what are the impacts of having more teams? If we take a look at the original 6, they still amongst the best teams of the league. Why bring yet another contender to the list? In my opinion, as new franchises arrived, the quality of the game went down. 

Probably not only due to that fact but also because of the always increasing brutality of the sport. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I always preferred speed and agility plays compared to the current hockey trends.

They brought mandatory helmets and padding rules to reduce injuries, not to hit harder! 

What do you think?