Western Conference

The 15 teams in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League are split into three divisions; Northwest, Central, and Pacific. The Conference is spread out geographically, spanning four time zones and ranging from Ohio to Texas, and California to British Columbia.

The Detroit Red Wings, one of the ‘Original Six’ hockey teams, are the most successful team in the Western Conference, having won 10 Stanley Cups, while the Edmonton Oilers are second with five Cup wins. Four of those Oiler Cups were won with Wayne Gretzky as the captain during a time when he rewrote the National Hockey League record book and most of its individual scoring records. The Edmonton Oilers team of the mid 1980’s is still regarded as one of the best collection of hockey players ever assembled.

At the end of the regular season, the top eight teams in the Western Conference enter the playoffs and play several rounds of best-of-seven series until a Western Champion is determined. That champion then plays the Eastern Conference Champion for the Stanley Cup, one of the most prized trophies in professional sports.

Division	Team	Home City	Arena	Seats
Central	Chicago Blackhawks	Chicago, Illinois	United Center	20,500
	Columbus Blue Jackets	Columbus, Ohio	Nationwide Arena	18,500
	Detroit Red Wings	Detroit, Michigan	Joe Louis Arena	19,383
	Nashville Predators	Nashville, Tennessee	Gaylord Entertainment Center	17,113
	St. Louis Blues	St. Louis, Missouri	Scottrade Center	19,260

Northwest	Calgary Flames	Calgary, Alberta	Pengrowtd Saddledome	20,140
	Colorado Avalanche	Denver, Colorado	Pepsi Center	18,007
	Edmonton Oilers	Edmonton, Alberta	Rexall Place	16,839
	Minnesota Wild	St. Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center	18,600
	Vancouver Canucks	Vancouver, British Columbia	General Motors Place	18,630

Pacific	Anaheim Ducks	Anaheim, California	Honda Center	17,147
	Dallas Stars	Dallas, Texas	American Airlines Center	18,500
	Los Angeles Kings	Los Angeles, California	Staples Center	18,500
	Phoenix Coyotes	Glendale, Arizona	Jobing.com Arena	18,000
	San Jose Sharks	San Jose, California	HP Pavilion	17,483