When Gary Bettman took over as NHL commissioner in 1993, he had a bold vision: bring hockey to non-traditional markets and watch those teams thrive. At the time, the league had just 24 teams. Today, there are 32—and 10 of them call non-traditional hockey markets home. The results speak for themselves. Five of the last six Stanley Cup Champions have come from these very markets, proving Bettman's gamble paid off.
No team embodies this success better than the Vegas Golden Knights. Bettman had long dreamed of planting an NHL flag in Las Vegas, and that dream became reality in 2016. The Golden Knights didn't just join the league—they took it by storm. They made the playoffs in their inaugural season and captured the Stanley Cup in just their sixth year of existence. That's a level of success most franchises can only dream of.
Fast forward to 2026, and the Golden Knights are no longer the new kids on the block. That title now belongs to the Utah Mammoth, who relocated from Arizona in 2024. In a poetic twist of fate, the Golden Knights faced the Mammoth in Utah's first-ever postseason run. While Vegas ultimately eliminated their expansion cousins in six games, the series was anything but one-sided.
"It was a really cool experience playing there; it was a pretty rowdy building," said Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin. "I think it's good for the league. It's good for the game, and there's a bright future there."
Forward Brett Howden agreed, adding, "It was a lot of fun playing in Utah. The crowd is so good. They're really into the game, which is really fun… And their stands, they're really over top of you, so you can really feel them. But yeah, it was really cool. It was fun."
For years, non-traditional markets were the league's punchline—plagued by poor management and sparse attendance. But that narrative has flipped. From the bright lights of Vegas to the electric atmosphere at Salt Lake City's Delta Center, these teams are writing a new chapter in hockey history. And if the last decade is any guide, the best is yet to come.