Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Encyclopedia

Adams Division

National Hockey League division (1974-1993)

The National Hockey League's Adams Division was formed in 1974 as part of the Prince of Wales Conference. The division existed for 19 seasons until 1993. It was named after Charles Francis Adams, the founder of the Boston Bruins. It is the forerunner of the NHL's Northeast Division, which later became the Atlantic Division.

01Division lineups

1974-1976

Changes from the 1973-74 season

  • The Adams Division is formed as a result of NHL realignment
  • The Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, and Toronto Maple Leafs come from the East Division
  • The California Golden Seals come from the West Division

1976-1978

Changes from the 1975-76 season

  • The California Golden Seals moved to Richfield, Ohio, to become the Cleveland Barons

1978-1979

Changes from the 1977-78 season

  • The Cleveland Barons merge with the Minnesota North Stars. The merged franchise continues as the Minnesota North Stars, but leaves the Smythe Division to assume the Barons' place in the Adams Division to prevent the Adams from dropping to only three teams.

1979-1981

  • Boston Bruins
  • Buffalo Sabres
  • Minnesota North Stars
  • Quebec Nordiques
  • Toronto Maple Leafs

Changes from the 1978-79 season

1981-1992

Changes from the 1980-81 season

  • The Minnesota North Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs move to the Norris Division
  • The Hartford Whalers and Montreal Canadiens come from the Norris Division

1992-1993

  • Boston Bruins
  • Buffalo Sabres
  • Hartford Whalers
  • Montreal Canadiens
  • Ottawa Senators
  • Quebec Nordiques

Changes from the 1991-92 season

  • The Ottawa Senators are added as an expansion team

After the 1992-93 season

The league was reformatted into two conferences with two divisions each:

02Season results

(#) Denotes team that won the Stanley Cup
(#) Denotes team that lost Stanley Cup Final (and since 1981-82 won the Prince of Wales Trophy)
(#) Denotes team that qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs
Denotes team with most points in the regular season (winner of the Presidents' Trophy since 1985-86)
Season 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
1974-75(DC) Buffalo (113)(2) Boston (94)(8) Toronto (78)California (51)
1975-76(DC) Boston (113)(1) Buffalo (105)(4) Toronto (83)California (65)
1976-77(DC) Boston (106)(2) Buffalo (104)(5) Toronto (81)Cleveland (63)
1977-78(DC) Boston (113)(2) Buffalo (105)(3) Toronto (92)Cleveland (57)
1978-79(DC) Boston (100)(4) Buffalo (88)(6) Toronto (81)Minnesota (68)
1979-80(2) Buffalo (110)(4) Boston (105)(6) Minnesota (88)(11) Toronto (75)Quebec (61)
1980-81(5) Buffalo (99)(8) Boston (87)(9) Minnesota (87)(11) Quebec (78)(16) Toronto (71)
1981-82Montreal (109)Boston (96)Buffalo (93)Quebec (82)Hartford (60)
1982-83Boston (110)Montreal (98)Buffalo (89)Quebec (80)Hartford (45)
1983-84Boston (104)Buffalo (103)Quebec (94)Montreal (75)Hartford (66)
1984-85Montreal (94)Quebec (91)Buffalo (90)Boston (82)Hartford (69)
1985-86Quebec (92)Montreal (87)Boston (86)Hartford (84)Buffalo (80)
1986-87Hartford (93)Montreal (92)Boston (85)Quebec (72)Buffalo (64)
1987-88Montreal (103)Boston (94)Buffalo (85)Hartford (77)Quebec (69)
1988-89Montreal (115)Boston (88)Buffalo (83)Hartford (79)Quebec (61)
1989-90Boston (101)Buffalo (98)Montreal (93)Hartford (85)Quebec (31)
1990-91Boston (100)Montreal (89)Buffalo (81)Hartford (73)Quebec (46)
1991-92Montreal (93)Boston (84)Buffalo (74)Hartford (65)Quebec (52)
1992-93Boston (109)Quebec (104)Montreal (102)Buffalo (86)Hartford (58)Ottawa (24)

03Adams Division titles won by team

Watch videos about Adams DivisionExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Adams Division, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.