The Los Angeles Kings won their second Stanley Cup championship in franchise history (second in three seasons), defeating the New York Rangers four games to one in the Finals.
The relocation of the former Atlanta Thrashers franchise to the current Winnipeg Jets in 2011 prompted the league to discuss realignment.
On December 5, 2011, the NHL Board of Governors approved a conference realignment plan that would eliminate the current six-division setup and move into a four-conference structure from the 2012–13 season.
[2][3] Upon NHLPA rejection of the previous realignment, a new joint NHL-NHLPA plan was proposed in February 2013 as a modification of the previous plan with both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings moving to the East and the Winnipeg Jets moving to the West.
The regular season opened on October 1, 2013, with the first game seeing the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the home team Montreal Canadiens by a score of 4–3.
[19] HBO once again produced a four-part documentary chronicling the preparation of the two teams for the Winter Classic as part of its sports series 24/7.
Unlike previous Heritage Classics, the 2014 event was technically held indoors; BC Place kept its retractable roof closed because of inclement weather.
The program followed multiple players as they competed in the regular season, the Stadium Series, the Heritage Classic, and the Sochi Olympics.
[26] The Carolina Hurricanes-Buffalo Sabres game originally scheduled for January 7 was postponed due to the 2014 North American cold wave.
This resulted in the Hurricanes postponing their match with the Ottawa Senators from January 24 to 25 due to a rule stating that a team cannot play games on three consecutive days.
The Dallas Stars's March 10 game versus the Columbus Blue Jackets was overshadowed after Dallas player Rich Peverley, who had a history of heart problems, collapsed while on the players' bench midway through the first period, with Columbus leading 1–0 from a goal credited to Nathan Horton and assists credited to Matt Calvert and James Wisniewski.
[74] At the same time, the league had reportedly aimed for its next round of Canadian television contracts to have a value of at least C$3.2 billion in total.
During negotiations, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman had reportedly recognized the broadcaster's financial difficulties and budget cuts imposed by the federal Conservative government which had decreased CBC's chances of maintaining rights to Hockey Night in Canada and offered CBC a simplified broadcast package which would have consisted of a national doubleheader on Saturday nights (as opposed to regional coverage of multiple games), reduced playoff coverage, and the loss of digital rights and the All-Star Game.
[75][76] However, CBC Sports' staff, including executive director Jeffrey Orridge, continued to insist that it have exclusivity for every Saturday night game involving Canadian teams.
In turn, CBC failed to reach a deal; BCE (owners of Bell Media and previous cable rightsholder TSN and over the air broadcaster, CTV) made a bid for sole national rights to the NHL, and attempted to contact the CBC in regards to forming a partnership.
[76] On November 26, 2013, the NHL announced it had sold twelve seasons' worth of exclusive national broadcast rights to NHL games to Rogers, who would broadcast games across its numerous platforms, including Sportsnet, Sportsnet One, and City, at a price of C$5.2 billion.