The Original Six () are the teams that comprised the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1942 and 1967. The six teams are the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs. After serving as the league's only teams for 25 seasons, they were joined by six new franchises in the 1967 NHL expansion. Contrary to the name, the Canadiens and Maple Leafs are the only charter members of the NHL. Despite this, the six are considered a traditional set for joining the league by 1926 and being the NHL's oldest active franchises. The Original Six have the most combined Stanley Cup titles among NHL franchises; the Canadiens hold the most wins at 24. The Maple Leafs, who won the last Stanley Cup of the Original Six era, are the only Original Six franchise to have not returned to the Stanley Cup since the 1967 expansion. Teams Background The NHL consisted of ten teams during the 1920s, but the league experienced a period of retrenchment during the Great Depression, losing the Pittsburgh Pirates/Philadelphia Quakers, Ottawa Senators/St. Louis Eagles, and Montreal Maroons in succession to financial pressures. The New York/Brooklyn Americans, one of the league's original expansion franchises, along with the Bruins and Maroons, lasted longer but played as wards of the league from 1936 onward. World War II and its own economic strains severely depleted the league's Canadian player base since Canada entered the war in September 1939, and many players left for military service. The Americans suspended operations in the fall of 1942, which left the NHL with just six teams. Despite various outside efforts to initiate expansion after the war, including attempted revivals of the Maroons and Americans franchises, the league's membership would remain at six teams for the next 25 seasons. Criticisms The Original Six era has been criticized for having a playoff system that was too easy since the top four teams in the regular season advanced to the playoffs. At least, the playoff system was too easy for the top three teams in the league: Montreal, Toronto, and Detroit. The standings were very static. Montreal missed the playoffs only once between 1943 and 1967 (in 1948), and Toronto missed the post-season four times and Detroit missed three times, which left the three remaining teams to compete for the final playoff berth. Montreal won ten of the 25