==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 (Original)|Ottawa Senators]]\[[St. Louis Eagles]] and the [[Montreal Maroons]] in succession to financial pressures.
The New York/Brooklyn Americans (which was one of the league's original expansion franchises along with the Bruins and Maroons) lasted longer, but World War II provided its own economic strains and also 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, leaving 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 twenty-five seasons.
==Criticisms==
==End of the Original Six Era==