In 1917, four teams -- the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators and Toronto Arenas (later to eventually become Maple leafs) joined together to form the National Hockey League. In that first season, the Wanderers' rink burned to the ground, and the team "wandered" out of the league, never to be heard from again.

The Toronto Franchise seemed to have an identity crisis at first. They went from being the Blue Shirts to the Arenas in 1918 and the St. Pats a year later before adopting the Maple Leafs monicker in the 1920's.

To see the earliest NHL uniforms, click on a season to the left. Unlike in later decades, the images are already full-size -- thus, there will be nothing to click on to zoom in.