Every time you hit spin in NHL 82-0, the game pulls from one of seven NHL eras spanning six decades of professional hockey. Each decade has its own identity — its own style of play, its own scoring environment, and its own cast of legends. Understanding what each era offers is one of the biggest advantages you can have in the game.
Here's a breakdown of all seven decades, what made them unique, and the kinds of players you're likely to encounter when that era lands on your spin.
The 1960s represents the twilight of the Original Six era and the beginning of the NHL's first major expansion. For most of the decade, only six franchises existed: Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, and New York. Talent was extraordinarily concentrated — the best players in the world competed on just six rosters, making every lineup loaded.
In 1967, the NHL doubled in size overnight, adding six new franchises. The talent pool was immediately diluted, but it also opened the game to new cities and new fans. The decade closed with the league fundamentally transformed.
Scoring levels were moderate — the game was physical, defensive, and disciplined. Goaltenders wore no masks until Jacques Plante pioneered them in 1959, and the culture of the sport still carried a rough, blue-collar identity.
The 1970s were chaotic, colourful, and wildly entertaining. The rival World Hockey Association launched in 1972, signing NHL players to big contracts and reshaping the economics of the sport. Bobby Hull jumped to the WHA. Wayne Gretzky turned pro at 17 in that league. The competition forced the NHL to expand further and pay its players more.
On the ice, the decade belonged to two very different philosophies. The Montreal Canadiens of the late 1970s were the gold standard of skill and system — winning four straight Stanley Cups from 1976 to 1979 with a roster of elite skaters and the legendary Ken Dryden in goal. At the opposite end were the Philadelphia Flyers — the Broad Street Bullies — who won back-to-back Cups in 1974 and 1975 through intimidation, fighting, and unapologetic physical dominance.
The Soviet Union's national team also cast a long shadow over the decade, particularly after the 1972 Summit Series exposed how far North American hockey had to go in terms of skating and conditioning.
No decade comes close to the 1980s for pure offensive production. The Edmonton Oilers, led by Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux's Pittsburgh Penguins, and a generation of skilled European imports completely broke the scoring record books. Gretzky alone holds over 60 NHL records — many of them set in this decade — including his absurd 92-goal, 212-point season in 1981-82.
The Oilers won five Stanley Cups in seven years (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, and 1990 after trading Gretzky to Los Angeles). Their roster reads like an all-time fantasy team: Gretzky at centre, Jari Kurri on the wing, Mark Messier everywhere, Paul Coffey on defence setting point records, Grant Fuhr in goal. It was the most dominant dynasty since the 1950s Canadiens.
Per-82-game averages from this era tend to be the highest in the database. When the 1980s appears on your spin, the players you'll see are likely putting up numbers that look cartoonish by modern standards — because they were.
After the fireworks of the 1980s, the 1990s were a deliberate cooling-off. Coaches and general managers discovered that the neutral zone trap — clogging the middle of the ice with defenders and forcing teams to dump the puck in — was devastatingly effective at eliminating scoring chances. The New Jersey Devils perfected it en route to Stanley Cup titles, and everyone else copied it.
Scoring cratered. The average goals per game fell dramatically from the mid-1980s peak. Players who had put up 100-point seasons routinely now struggled to hit 80. The game became about structure, defensive responsibility, and grinding out wins rather than open-ice skill.
That said, the decade still produced elite talent. Gretzky played some of his last great years in Los Angeles before moving to St. Louis and New York. Eric Lindros was supposed to be the next Gretzky and delivered stretches of dominance despite injuries. The Colorado Avalanche — led by Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and Patrick Roy — won back-to-back Cups and were widely considered the best team of the decade's second half.
The 2000s were defined by one event above all: the 2004-05 lockout that cancelled an entire NHL season. The league and its players' association couldn't agree on a salary cap, and the season was lost. When hockey came back in 2005-06, it came back with sweeping rule changes designed to open up the game: stricter enforcement of obstruction penalties, the introduction of the shootout, and crackdowns on the neutral zone trap.
The result was an immediate scoring surge. Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin entered the league in 2005-06 and immediately became the faces of the new era — skilled, fast, creative players who thrived in the newly opened ice. Crosby won a scoring title as a teenager. Ovechkin scored 52 goals in his rookie season and never really stopped.
The Detroit Red Wings were the dynasty of the decade, winning Cups in 2002 and 2008 with a roster built on European skill, defensive structure, and remarkable depth. Nicklas Lidström became the gold standard for modern defencemen.
The 2010s saw hockey embrace analytics more seriously than any previous decade. Advanced stats like Corsi, Fenwick, and zone entry data became part of front office decision-making, and the style of play shifted accordingly. Teams valued puck possession, transition speed, and defensive structure — the old crash-and-bang fourth liners gave way to smaller, faster players who could move the puck and skate.
The Chicago Blackhawks won three Cups in six years (2010, 2013, 2015) with a roster built around Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane — a perfect pairing of responsible two-way play and elite scoring. The Pittsburgh Penguins won back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017 with Crosby and Malkin in their primes.
Goaltending also reached remarkable heights. Henrik Lundqvist, Carey Price, Tuukka Rask, and Pekka Rinne were all elite at the same time, and the position became deeper and more athletically skilled than at any previous point in the game's history.
The 2020s opened under extraordinary circumstances — the COVID-19 pandemic forced a bubble playoff format in 2020 and a condensed season in 2021. Despite the disruption, the hockey itself was some of the most exciting in years. The Tampa Bay Lightning won back-to-back Cups in 2020 and 2021 with a complete, skilled roster led by Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos.
The modern game is defined by pace. Shifts are shorter, puck movement is faster, and the skill level — particularly among European and North American players coming through deeper development systems — has never been higher. Connor McDavid has emerged as the most electrifying player of his generation, posting point totals that echo the Gretzky era in a far more competitive defensive environment.
The 2020s is still being written, but the early returns suggest a generation of elite talent that will stock NHL 82-0's database for years to come.