NHL
Abbreviation with 2 meanings
| Stands for | National Hockey League |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 2 |
| Categories | Sports, Medical |
NHL has two meanings. It stands for National Hockey League (sports league and organization) or Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (hematology and oncology).
Meanings of NHL at a glance
| # | NHL stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Hockey League | Sports › Sports League and Organization |
| 2 | Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | Medical › Hematology and Oncology |
1. National Hockey League
Sports · Sports League and Organization Abbreviations
Top professional ice hockey league, with 32 teams in the United States and Canada split into Eastern and Western Conferences. Sixteen teams reach the Stanley Cup playoffs, four rounds of best-of-seven series that run from April into June.
Example: The NHL fined the defenseman $5,000 for a cross-check in the final minute of Tuesday's game.
Founded on November 26, 1917, in Montreal as a successor to the National Hockey Association. The "Original Six" era from 1942 to 1967 featured Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, New York and Toronto, before expansion doubled the league in 1967. The regular season grew from 82 to 84 games in 2025-26. The Stanley Cup is older than the league itself; it was first awarded in 1893.
2. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Medical · Hematology and Oncology Abbreviations
Diverse group of more than 60 cancers of lymphocytes, ranging from slow-growing (indolent) types such as follicular lymphoma to aggressive types such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Common symptoms are painless lymph node swelling, fever, drenching night sweats and weight loss.
Example: Excisional biopsy of the cervical node confirms NHL, diffuse large B-cell type; staging PET-CT ordered.
About 85 percent of cases arise from B cells and the rest from T or natural killer cells. NHL is among the more common cancers in the United States, with roughly 80,000 new cases a year. Risk factors include immune suppression, certain infections such as HIV, Epstein-Barr virus and H. pylori, and autoimmune diseases. Treatment depends heavily on the specific subtype.
Related abbreviations
More sports league and organization abbreviations
- NBPA – National Basketball Players Association
- NCAA – National Collegiate Athletic Association
- NFL – National Football League
- NFLPA – National Football League Players Association
- NHRA – National Hot Rod Association
- NIL – Name, image and likeness
- NPB – Nippon Professional Baseball
- NRL – National Rugby League
See all 63 sports league and organization abbreviations →
More hematology and oncology abbreviations
- NCI – National Cancer Institute
- NED – No evidence of disease
- NET – Neuroendocrine tumor
- NGS – Next-generation sequencing
- NSCLC – Non-small cell lung cancer
- ORR – Objective response rate
- OS – Overall survival
- PCI – Prophylactic cranial irradiation
See all 144 hematology and oncology abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.