Back in 1988, four out of the seven Canadian NHL teams (at the time!), made the list. Just from a marketing stand point, you can see why Konami would have done this.  
Oddly enough, Detroit, Boston and Philadelphia, three "Original 6" teams full of tradition, were all excluded. Go figure...  

Developers could have done a better job contriving the player sprite color schemes. Since when has Edmonton ever been green and Vancouver brown? Not to mention, Minnesota's purple complexion!

Normal sprite My design!
 
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