Give some stream of consciousness and then the answer. The National Hockey League (NHL; French: Ligue nationale de hockey -- LNH) is a professional ice hockey league in North America, currently comprising 31 teams: 24 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, and one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season.

Answer this question: how many teams are in the nhl in canada?

Show your work and conclude with the exact phrasing "Therefore, the final answer is [answer]." where [answer] is just the final number or expression that solves the problem.
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The important part for answering this question is: The National Hockey League (NHL; French: Ligue nationale de hockey -- LNH) is a professional ice hockey league in North America, currently comprising 31 teams: 24 in the United States and 7 in Canada.
Therefore, the answer is 7.