Wayne Douglas Gretzky is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One", he has been called the greatest hockey player ever by many sportswriters, players, the NHL itself, and by The Hockey News, based on extensive surveys of hockey writers, ex-players, general managers and coaches. Gretzky is the leading goal scorer, assist producer and point scorer in NHL history, and garnered more assists in his career than any other player scored total points. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season, a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, Gretzky tallied over 100 points in 16 professional seasons, 14 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records.
The Stanley Cup is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) considers it to be one of the "most important championships available to the sport". The trophy was commissioned in 1892 as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup and is named after Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada, who donated it as an award to Canada's top-ranking amateur ice hockey club. The entire Stanley family supported the sport, the sons and daughters all playing and promoting the game. The first Cup was awarded in 1893 to Montreal Hockey Club, and winners from 1893 to 1914 were determined by challenge games and league play. Professional teams first became eligible to challenge for the Stanley Cup in 1906. In 1915, the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), the two main professional ice hockey organizations, reached a gentlemen's agreement in which their respective champions would face each other annually for the Stanley Cup. It was established as the de facto championship trophy of the NHL in 1926 and then the de jure NHL championship prize in 1947.
Stephen Gregory Yzerman is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player currently serving as executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he is a Detroit sports icon and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. After his retirement as a player, he served in the front office of the Red Wings, and then as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, while also being executive director for Team Canada in two Olympics.
Dhanraj Pillay is a retired Indian field hockey player and former captain of the Indian national team. He also looks after the Air India Sports Promotion Board as a Joint Secretary based in Mumbai. Since the last 5 years, Dhanraj is overseeing the SAG Hockey Academy in Gujarat funded by the Gujarat Government. A legend of game, he is regarded as one of the best Indian players.
Hockey Canada, which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994, is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority of organized ice hockey in Canada. There are some notable exceptions, such as the Canadian Hockey League, U Sports, and Canada's professional hockey clubs; the former two are partnered with Hockey Canada but are not member organizations. Hockey Canada is based in Calgary, with a secondary office in Ottawa and regional centres in Toronto, Winnipeg and Montreal.
Sergei Viktorovich Fyodorov is a Russian former professional ice hockey player and the current general manager of CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). During his playing career, for which he is best known for his 13 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, Fedorov was primarily a centre, but occasionally played as a winger or defenceman.
The Canada men's national ice hockey team is the ice hockey team representing Canada internationally. The team is overseen by Hockey Canada, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. From 1920 until 1963, Canada's international representation was by senior amateur club teams. Canada's national men's team was founded in 1963 by Father David Bauer as a part of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, playing out of the University of British Columbia. The nickname "Team Canada" was first used for the 1972 Summit Series and has been frequently used to refer to both the Canadian national men's and women's teams ever since.
The Sweden men's national ice hockey team is governed by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and the United States.
The Russian men's national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey team of Russia, overseen by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia. As of 2021, they are rated third in the IIHF World Ranking. The team has been competing internationally since 1992 and is recognized by the IIHF as the successor to the Soviet Union team and CIS team. The Russian team is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six," the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden and the United States. The European nations of the Big Six participate in the Euro Hockey Tour, which Russia won seven times since 2005. Since April 2018, the head coach is Ilya Vorobiev, taking over for the second half of the 2017–18 Euro Hockey Tour.
The Finnish men's national ice hockey team, or Leijonat / Lejonen, as it is called in Finland, is governed by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Finland is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, United States, the Czech Republic, Russia and Sweden.
The Fédération Internationale de Hockey, commonly known by the acronym FIH, is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and the president is Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra. FIH is responsible for field hockey's major international tournaments, notably the World Cup.
Jennifer Lynn Schmidgall-Potter is an American ice hockey player. She is a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. She won a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics, silver medals at the 2002 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Olympics, and a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics. After, she plays for the Minnesota Whitecaps of the Western Women's Hockey League, where she won the league championship and was named MVP for the 2008–09 season. She was selected to the 2010 US Olympic team and was the only mother on the team.
Ryan Jeffrey Archibald is a field hockey player from New Zealand, who earned his first cap for the national team, nicknamed The Black Sticks, in 1997 against Malaysia. Currently he is a player for Somerville Hockey Club.
Dilip Tirkey, is a former Indian field hockey player and his playing position was of full back. He was best known for his penalty corner hit. Dilip was one of the most difficult defenders to beat in the world. He was an ex-captain of Indian hockey team. On 22 March 2012, he was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha as one of the three Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidates to the Upper House of Indian Parliament. Presently, Dilip Tirkey is working as chairman of Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC).
The Stanley Cup playoffs is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series to determine the league champion and the winner of the Stanley Cup. Eight teams from each of the two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season points totals. The final round is commonly known as the Stanley Cup Finals, which matches the two conference champions.
Beighton Cup is one of the oldest field hockey tournaments running till date. Instituted in 1895, it is organised by Hockey Bengal earlier called Bengal Hockey Association and used to be held on natural grass at the Mohun Bagan ground on the Maidan in Kolkata in India and for last few years has been held on Astro Turf at Sports Authority of India in Kolkata. The Beighton Cup was initially organized by the Indian Football Association, until the Bengal Hockey Association took over in 1905.
The International Ice Hockey Federation is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey and in-line hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland and, although it has 81 member countries, almost two thirds of registered players are North-American.
Team USA or United States national team may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions.
The 1998 Men's Hockey World Cup was the ninth edition of the Men's Hockey World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national field hockey teams organized by the International Hockey Federation. It was held alongside the women's tournament in Utrecht, Netherlands from 20 June to 1 July 1998.
