The National Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, and is 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. The NHL is the fifth-wealthiest professional sport league in the world by revenue, after the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the English Premier League (EPL).
In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captain and a number of alternate captains who speak to the officials when the captain is on the bench. Captains wear a "C" on their sweaters, while alternate captains wear an "A".
Jay Daniel Bouwmeester is a Canadian former ice hockey defenceman. He played seventeen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues. He was a first round selection, third overall, of the Panthers at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 2003 and played seven seasons in the Panthers organization before being traded to the Calgary Flames in 2009, with which he played four seasons. Bouwmeester was then traded to the Blues in 2013. He held one of the longest iron man streaks in NHL history as he appeared in 737 consecutive regular season games between 2004 and 2014.
Martin Gélinas is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played 1,273 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, Vancouver Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes, Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators. A first round selection of the Los Angeles Kings at the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, Gélinas was sent to the Oilers as part of the 1988 Wayne Gretzky trade before ever playing a game for the Kings.
Kerry Fraser is a hockey analyst, broadcaster and former senior referee in the National Hockey League. During his career, he called 1,904 regular season games, 12 Stanley Cup Finals, and over 261 Stanley Cup playoff games.
The Triple Gold Club is the group of ice hockey players and coaches who have won an Olympic Games gold medal, a World Championship gold medal, and the Stanley Cup, the championship trophy of the National Hockey League (NHL). The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) considers them to be "the three most important championships available to the sport".
Raphael Torres is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He was drafted by the New York Islanders fifth overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Phoenix Coyotes and San Jose Sharks.
Bruce Melvin Hood was a Canadian author, businessman, politician, and a professional ice hockey referee in the National Hockey League (NHL).
The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey is the National Hockey League's (NHL) championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional sports trophy.
Dustin Penner is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals. Undrafted by any NHL team, in 2004, Penner signed with Anaheim after playing college hockey at the University of Maine in the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA). Penner won the Stanley Cup in his first full season with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007, before adding a second Stanley Cup in his first full season with Los Angeles in 2012.
Andy Van Hellemond is a former National Hockey League referee and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame since 1999.
William McCreary is a former National Hockey League referee. Before retiring in 2011, McCreary officiated 1,737 regular season games, 297 playoff games, and one NHL All-Star Game. McCreary wore uniform number 7 since the 1994–95 NHL season and wore a helmet for most of his refereeing career. He worked fifteen Stanley Cup Finals, the 1991 Canada Cup, the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, and the 1998 Nagano Olympics, where he officiated the Gold Medal game won by the Czech Republic.
Dan O'Halloran is a National Hockey League referee, who wears uniform number 13. He was one of the selected referees who officiated the 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals.
The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, formally Le Club de Hockey Canadien, was founded on December 4, 1909. The Canadiens are the oldest professional hockey franchise in the world. Created as a founding member of the National Hockey Association (NHA) with the aim of appealing to Montreal's francophone population, the Canadiens played their first game on January 5, 1910, and captured their first Stanley Cup in 1916. The team left the NHA and helped found the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1917. They returned to the Stanley Cup finals in 1919, but their series against the Seattle Metropolitans was canceled without a winner due to the Spanish flu pandemic that killed defenceman Joe Hall. The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup 24 times: once while part of the National Hockey Association (NHA), and 23 times as members of the NHL. With 25 NHL titles overall, they are the most successful team in league history.
Karl Johan Marcus Vinnerborg is a Swedish professional ice hockey referee, currently working in the Swedish Hockey League—Sweden's premier ice hockey league—and with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Vinnerborg has won Guldpipan three times, awarded to the premier official in Elitserien as voted by the players. Vinnerborg has officiated at seven IIHF sanctioned events, among them four consecutive World Championships between 2006—2009, and at the 2010 Olympics. He has officiated the World Championship gold medal game twice, 2007 in Moscow and 2008 in Québec. In 2010, Vinnerborg made history when he became the first European referee to officiate in the National Hockey League (NHL).
The 2011 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2010–11 season, and the culmination of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Boston Bruins defeated the Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks four games to three. The Bruins ended a 39-year Stanley Cup drought with the win. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.
Bill Friday is a Canadian retired ice hockey referee. He refereed 1,425 major league hockey games, and is the only referee to work both the Avco Cup finals in the World Hockey Association (WHA) and the Stanley Cup finals in the National Hockey League (NHL).
François St-Laurent is a Canadian ice hockey referee, currently working in the National Hockey League. In the summer of 1999, during a camp held by Ron Fournier, he told Réseau des Sports that his goal was to make it to the NHL. Said to have "an exceptional talent", he became a Level VI referee in the Hockey Canada Officiating Program during a seminar in November 2001, held in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Frederick L'Ecuyer is a Canadian ice hockey referee, employed by the National Hockey League. He has worn the number 17 since the start of the 2010-11 NHL season.
