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. 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 one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered to be the top ranked professional ice hockey league in the world, with players from 18 countries as of the 2022–23 season. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) also views the Stanley Cup as one of the "most important championships available to the sport".
The Canadian Hockey League is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, and is composed of its three member leagues, the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. For the 2022–23 season, its three leagues and 60 teams represent nine Canadian provinces as well as four American states.
The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hockey in Canada. Teams play for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, with the winner moving on to play for the Memorial Cup, Canada's national junior championship. WHL teams have won the Memorial Cup 19 times since the league became eligible to compete for the trophy. Many players have been drafted from WHL teams, and have found success at various levels of professional hockey, including the National Hockey League (NHL).
The ECHL is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL).
Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur and operate within regions of each country.
The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
The Regina Capitals were a professional ice hockey team originally based in the city of Regina, Saskatchewan in the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921.
The 1972–73 NHL season was the 56th season of the National Hockey League. Sixteen teams each played 78 games. Two new teams, the New York Islanders and the Atlanta Flames, made their debuts. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup by beating the Chicago Black Hawks four games to two in the Stanley Cup Final.
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, and one of the "most important championships available to the sport [of ice hockey]" according to the International Ice Hockey Federation.
The International Hockey League was a professional hockey league operating in Canada and the United States from 1929 to 1936. It is one of two direct ancestors of the American Hockey League.
The Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League was a Tier II Junior "A" ice hockey that lasted from the late 1960s until 1977 in Southern Ontario, Canada. The league was swallowed by what is now called the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League in 1977.
The 2001–02 AHL season was the 66th season of the American Hockey League. It was the season of the biggest growth in the AHL's history, as it accepted eight new teams. The demise of the International Hockey League brought six teams transferring from the defunct league, in addition to two expansion teams.
The Saskatoon Quakers were an ice hockey team that was based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The team played in various senior ice hockey leagues, and later played in minor league professional hockey. The Quakers represented Canada in 1934 World Ice Hockey Championships held in Milan, Italy where they won Gold. In 1952, they captured the President's Cup as Pacific Coast Hockey League champions.
The 2010–11 WHL season is the 45th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The regular season began on September 24, 2010 and ended on March 20, 2011. The 2010 Subway Super Series, featuring Team WHL versus Team Russia, took place from November 17–18, 2010.
The 2011–12 WHL season is the 46th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The regular season began in September 2011 and ended in March 2012. The following playoffs began on March 22 and ended in early May when the Edmonton Oil Kings won their first championship. This was the inaugural season of the Victoria Royals, a team that relocated to Victoria from Chilliwack where they played as the Chilliwack Bruins between 2006 and 2011.