List of ice hockey leagues

Last updated

This is a list of ice hockey leagues , both professional and amateur, from around the world; parentheses denote year of establishment and, where applicable, year of disestablishment.

Contents

North America

Men

Major professional

Minor professional

Semi-professional

Junior

Major junior
Note: that the major junior level is considered professional by some authorities, including the NCAA, as its players earn a small stipend.
Junior A
Hockey Canada junior A leagues

Tier 2

USA Hockey junior leagues
Tier I
Tier II
Tier III
Independent junior leagues
Junior B
Hockey Canada junior B leagues

(*) Quebec Junior "AA" is roughly equal to Ontario Junior "B"

Junior C
Hockey Canada junior C leagues

(*) Quebec Junior "A" is roughly equal to Ontario Junior "C"

Junior D

(*) Quebec Junior "B" is roughly equal to Ontario Junior "D"

Collegiate

U Sports hockey (Canada)
NCAA hockey (United States)
Notes
  • Two all-sports conferences, the Division I Ivy League and Division III Middle Atlantic Conference, officially sponsor ice hockey for both men and women, but neither hold conference tournaments nor compete for their own automatic bids to the NCAA tournament. All of the hockey-sponsoring schools in both leagues are members of hockey-only leagues and compete for those leagues' automatic bids, with Ivy League members competing in ECAC Hockey and MAC members competing in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference. The Ivies and MAC both extrapolate their own conference champions from results of regular-season games between their own members.
  • The Northeast-10 sponsors a championship for its members that play men's ice hockey, but the NCAA doesn't currently sponsor a national championship at Division II level for either sex. All members of that conference with women's teams participate in the NEWHA.
NAIA hockey (United States)

Note: there are also independent teams outside of the WHAC.

ACHA and AAU College Hockey hockey (United States and Canada)

Women

Professional

Amateur

Junior and youth

Collegiate

NCAA (United States)
Notes
  • Two all-sports conferences, the Ivy League (Division I) and Middle Atlantic Conference (Division III), officially sponsor women's ice hockey, but neither hold conference tournaments nor compete for their own automatic bids to the NCAA tournament. All of the ice hockey-sponsoring schools in both leagues are members of hockey-only leagues and compete for those leagues' automatic bids, with Ivy League members competing in ECAC Hockey and MAC members competing in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference. The Ivies and MAC both extrapolate their own conference champions from results of regular-season games between their own members.
  • The NCAA doesn't currently sponsor a national championship at Division II level for either sex. All members of the Northeast-10 conference with women's teams participate in the NEWHA.
NAIA hockey

Note: there are also independent teams outside of the WHAC.

U Sports (Canada)
ACHA and AAU
Notes
  • There are also many independent teams in both ACHA divisions in addition to the many within the hockey conferences and leagues
  • The CCWHA includes both a Division 1 and a Division 2 conference, with separate groups of teams as members

Senior

Sanctioned by Hockey Canada or USA Hockey

Canada
United States

School and youth

High school

Defunct leagues

South America

Africa

Asia

Multinational

Armenia

China

Men

Women

Taiwan

Hong Kong

India

Israel

Japan

Men

Women

Defunct

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Malaysia

Mongolia

North Korea

Philippines

Qatar

Singapore

Thailand

Turkmenistan

United Arab Emirates

Eurasia

Europe

Multinational

Defunct

  • Alpenliga (1991–1999) – multinational league with teams from Austria, Italy and Slovenia
  • Balkan League (1994–1997) – multinational league with teams from Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia and Montenegro
  • Baltic League (2000–01) – single-season multinational league with teams from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
  • Carpathian League (1997–98) – single-season multinational league with teams from Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, and Slovakia
  • Champions Hockey League (2008–09) – single-instance, multinational tournament featuring top teams from the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland, organized by the IIHF
  • Eastern European Hockey League (1995–2005) – multinational league with teams from Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine
  • Interliga (1999–2007) – multinational professional league with teams from Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia; also known as the International Ice Hockey League
  • Inter-National League (2012–2016) – multinational league with teams from Austria, Italy, and Slovenia
  • North Sea Cup (2010–2012) – multinational professional league with teams from Belgium and the Netherlands; temporary successor of the Eredivisie
  • Panonian League (2002–2004, 2007–2009) – multinational league with teams from Croatia, Hungary, Romania, and Serbia
  • Slohokej League (2009–2012) – multinational league with teams from Austria, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia

Austria

Men

Women

Defunct

Belarus

Belgium

Men

  • BeNe League (2015) – multinational professional league with teams from the Netherlands and Belgium

Defunct

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Men

Women

Croatia

Czech Republic

Men

Women

Denmark

Men

Women

  • KvindeLigaen (1989; also known as DM i ishockey for kvinder)

Estonia

Finland

Men

Defunct

Women

France

Men

Women

Georgia

Germany

Men

Professional
Minor professional
Semi-pro
Amateur

Women

Defunct

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Men

Women

Ireland

Defunct

Italy

Men

Semi-pro
Amateur

Women

Latvia

Men

Amateur

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Defunct

The Netherlands

Men

Professional
  • BeNe League (2015) - multinational professional league with teams from the Netherlands and Belgium
Semi-pro

Defunct

  • Eredivisie (1945–2015) – merged with Belgian Hockey League to form the BeNe League

Norway

Poland

Romania

Russia

Men

Major professional
  • Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) (2008) – multinational professional league with teams from Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, and Russia; teams from the Czech Republic, Croatia, Finland, Latvia, Slovakia, and Ukraine have previously participated
Minor professional
Semi-pro
Junior
Youth
  • Moscow Region
  • Ural Region

Women

Defunct

Serbia

Slovakia

Men

Women

Slovenia

Spain

Men

Women

Sweden

Men

Major professional
Minor professional
  • HockeyAllsvenskan (1999; formerly Allsvenskan, 1948–1975, and SuperAllsvenskan, 2000–2005)
Semi-pro
Amateur
Junior and youth

Women

Switzerland

Men

Professional
Amateur

Women

  • Women's League (SWHL A) (1986; formerly Leistungsklasse A (LKA), 1986–2014, and Swiss Women's Hockey League A, 2014–2019)

Turkey

Note: Leagues involve teams from both Asia and Europe

Men

Women

Ukraine

Defunct

United Kingdom

Men

Professional
Semi-pro and amateur

Women

  • WNIHL U16 (2007)
Source: EIHA [7]

University

Defunct leagues

Former nations

Czechoslovakia

East Germany

Soviet Union

West Germany

Yugoslavia

Oceania

Australia

Men

Professional
Minor professional
Semi-pro and amateur
Junior

Women

New Zealand

Men

Women

Disabled hockey leagues

Leagues for disabled hockey players:

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

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Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 21 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from the 2024 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streetsville Derbys</span> Ice hockey team in Ontario, Canada

The Streetsville Derbys are a Junior "C" ice hockey team from Streetsville, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Provincial Junior Hockey League assigned to the South Conference and in the Bloomfield Division. The Derbys joined the PJHL as an expansion franchise for the 2024–25 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarence Schmalz Cup</span> Canadian junior ice hockey trophy

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Junior A Challenge</span> International U20 ice hockey tournament

The World Junior A Challenge (WJAC) is an annual under-20 international ice hockey tournament sponsored by Hockey Canada, the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The tournament showcases Junior A level players and is modeled after the IIHF World U20 Championships, which displays the best of all junior-aged hockey players. It has been hosted by Canadian cities every year in CJAHL markets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College ice hockey</span> US and Canadian amateur collegiate ice hockey competition

College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professional ice hockey</span> Ice hockey in which participants are paid to play

Professional ice hockey (hockey) is the competition of ice hockey in which participants are paid to play. Professional competition began in North America in the United States—in Pennsylvania and Michigan—and in Canada around 1900. Professional ice hockey expanded across Canada and the United States and eventually to many other countries. There are major leagues around the world, including the National Hockey League in North America, the Kontinental Hockey League in Europe and Asia, and the Swedish Hockey League in Europe, as well as minor leagues such as the American Hockey League and ECHL in North America, and the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey in Canada. High-level professional hockey is also present in Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland and Switzerland; professional hockey is also played in many other countries, as diverse as Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Austria, Australia and Japan. The major professional women's league is the Professional Women's Hockey League, which began play in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hockey Eastern Ontario</span> Canadian ice hockey governing body

Hockey Eastern Ontario (HEO), formerly the Ottawa District Hockey Association (ODHA) and the Ottawa and District Amateur Hockey Association (ODAHA), is the governing body of a variety of ice hockey Junior leagues and a minor hockey system based out of the Greater Ottawa area and Southwestern Quebec. It is one of thirteen regional branches of Hockey Canada. The ODHA became HEO in the Summer of 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dundas Blues</span> Canadian junior ice hockey team

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakefield Chiefs</span> Canadian junior ice hockey team

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provincial Junior Hockey League</span> League in Ontario

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References