Prior to 1904, playing for pay was not favored by major hockey circuits, as they were established as purely amateur organizations. Players who were found to be paid were marked as professional and were banned by leagues such as the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA),[5] Canadian teams were prohibited from playing in Pittsburgh,[6] and the Canadian teams who played games against professional teams from Northern Michigan were banished by the OHA, including the two teams from Sault Ste. Marie, the Sault Ste. Marie Marlboros and Michigan Soo Indians in 1903-04.[7][8] Some banned players in Ontario considered starting a professional team in 1898,[9] and there was a proposal to start a professional league in western Ontario in 1899,[10] but professional hockey did not take off in Canada until 1907 with the establishment of the Ontario Professional Hockey League.
The earliest known instance of hockey players playing publicly for pay occurred in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when a 1902 investigation by the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) revealed that players on Pittsburgh-based teams received payment in 1901[11] and 1902, [12][13] leading the OHA to ban any club from Pittsburgh from participating in their association, claiming there was "ample and undeniable proof" that clubs in Pittsburgh were "purely professional, paying straight salaries to their players."[14][15][16][17][18] The 1903-04 Portage Lakes Hockey Club is regarded as the first team to pay each of the players on the team, [4][19] while players in prior years in the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League were compensated via a mix of a small monetary payment and jobs in the Pittsburgh community,[20] with the 30 players of the then four-team Western Pennsylvania Hockey League each receiving a weekly salary ranging from $10 (equivalent to $339in 2023) to $20 (equivalent to $678in 2023) per week in January of 1903, depending upon their agreements with James Wallace Conant,[21][22][23] which resulted in the Ontario Hockey Association considering each of these teams as a "purely professional team".[24]
Professional leagues emerged from amateur leagues. In 1904, the predominantly U.S.-based International Professional Hockey League (IPHL) hosted the first Canadian professional team, the Canadian Soo. The league hired many amateur players away from Canada, causing the amateur leagues to convert to all-out professionalism or allow professional players in order to compete for the top players. The first Canadian professional league was the Manitoba Professional Hockey League (MPHL), formed in 1905 from member teams of the amateur Manitoba Hockey Association. The Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA), formed from prior amateur hockey leagues, emerged in 1906. The ECAHA allowed teams to have professional players from the start, despite its name. In 1907, the Ontario Professional Hockey League was formed. The competition for players increased salaries, a factor in the demise of the IPHL in 1907 and the temporary end of professional hockey in the United States. In 1908, the ECAHA became fully professional, as the ECAHA's amateur teams separated from the league and competed for the new Allan Cup, a new challenge cup instituted for amateur teams. The ECAHA, now fully professional, renamed itself the ECHA. The MPHL folded in 1909, the OPHL in 1908, leaving the ECHA as the only 'elite' professional league in Canada.
In northern Ontario, silver mining had made small towns affluent, and mines in the area hired professional players for their ice hockey teams. By 1910, several teams in the area had hired enough professional players from the ECHA, that the teams, notably the Renfrew Creamery Kings, wanted to join the ECHA and compete for the Stanley Cup. Rebuffed by the ECHA, the mine owners formed the National Hockey Association (NHA) in 1910, splitting the ECHA's teams between the Canadian Hockey Association and the NHA. The CHA dissolved after less than a month, with some teams absorbed by the NHA. After one season of extravagant salaries, the NHA team owners imposed a salary cap, causing dissension amongst the players, and closed most of the teams in mining towns.
In 1911, Lester and Frank Patrick, who had played in the NHA, formed the rival Pacific Coast Hockey Association in British Columbia and took the opportunity to sign many of the NHA's players, notably Cyclone Taylor. In 1912, the NHA expanded west to Toronto, becoming a six-team league from Toronto to Quebec City. While the leagues competed for players, competition for the Stanley Cup brought them together for annual playoffs, starting in 1915. In November 1917, the NHA itself suspended operations and several NHA owners formed the National Hockey League (NHL) following a dispute between NHA team owners. The new league began play in December that year with four Canadian teams. The NHL continued the annual Stanley Cup playoffs with the PCHA.
In the west, the Western Canada Hockey League was formed in 1921 from existing teams in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The annual Stanley Cup playoffs now became a three-way championship, alternating in location between the west and the east. The PCHA would merge with the WCHL in 1924 to form the Western Hockey League before the league ceased operations in 1926. The NHL, having expanded to the U.S.A. and now with ten teams, bought out the players' contracts of the WHL and took control of the Stanley Cup, forming Canadian and American divisions; it also brought in one WHL team, the Victoria Cougars, and relocated it to the U.S. to eventually become the modern Detroit Red Wings.[26]
The NHL lost Canadian teams in the 1920s and 1930s, leading to a rise in senior-level amateur teams and leagues in cities such as Quebec City and Ottawa, former NHL cities. After World War II, several of these teams became professional in the Quebec Hockey League, which included several stars such as Jean Beliveau and Willie O'Ree. In the 1950s, with the rise of NHL television broadcasts, such as those on Hockey Night in Canada, attendance suffered and the minor professional leagues folded or merged to survive. A new Western Hockey League was formed on the west coast with teams in several cities including Vancouver. The WHL's Vancouver Canucks organization would join the NHL in 1970. Since the demise of the QHL, the American Hockey League (AHL) has had Canadian teams, starting with the Quebec Aces.
In 1972, the World Hockey Association was formed with professional teams in Edmonton, Ottawa, Quebec City and Winnipeg. Ottawa relocated to Toronto after one season, but the other teams survived until the WHA merged with the NHL in 1979, with Edmonton, Quebec City and Winnipeg joined the NHL, along with the Hartford, Connecticut-based New England Whalers, which joined the NHL as the Hartford Whalers. The inclusion of all three Canadian WHA teams was a key point of contention in merger talks between the NHL and WHA, and only after the NHL agreed to that stipulation was agreed upon did the merger happen. In 1980, the Atlanta franchise moved to Calgary. In the 1990s, the Quebec and Winnipeg franchises relocated to the U.S., to Denver and Phoenix respectively, while Ottawa rejoined the NHL in 1992; the NHL returned to Winnipeg in 2011, and a proposal to return to Quebec currently sits in purgatory.
On February 16, 2005, the NHL became the first major professional team sport in North America to cancel an entire season because of a labor dispute. Play resumed again in the fall of 2005. During the dispute, controversy arose over the decision not to award the Stanley Cup; some considered this decision a violation of the terms of the Stanley Cup's handover ("Deed of Gift") to the NHL. Following a legal challenge, it was agreed that the Cup's trustees could award the Cup to a non-NHL team, although this did not actually occur.[27]
In the Czech Republic, the Czech Extraliga is rooted in the Czechoslovak Extraliga. The Czech Extraliga was spun off in 1993 following the administrative break-up of Czechoslovakia. The Czech Extraliga is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. The name of the league is leased a general sponsor and changes frequently. In the 2003-04, 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons it was known as the Tipsport Extraliga; for 2001-01 and 2001-02 it was called the Český Telecom Extraliga, and in 1999-00 the Staropramen Extraliga. During the 2006-07 season it was known as the O2 Extraliga. Hockey Club Lev Praha (stylized as HC LEV Praha) is a professional ice hockey team located in Prague, Czech Republic, which debuts in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in 2012–13.
In Slovakia, the Slovak Extraliga is the highest-level ice hockey league in Slovakia. The name of the league is leased to sponsor and changes frequently. From 1993/94 to 1997/98 season, it was called Extraliga, then the name changed to West Extraliga until the end of 2000/01 season. In 2001/02, its name was Boss Extraliga. Since 2002/03 season to 2004/05, the name changed to ST Extraliga and in 2005/06 to T-Com Extraliga. From January 16, 2007, the name changed to Slovnaft Extraliga when a general sponsor agreement with Slovnaft was signed. The agreement is valid until the end of 2007/08 season. The Slovak Extraliga is also rooted in the Czechoslovak Extraliga. The 1993/94 season was the first season of Slovak Extraliga as Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on January 1, 1993. Hockey Club Slovan Bratislava (Slovak: Hokejový klub Slovan Bratislava) is a professional ice hockey club based in Bratislava, Slovakia. In 2012, they left the Slovak Extraliga and joined the international Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The club has won eight Slovak championships (most recently in 2012) and one Czechoslovak championship (1979).
In Finland, SM-liiga is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland and is regarded as one of the top leagues in Europe. It was constituted in 1975 to replace SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur league. SM-liiga has an agreement of cooperation with Finnish ice hockey federation Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto. SM is a common abbreviation for Suomen mestaruus, "Finnish championship". At the moment, there are 14 teams. SM-liiga was closed in 2000 so that no team can be relegated to or promoted from the lower leagues without approval of the board of SM-liiga. The board have committed themselves to promote the first winner of Mestis (the second highest competition) that meets certain standards. The Finnish ice hockey championship has been played since 1928.
In Germany, the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (German Hockey League, shortname DEL) is a German high-calibre ice hockey league, and has the highest number of American and Canadian players overseas. It was formed as a replacement for the Bundesliga. It dates back to 1958.
The highest league in the Soviet Union was the Soviet Championship League, founded in 1946. This evolved into an elite league with a talent level comparable to the NHL. However, it was always considered an "amateur" league, rather than professional. This was because all elite athletes in the Soviet Union were conscripted into the Red Army, Red Air Force or other national institutions. Technically they were paid for their military service, and not for their play as athletes. This allowed them compete at the Olympic games without violating the International Olympic Committee's amateur-only rules of the era.
Throughout the history of the Soviet league, Red Army-affiliated CSKA Moscow dominated, winning 32 of the 46 championship seasons.
The Soviet League's talent level was severely diminished following the fall of communism when most elite players moved to the NHL in search of higher pay. The league also changed its name to the CIS Championship in 1991-1992, and then to the International Hockey League from 1992 to 1996. After the communist era ended, the league became explicitly professional.
The Russian Pro Hockey League's "Super League" was the highest level of play in Russia from 1996 to 2008. During the 2000s (decade) the calibre of play and the league economics recovered as the Russian economy did. Before the 2008-09 season the RSL was reformed into the Kontinental Hockey League which includes teams from several other former Soviet republics (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine) and plans to expand further.
In Sweden, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) is the highest-level professional ice hockey league. It is generally regarded as one of the top leagues of Europe,[28] and one of the Swedish major professional sports league. SHL, or the Swedish Elite League, which it is often unofficially called in English, is composed of 14 teams. The first season under the former name Elitserien was played in 1975–76. The Swedish ice hockey championships has been played in various forms since 1922.
In Switzerland, the Nationalliga A (German), or Ligue Nationale A (French), or Lega Nazionale A (Italian) is the top tier of the Nationalliga or Ligue Nationale or Lega Nazionale, the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland. It is the oldest league remaining today, dating to 1916.
Between the wars, British ice hockey grew rapidly with new ice rinks and an influx of Canadian players. A European competition was instituted, and in the 1936 Winter Olympics at Garmisch, Germany, Great Britain won the gold medal, imposing the first ever Olympic defeat on the Canadians. However, because of the disruption of World War II and a lack of suitable venues afterwards the sport faded rapidly.
As of 2012, the ten-team, two-division professional Elite Ice Hockey League is the highest level of competition in the United Kingdom and features teams from each of the four Home Nations.[29]
Much as was the case of the concurrent development of professional gridiron football, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania metropolitan area was one of the first areas to promote a professional ice hockey team. The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League began hiring professional players in 1902 and acted as a pro–am league. This league joined with teams in Michigan and Ontario to form the International Professional Hockey League in 1904, with Houghton, Michigan dentist Jack Gibson its founder. While this league had folded by 1907, it was the start of professional hockey. The United States would continue to see professional hockey with teams from the PCHL, beginning with the Portland Rosebuds, followed by a Seattle-based franchise a year later. When the Boston Bruins joined the NHL in 1924, the United States was finally represented in the league. It would continue to grow in the NHL until a peak in the 2000s (decade), when 24 of the NHL's 30 teams were in the United States (the loss of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg in 2011 reduced this number to 23; it returned to 24 American teams when the Vegas Golden Knights joined in 2017). The NHL reached a higher peak when the Seattle Kraken joined the league in 2021-22 as the 25th American team. There are several other pro leagues in the US as well; as of 2019 these include the AHL, ECHL, SPHL, and FPHL. The AHL and ECHL are official minor leagues to the NHL, with the ECHL subservient to the AHL; the FPHL and SPHL operate as low-level independents.
The NHL is considered one of the four major professional sports leagues of the United States. It is historically most popular in areas near the Canada–US border and along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.
There is no single global championship for professional ice hockey. The most elite North American teams compete for the Stanley Cup as their championship. Created in 1892, the Stanley Cup was originally an amateur trophy. Starting in 1907, professionals were allowed to compete for it. Teams from several leagues played for the Stanley Cup before 1926, since which time the cup's trustees have ceded control of the trophy to the National Hockey League (NHL). The terms of the NHL's control over the trophy extended only so long as the NHL remained the undisputed, most dominant professional hockey league in the world, a distinction that arguably was voided in the 1970s after Russian teams played, and often defeated, NHL teams but has not been formally challenged since that time.
The most elite European clubs have competed in the Europa Cup from 1965 to 1997, the European Hockey League from 1996 to 2000, the IIHF European Champions Cup 2005 to 2008 and the Champions Hockey League in 2008. The Champions Hockey League returned for the 2014-15 season and has since been held yearly. The most successful North American team is the Montreal Canadiens who have won 24 Stanley Cups, the most successful European club is HC CSKA Moscow which has won 20 European Cups.
Teams from North American and Europe do not regularly compete against each other in "friendlies" as do soccer clubs, although efforts to expand intercontinental play have increased since the new 2000 millennium. The opportunities for fans and media to compare levels of play between the continents were especially limited during the Cold War since many of Europe’s best clubs were behind the Iron Curtain. After the success of the Summit Series which featured the Canadian and Soviet national teams, there was a demand for more international hockey at the club level. It has also proved that Soviet hockey was at a comparable level to the NHL. This led to the Super Series which from 1975 to 1991 featured an annual tour of North America by a Soviet hockey club. The first Super Series featured CSKA Moscow against the Montreal Canadiens on New Year’s Eve 1975, in what was described in the press as a de facto world championship. The game ended as a 3-3 draw but was hailed as one of the greatest games ever played. The following week CSKA played and lost to the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers in a game infamous for its roughness. Subsequent Super Series produced more close results, but generally favoured the Soviet sides. However, following the fall of communism, many elite players from the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries went to the NHL for higher pay. The NHL became de facto the world’s most elite league as the quality of play in European leagues suffered. European leagues have, however, benefited from the frequent labor disputes in the NHL (it has locked out its players three times in an eighteen-year span), picking up players who are barred from NHL play due to lockouts.
Between 2000 and 2003, several NHL teams travelled outside North America to play exhibition games against some Swedish and one Finnish ice hockey teams. This series was known as the NHL Challenge.
In 2008, the former Russian Super League was refounded as the Kontinental Hockey League, expanded into Belarus, Latvia, and Kazakhstan, and encouraged its clubs to aggressively seek talented players (sometimes at the expense of the NHL), prompting the media to speculate about eventual KHL challenge to the NHL dominance of international hockey.
Also in 2008, the new Champions Hockey League was created to provide an elite tournament for the best teams in Europe. The winner of the Champions Hockey League will face an NHL challenger each year in the Victoria Cup providing a regular contest between NHL and European teams since the end of the Super Series in 1991. The Champions League was suspended for the 2009-10 season due to withdrawal of sponsors such as Gazprom.
Since 2007, the NHL has operated the NHL Premiere series, which brings a limited number of NHL teams (usually four) to Europe to compete in exhibition games against both each other and local professional teams. The NHL teams have won a large majority of the games against European clubs.
Women's hockey
In North America, professional women's hockey developed much later than in the men's game, and has seen starts and stops. The Canadian Women's Hockey League, founded in 2014, did not pay salaries, but did pay stipends and bonuses.[30] It folded in 2019 due to financial instability. The National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), the first women's league to pay salaries, was established in the United States in 2015 and expanded into Canada in 2020.[31][32] However, hundreds of prominent women's players, including Canadian and American Olympians, founded the Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association and opted to boycott existing leagues in pursuit of a unified, financially stable professional league.[33] In 2023, the NWHL—rebranded as the Premier Hockey Federation in 2021—was purchased and ultimately dissolved as part of the foundation of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), the unified league many players had been working towards.[34] The league debuted in January 2024.[35]
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 the 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 an 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.
The Montreal Wanderers were an amateur, and later professional, ice hockey team based in Montreal. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL), the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA), the National Hockey Association (NHA) and briefly the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wanderers were four-time Stanley Cup winners. Prior to the formation of the NHL, the "Redbands" were one of the most successful teams in ice hockey.
Thomas Joseph Smith was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward, who played from 1905 until 1920 for 16 teams in his career. He was a member of two Stanley Cup-winning teams, the Ottawa Silver Seven of 1906 and the Quebec Bulldogs of 1913. His two older brothers Alf and Harry Smith also played professional ice hockey.
The Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL) was a Canadian men's senior-level ice hockey league that played six seasons, from 1904 to 1909. The league was formed initially to provide a league for teams not accepted by the rival Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL).
The Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA) was a men's amateur – later professional – ice hockey league in Canada that played four seasons. It was founded on December 11, 1905 with the top clubs from two other leagues: four from the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) and two from the Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL). It was formed to maximize the revenues of a now popular spectator sport and help these amateur teams cope with professionalism in the sport. The league would shed its amateur status for the 1908 season, leading to the split between Canadian amateur ice hockey teams playing for the Allan Cup, and the professionals playing for the Stanley Cup. The league would itself dissolve in 1909 over a dispute between team owners over business issues.
Percivale St-Helier LeSueur, known as "Peerless Percy", was a Canadian senior and professional ice hockey goaltender and later involved in the game as referee, coach, manager and owner. He was a member of the Smiths Falls Seniors for three years, with whom his performance in a 1906 Stanley Cup challenge series attracted the attention of his opponents, the Ottawa Silver Seven. Although his team lost the series, LeSueur excelled in goal, keeping the games close. Nine days after the defeat, he joined the Silver Seven and played in a challenge match against the Montreal Wanderers. He remained with Ottawa through the 1913–14 season where he served as team captain for three seasons, and assumed coaching duties in his final season with the team.
Frederick Wellington "Cyclone" Taylor was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and civil servant. A cover-point and rover, he played professionally from 1906 to 1922, and is acknowledged as one of the first stars of the professional era of hockey. Taylor was recognized as one of the fastest skaters and most prolific scorers, winning five scoring championships in the PCHA. He won the Stanley Cup twice, with Ottawa in 1909 and Vancouver in 1915, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947.
Harry "Rat" Westwick was a Canadian athlete in ice hockey and lacrosse. Westwick – nicknamed the Rat for his small size – is most noted for his play with the Ottawa Hockey Club, nicknamed the Silver Seven during his day, which won and defended the Stanley Cup from 1903 until 1906. He was a member of the Ottawa Capitals lacrosse team from 1896 until 1904, winning three championships. At the time of his final retirement, he was the last professional hockey player active in the 19th century. He was the brother of Thomas Westwick, the father of journalist Bill Westwick, and was inducted into both the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame and the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Ottawa Senators were an ice hockey team based in Ottawa, which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League (NHL) and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934. The club, which was officially the Ottawa Hockey Club, was known by several nicknames, including the Generals in the 1890s, the Silver Seven from 1903 to 1907 and the Senators dating from 1908.
James Arthur Brooks was a Canadian ice hockey goaltender. He played two games each for the Toronto Blueshirts and the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Toronto Arenas in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1916 and 1919. The 1918 team won the Stanley Cup, however, Brooks was released and was not a member of the winning team.
Samuel George "Goldie" Prodgers was a Canadian ice hockey player. During his career he played for the Waterloo Colts, Quebec Bulldogs, Victoria Aristocrats, Montreal Wanderers, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto 228th Battalion, Toronto St. Pats, and Hamilton Tigers. He won the Stanley Cup in 1912 with the Bulldogs, and in 1916 with the Canadiens, and retired in 1925.
Edward Cole Oatman was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was among the elite goal scorers of his era. Among his 32 years (1907–39) playing professional ice hockey, Oatman was named an all-star for ten consecutive seasons by the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). He was a star with the Quebec Bulldogs when it won the 1912 Stanley Cup. Oatman played with clubs that won five league championships, and he was a successful coach and captain of five different hockey teams. His brother Russell also played professional ice hockey.
Frank "Pud" Glass was a Scottish-Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in various professional and amateur leagues, including the National Hockey Association and Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association. He was a member of the Montreal Wanderers' Stanley Cup champion teams in the 1905–06, 1906–07, 1907–08 and 1909–10 seasons. He was the captain of Montreal Wanderers when they won their fourth Stanley Cup.
Frederick Edgar Lake was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was one of the first professional players and he played 181 games in various professional and amateur leagues, including the National Hockey Association, Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association, and International Professional Hockey League. Amongst the teams he played with were the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Ontarios. He won two Stanley Cups in 1909 and 1911 with Ottawa.
The Toronto Professional Hockey Club was a professional ice hockey team in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was Toronto's first professional ice hockey team, founded in 1906. The team played the 1906–07 season in exhibition games against other professional teams. In 1908, the team was one of the founders of the Ontario Professional Hockey League (OPHL). The club operated for two seasons in the OPHL, 1908 and 1909, before disbanding. The club challenged unsuccessfully for the Stanley Cup in 1908. They were usually referred to as the Toronto Argonauts.
In Ottawa, Canada, ice hockey clubs date back to the first decade of recorded organized ice hockey play. The men's senior-level Ottawa Hockey Club is known to have played in a Canadian championship in 1884. Today, Ottawa hockey clubs are represented in all age brackets, in both men's and women's, in amateur and professional.
The National Hockey League (NHL) was founded in 1917 following the demise of its predecessor league, the National Hockey Association (NHA). In an effort to remove Eddie Livingstone as owner of the Toronto Blueshirts, a majority of the NHA franchises suspended the NHA and formed the new NHL. The Quebec Bulldogs, while a member, did not operate in the NHL for the first two years. Instead the owners of the Toronto Arena Gardens operated a new Toronto franchise. While the NHL was intended as a temporary measure, the continuing dispute with Livingstone led to the four NHA owners meeting and making the suspension of the NHA permanent one year later.
Alfred Ernest 'Cap' McDonald was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played from 1895 to 1914. In 1912–13, he was the captain and coach of the Sydney Millionaires when they played against the Quebec Bulldogs for the Stanley Cup in 1913.
↑ "Upper Michigan Bolsters Claim As Birthplace Of Hockey In United States". The Escanaba Daily Press. February 26, 1948. p.14. A recent issue of "The Hockey News" carries an article written by James Hendy, president of the United States League, in which Hendy plants firm substantiation to Upper Michigan's claims that the first professional hockey league in this country flourished there 44 years ago.
↑ "Playing Hockey Here Is A Serious Offense...Bert Morrison Hauled Over the Coals in Montreal for Participating in Western Pennsylvania League Games-Hearing Is In Progress". The Pittsburgh Press. 1902-11-10. p.12. The London club alleged that [Bert] Morrison was an amateur under suspension by the O.H.A. when he played [against the London club in a game on November 8, 1902]: also that he received money directly or indirectly for playing hockey [in 1901] in Pittsburg (sic) and competed with and against [Harry] Peel and [goaltender] Hern, who have been professionalized by the O.H.A.
↑ Daniel S. Mason (1998). "The International Hockey League and the Professionalization of Ice Hockey, 1904-1907 (Published Spring 1988 in Journal of Sport History), Page 5". Journal of Sport History. 25 (1): 1–17. JSTOR43606915.
↑ "Professional Hockey". The Ottawa Journal. February 8, 1898. p.6. The athletes in the city who are under the ban of professionalism think that they could organize a hockey team that would beat anything in the city in a practice game.
↑ "Professional Hockey League...Proposal to Form one in Western Ontario". The Ottawa Journal. September 12, 1899. p.3. George Black, manager of the Guelph Canadian League Baseball team, has made the proposal that a professional hockey league be formed in Western Ontario to include Stratford, London, Guelph, Woodstock and Berlin-Waterloo.
↑ "Playing Hockey Here Is A Serious Offense...Bert Morrison Hauled Over the Coals in Montreal for Participating in Western Pennsylvania League Games-Hearing Is In Progress". The Pittsburgh Press. 1902-11-10. p.12. The London club alleged that [Bert] Morrison was an amateur under suspension by the O.H.A. when he played [against the London club in a game on November 8, 1902]: also that he received money directly or indirectly for playing hockey [in 1901] in Pittsburg (sic) and competed with and against [Harry] Peel and [goaltender] Hern, who have been professionalized by the O.H.A.
↑ Daniel S. Mason (1998). "The International Hockey League and the Professionalization of Ice Hockey, 1904-1907 (Published Spring 1988 in Journal of Sport History), Page 7". Journal of Sport History. 25 (1): 1–17. JSTOR43606915.
↑ Daniel S. Mason (1998). "The International Hockey League and the Professionalization of Ice Hockey, 1904-1907 (Published Spring 1988 in Journal of Sport History), Page 5". Journal of Sport History. 25 (1): 1–17. JSTOR43606915.
↑ McFarlane, Brian (1997). Brian McFarlane's History of Hockey. Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing Inc. pp.15–16. ISBN1-57167-145-5.
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