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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 top ranked 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).
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.
The World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926. Although the WHA was not the first league since that time to attempt to challenge the NHL's supremacy, it was by far the most successful in the modern era.
William Dickenson "Wild Bill" Hunter, was a Canadian ice hockey player, general manager and coach. Hunter was involved in hockey, Canadian football, baseball, softball and curling, but he is best known for founding the Western Hockey League (WHL), being a key player in the upstart World Hockey Association (WHA) and for his efforts to bring professional hockey to previously overlooked Western Canadian cities, especially in Edmonton and (unsuccessfully) in Saskatoon.
Allan Guy Hamilton is a Canadian former ice hockey defenceman, most notably with the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association. He also played in the National Hockey League for the Oilers, as well as the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres.
Valerie B. Ackerman is an American sports executive, former lawyer, and former basketball player. She is the current commissioner of the Big East Conference. She is best known for being the first president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), serving from 1996 to 2005. Ackerman was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.
The Gary L. Davidson Award was given to the most valuable player of the World Hockey Association regular season, from 1973 to 1975. It was named in honour of WHA co-founder Gary Davidson, but for the 1975–76 WHA season, it was renamed the Gordie Howe Trophy in honour of one of hockey's all-time greats; Gordie Howe.
Ulf Gösta Nilsson is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player who played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the Winnipeg Jets and in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers.
Joseph Gérard Marquis Tardif is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played in both the National Hockey League (NHL) and the World Hockey Association (WHA), principally for the Quebec Nordiques, and is the all-time leading goal scorer in the WHA.
Kent Åke "Kenta" Nilsson is a Swedish former professional ice hockey centre. He played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the Winnipeg Jets, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Atlanta and Calgary Flames, Minnesota North Stars and Edmonton Oilers, as well as teams across various European leagues. During his NHL career he was called "Mr. Magic" and "The Magic Man", referring to his exceptional puck skills. Wayne Gretzky commented on Nilsson's skills saying "Skills-wise he might have been the most skilled hockey player I ever saw in my entire career". In 2006, he was featured on HCZ, a Swedish reality show as coach for a hockey team of non-athletes.
Robert Brian Ftorek is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player. He was enshrined as member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991.
The Jersey Devils were an American professional ice hockey team based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Larry Lund is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) playing 459 games all with the Houston Aeros.
The World Hockey Association Hall of Fame is an independent organization dedicated to honoring the World Hockey Association (WHA) which operated from 1972 to 1979 as a major professional ice hockey league.
Dennis Arthur Murphy was an American sports entrepreneur who helped co-found the American Basketball Association (1967–1976), the World Hockey Association (1972–1979), the original World Team Tennis (1973–1978) with Larry King, Roller Hockey International (1992–1999), and several other trend-setting amateur and professional sports concepts and events. Each of his innovations exhibited ground-breaking marketing and promotional tactics, new rules, and a style of play that forced the evolution of the entrenched incumbent. Among the many visionary rules and promotional concepts introduced by Murphy include the 3-point shot (ABA), the Slam-Dunk Contest (ABA), team cheerleaders (ABA), the first $1 million contract (WHA), and he paved the path for the ever-growing wave of European and Russian hockey players that now play in North America.
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).
William John Devine was a Canadian ice hockey administrator and radio sports commentator. He worked for CJBQ radio in Belleville, Ontario for 40 years as the sports director. He was involved with the local sports scene, and was president of the Ontario Hockey Association from 1967 to 1969. He moved up to the national level in 1969 becoming vice-president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) in 1969, and later served as its president from 1973 to 1975.
References
- ↑ "The Connecticut Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum - WHA Founder Gary Davidson Profiled in LA Times". Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
- ↑ 39 Gary Davidson - 09.19.94 - SI Vault
- ↑ WHAhockey.com - Awards and Individual Stats
- ↑ "WHA Hall of Fame Members". Archived from the original on 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
