Canada 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. 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.
Czechoslovakia In
Czechoslovakia, the
Czechoslovak Extraliga was the elite ice hockey league in Czechoslovakia from 1930 until 1993, when the country split into the
Czech Republic and
Slovakia. 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).
Finland 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.
Germany 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.
Soviet Union and successors 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. By 1996, most of
former Soviet republics had created their own national leagues: including the
Estonian Ice Hockey Association,
Kazakhstani Championship,
Latvian Hockey League,
Lithuania Hockey League, and
Ukrainian Major League. The remnant Russian Federation-based teams created the
Russian Super League. 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.
Sweden 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, 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.
Switzerland 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.
United Kingdom 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.
United States 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. == International ==