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Canada
Flag and abbrev. Flag of Canada CAN
Continent North America
Leader Justin Trudeau
(Prime Minister)
Population 35,160,000 (as of 2013)
Registered players 545,363
Percentage 1,76%
National team Team Canada
National federation Hockey Canada
IIHF ranking 1st (+1)
Top league National Hockey League (NHL)
Current champion Montreal Canadiens*

Canada is a North American country, bordered by the United-States. Its capital is Ottawa, Ontario and there are a little over 35 million inhabitants. The largest cities are Toronto (Maple Leafs) and Montréal (Le Canadien).

Organisation[]

Flag of Canada

Canada's flag

Canada
Info Rinks Players Referees 31,204
Population 34,219,000 Indoor 2,451 Total 499,695 Male N/A
Capital Ottawa Outdoor 11,000 Male 88,954 Female N/A
IIHF Since April 26 1920 Junior 325,432
Female 85,309

Hockey is hugely popular in Canada, to the point of having been named the official national sport. Currently, the top league in the country is the National Hockey League (a league established in both Canada and the United States. Despite the immense popularity of the sport in the country and the large number of top-level pro players, paradoxally, professional hockey is not very developped. The NHL only has 7 canadian teams out of its 30 members: Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg; there is speculation that Quebec City will be getting a team in the near future do to financial problems in other NHL cities, such as Long Island's Islanders, Florida's Panthers, and Pheonix's Coyotes. The country has other teams in minor North American professional leagues, but there too, they are under-represented comparatively to the U.S.-based teams. The lack of large enough cities and potential investors, along with the high level of taxation in Canada are usually regarded as the main causes of the situation. The country, however, has some very strong semi-professional and amateur leagues.

Ice hockey in the country is governed by Hockey Canada.

History of hockey in Canada[]

The early years[]

Ice hockey appeared in Canada early in the 1800s. The original game was pretty much adaptation to European sports of hurley, shinty or field hockey to the winter conditions of the new home of Irish, Scottish and English settlers, respectively. In 1825, Sir John Franklin wrote that "The game of hockey played on the ice was the morning sport" while on Great Bear Lake during one of his Arctic expeditions. In 1843, a British Army officer in Kingston, Ontario, wrote "Began to skate this year, improved quickly and had great fun at hockey on the ice." A Boston Evening Gazette article from 1859 makes reference to an early game of hockey on ice occurring in Halifax in that year. Games in Kingston and Halifax are the earliest recorded hockey games.

Hockey clubs began to appear. The first was the [[McGill University Hockey CluThe bowl, initially known as The Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup and more famously later as the Stanley Cup, was first awarded in 1893 to the Montreal HC. If it was originally intended as a challenge cup for champions of various leagues across the country, it became the de facto championship trophy of the National Hockey League in 1926, and de jure in 1947.

Professional hockey[]

In 1904, International Professional Hockey League (IPHL) was formed in the United States. That league boasted the first professional team from Canada, the Canadian Soo. The league hired amateur players from Canada ; that forced canadians to move from amateurism to professionalism as well, in order to keep their top players in the country. The Manitoba Professional Hockey League holds the distinction of being the first league to go professional in the country, in 1905; that league was essentially made out of the teams of the amateur Manitoba Hockey Association.

The National Hockey Association, precursor of the National Hockey League, was founded in 1910.

International[]

On the international level, Canada is very competitive, continuously ranked in the elite of the world and part of the Big Seven.

Olympics[]

Some great Canadian players[]

A very large number of very great talent have come from Canada through the years; they have, at every moment of the history of the NHL, outnumbered the number of American and European players, even though the country only has seven franchises out of thirty within its boundaries. Among the very best players to date are:

National Championships[]

Largest Cities[]

Population of Metropolitan Areas (2006)

1 Toronto 5,113,149
2 Montreal 3,635,571
3 Vancouver 2,116,581
4 Ottawa 1,130,761
5 Calgary 1,079,310
6 Edmonton 1,034,945
7 Quebec City 1,715,515
8 Winnipeg 694,668
9 Hamilton 692,911
10 London 457,720

National Teams[]

See also[]


Flag of Canada Ice hockey in Canada Flag of Canada
National Hockey League         Calgary FlamesEdmonton OilersMontreal CanadiensOttawa SenatorsToronto Maple LeafsVancouver Canucks
American Hockey League         Hamilton BulldogsManitoba MooseToronto Marlies                                     
ECHL         Victoria Salmon Kings
Canadian Hockey League (Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Western Hockey League)
Hockey Canada
Men's Canadian National TeamWomen's Canadian National Team



Canadian Provinces
Flag of Alberta Alberta - Flag of British Columbia British Columbia - Flag of Manitoba Manitoba - Flag of Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador - Flag of New Brunswick New Brunswick
Flag of Nova Scotia Nova Scotia - Flag of Ontario Ontario - Flag of Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island - Flag of Quebec Québec - Flag of Saskatchewan Saskatchewan
Territories: Flag of the Northwest Territories Northwest Territories - Flag of Nunavut Nunavut - Flag of Yukon Yukon
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