Wikipedia:WikiProject Ice Hockey/League assessment

This is an essay on notability. It contains the advice and/or opinions of one or more WikiProjects on how notability may be interpreted within their area of interest.

This information is not a formal Wikipedia policy or guideline, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community.

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WP:NHOCKEY/LA

This page is part of the WikiProject on Ice Hockey and provides a list of defunct ice hockey leagues considered by the WikiProject to meet various criteria of the WP:NHOCKEY guideline, as noted below.

Criterion #1

The following historical leagues are considered to satisfy Criterion #1:

East Germany – DDR-Oberliga
Canada / USA – Canadian-American Hockey League
Canada / USA – International Hockey League (1929–36)^{[Note 1]}
Canada / USA – International Hockey League (1945–2001) (starting in the 1979–1980 season)^{[Note 1]}
USA – Western Hockey League (1952–74) (known before the 1953 season as the Pacific Coast Hockey League)^{[Note 2]}
West Germany – Eishockey-Bundesliga

Criterion #2

The following historical leagues are considered to satisfy Criterion #2.

Germany – 2nd Bundesliga
USA – Central Hockey League (1963–1984)^{[Note 3]}
Canada / USA – Central Hockey League (1992–2014)^{[Note 3]}
Canada / USA – International Hockey League (1945–2001) (prior to the 1979–1980 season)^{[Note 1]}
Canada / USA – United Hockey League (known as Colonial Hockey League before 1997 and International Hockey League after 2007)^{[Note 1]}
United Kingdom – British Hockey League
United Kingdom – British Ice Hockey Superleague

Other – Alpenliga, Interliga (1999–2007)

Criterion #3

The following historical leagues are considered to satisfy Criterion #3.

USA – College Hockey America^{[Note 4]}
USA – Great West Hockey Conference
USA – Intercollegiate Hockey Association
USA – Intercollegiate Hockey League
USA – Ivy League^{[Note 4]}
USA – Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
USA – Pentagonal League
USA – Tri-State League
USA – Triangular Hockey League
USA – Western Collegiate Hockey Association^{[Note 4]}

Those leagues not otherwise listed are considered to confer no presumptive notability to players, coaches, officials or executives, and articles about the same must explicitly demonstrate notability under the provisions of WP:GNG, WP:BIO or other valid notability criteria.

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d There have been numerous hockey leagues using the name of "International Hockey League." The earliest was the world's first fully professional hockey league, and played in Pittsburgh and the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada from 1904 to 1907. This and a Russian league by this name, which played from 1992 to 1996 and was the successor to the Soviet Championship League and the predecessor to the Russian Superleague, were top-level leagues. The second was a predecessor league to the American Hockey League which played from 1929 to 1936, and is considered a top-level minor league which meets Criterion #1. The third, active from 1945 to 2001, was for most of its history a low-level loop operating in the Great Lakes region and is considered a lower-tier minor league considered to satisfy Criterion #2, but from the 1979 season on forward was a stronger league consisting of NHL top affiliates and well-financed independent teams with rosters of veteran minor league stars, and from that point to its end is considered to meet Criterion #1. The most recent iteration of the name was when the United Hockey League (originally founded to fill the low-level Great Lakes niche the 1945–2001 IHL abandoned in its period of national expansion in the 1990s) changed to the name in 2007 in an attempt to evoke the earlier league. This is considered a lower-tier minor league which meets Criterion #2.
^ There have been several leagues using the names of "Western Canada Hockey League" and "Western Hockey League". The first was a major professional league founded in 1921, which merged with the Pacific Coast Hockey Association in 1924, renamed the Western Hockey League in 1925, and folded in 1926. The name was revived for a minor professional league (the renamed Pacific Coast Hockey League) operating between 1952 and 1974; this was a top-level minor league considered to satisfy Criterion #1. It was revived again when the major junior Western Canada Hockey League (itself renamed from the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League in 1968) adopted the name Western Hockey League in 1978; this is an extant league considered to satisfy Criterion #2.
^ ^a ^b There have been two leagues called the "Central Hockey League." The earlier league was first known as the Central Professional Hockey League and changed its name after the 1969 season. The second league was a revival of the earlier loop, and played in several of the same markets with some of the same team names (Oklahoma City Blazers, Tulsa Oilers, etc.) Some of the teams in the earlier league were in the latter years of the loop top affiliates of NHL teams and had a number of notable players; the second league was always a mid-minors loop.
^ ^a ^b ^c This level of notability applies to men's play only.

[IHL-1] There have been numerous hockey leagues using the name of "International Hockey League." The earliest was the world's first fully professional hockey league, and played in Pittsburgh and the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada from 1904 to 1907. This and a Russian league by this name, which played from 1992 to 1996 and was the successor to the Soviet Championship League and the predecessor to the Russian Superleague, were top-level leagues. The second was a predecessor league to the American Hockey League which played from 1929 to 1936, and is considered a top-level minor league which meets Criterion #1. The third, active from 1945 to 2001, was for most of its history a low-level loop operating in the Great Lakes region and is considered a lower-tier minor league considered to satisfy Criterion #2, but from the 1979 season on forward was a stronger league consisting of NHL top affiliates and well-financed independent teams with rosters of veteran minor league stars, and from that point to its end is considered to meet Criterion #1. The most recent iteration of the name was when the United Hockey League (originally founded to fill the low-level Great Lakes niche the 1945–2001 IHL abandoned in its period of national expansion in the 1990s) changed to the name in 2007 in an attempt to evoke the earlier league. This is considered a lower-tier minor league which meets Criterion #2.

[WHL-2] There have been several leagues using the names of "Western Canada Hockey League" and "Western Hockey League". The first was a major professional league founded in 1921, which merged with the Pacific Coast Hockey Association in 1924, renamed the Western Hockey League in 1925, and folded in 1926. The name was revived for a minor professional league (the renamed Pacific Coast Hockey League) operating between 1952 and 1974; this was a top-level minor league considered to satisfy Criterion #1. It was revived again when the major junior Western Canada Hockey League (itself renamed from the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League in 1968) adopted the name Western Hockey League in 1978; this is an extant league considered to satisfy Criterion #2.

[CHL-3] There have been two leagues called the "Central Hockey League." The earlier league was first known as the Central Professional Hockey League and changed its name after the 1969 season. The second league was a revival of the earlier loop, and played in several of the same markets with some of the same team names (Oklahoma City Blazers, Tulsa Oilers, etc.) Some of the teams in the earlier league were in the latter years of the loop top affiliates of NHL teams and had a number of notable players; the second league was always a mid-minors loop.

[NCAA-4] This level of notability applies to men's play only.

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[Note 3]

[Note 4]