1.
Montreal
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Montreal, officially Montréal, is the most populous municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec and the 2nd-most populous in Canada as a whole. Originally called Ville-Marie, or City of Mary, it is believed to be named after Mount Royal, the city has a distinct four-season continental climate, with warm-to-hot summers and cold, snowy winters. In 2016, Montreal had a population of 1,704,694, Montreals metropolitan area had a population of 4,098,927 and a population of 1,958,257 in the urban agglomeration, with all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal included. Legally a French-speaking city,60. 5% of Montrealers speak French at home,21. 2% speak English and 19. 8% speak neither, Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada, with 56% of the population able to speak both official languages. Montreal is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the world after Paris, historically the commercial capital of Canada, it was surpassed in population and economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s. It remains an important centre of commerce, aerospace, finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, education, culture, tourism, gaming, film, Montreal was also named a UNESCO City of Design. In 2009, Montreal was named North Americas leading host city for international events, according to the 2009 preliminary rankings of the International Congress. According to the 2015 Global Liveability Ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit, in the 2017 edition of their Best Student Cities ranking, Quacquarelli Symonds ranked Montreal as the worlds best city to study abroad. Also, Montreal has 11 universities with 170,000 students enrolled, the Greater Montréal region has the highest number of university students per capita among all metropolitan areas in North America. It is the only Canadian city to have held the Summer Olympics, currently, the city hosts the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula One, the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Just for Laughs festival. In 2012, Montreal was ranked as a Beta+ world city, in Kanien’kéha, or Mohawk language, the island is called Tiohtià, ke Tsi or Ka-wé-no-te. In Anishinaabemowin, or Ojibwe language, the land is called Mooniyaang, though the city was first named by French colonizers Ville Marie, or City of Mary, its current name comes from Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city. The most popular theory is that the name derives from Mont Réal, Cartiers 1535 diary entry, naming the mountain, according to the Commission de toponymie du Québec and the Geographical Names Board of Canada, Canadian place names have only one official form. Thus, Montreal is officially spelled with an accent over the e in both English and French. In practice, this is limited to governmental uses. English-speaking Montrealers, including English-language media, regularly omit the accent when writing in English, archaeological evidence demonstrates that First Nations native people occupied the island of Montreal as early as 4,000 years ago. By the year AD1000, they had started to cultivate maize, within a few hundred years, they had built fortified villages. Archeologists have found evidence of their habitation there and at locations in the valley since at least the 14th century
2.
Ice hockey
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Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponents net to score points. Ice hockey teams usually consist of six each, one goaltender. A fast-paced, physical sport, ice hockey is most popular in areas of North America, Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada, where the game enjoys immense popularity. In North America, the National Hockey League is the highest level for mens hockey, the Kontinental Hockey League is the highest league in Russia and much of Eastern Europe. The International Ice Hockey Federation is the governing body for international ice hockey. The IIHF manages international tournaments and maintains the IIHF World Ranking, worldwide, there are ice hockey federations in 74 countries. Ice hockey is believed to have evolved from simple stick and ball games played in the 18th and 19th century United Kingdom and these games were brought to North America and several similar winter games using informal rules were developed, such as shinny and ice polo. The contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained to this day. Amateur ice hockey began in the 1880s, and professional ice hockey originated around 1900. The Stanley Cup, emblematic of ice hockey club supremacy, was first awarded in 1893 to recognize the Canadian amateur champion, in international competitions, the national teams of six countries predominate, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States. Of the 69 medals awarded all-time in mens competition at the Olympics, in the annual Ice Hockey World Championships,177 of 201 medals have been awarded to the six nations. In Russia and the Ukraine, where hockey can also refer to bandy, the name hockey has no clear origin. The English historian and biographer John Strype did not use the word hockey when he translated the proclamation in 1720, the 1573 Statute of Galway banned a sport called hokie—the hurling of a little ball with sticks or staves. A form of this word was thus being used in the 16th century, though much removed from its current usage. According to the Austin Hockey Association, the word derives from the Scots Gaelic puc or the Irish poc. The blow given by a hurler to the ball with his caman or hurley is always called a puck. Stick-and-ball games date back to pre-Christian times, in Europe, these games included the Irish game of hurling, the closely related Scottish game of shinty and versions of field hockey. IJscolf, a game resembling colf on a surface, was popular in the Low Countries between the Middle Ages and the Dutch Golden Age. It was played with a curved bat, a wooden or leather ball
3.
Winger (ice hockey)
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Winger, in the game of ice hockey, is a forward position of a player whose primary zone of play on the ice is along the outer playing area. They typically work by flanking the centre forward, originally the name was given to forward players who went up and down the sides of the rink. Nowadays, there are different types of wingers in the game — out-and-out goal scorers, checkers who disrupt the opponents and they tend to be bigger than centreman and smaller than defenceman. This position is referred to by the side of the rink that the winger normally takes. On the backcheck, it is essential that they cover the last free opposing player rushing in, once the puck is controlled by the opposing team in the defensive zone, however, wingers are responsible for covering the defenceman on their side of the ice. Prior to the puck being dropped for a face-off, players other than taking the face-off must not make any physical contact with players on the opposite team. After the puck is dropped, it is essential for wingers to engage the players to prevent them from obtaining possession of the puck. Once a team has established control of the puck, wingers can set themselves up into an appropriate position, some wingers are also employed to handle faceoffs. Rover Centre Defenceman Forward Goaltender Power forward List of NHL players
4.
Arizona Coyotes
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The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League, since December 2003, the Coyotes have played their home games at Gila River Arena after having spent 7½ seasons at America West Arena in downtown Phoenix. On June 10,2015, the Glendale City Council voted to end their agreement with the Coyotes at Gila River Arena. The Coyotes were founded on December 27,1971, as the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association, after the WHA had ceased operations, they were one of four franchises absorbed into the National Hockey League and then granted membership on June 22,1979. The Jets moved to Phoenix on July 1,1996, and were renamed the Phoenix Coyotes, the NHL took over ownership of the Phoenix Coyotes franchise in 2009 after owner Jerry Moyes turned it over to the league after declaring bankruptcy. The sale to IceArizona Acquisition Co, LLC. was completed on August 5,2013. On June 27,2014, the changed its geographic name from Phoenix to Arizona. On June 26,2015, the team introduced updated jerseys for the 2015–16 NHL season, the team began play as the Winnipeg Jets, one of the founding franchises in the World Hockey Association. The Jets were the most successful team in the short-lived WHA, winning the Avco World Trophy and it then became one of the four teams admitted to the NHL as part of a merger when the financially struggling WHA folded in 1979. However, the club was never able to translate its WHA success into the NHL after the merger, as a result, they finished last in the NHL during their first two seasons, including a nine-win season in 1980–81 that is still the worst in franchise history. They recovered fairly quickly, however, making the playoffs 11 times in the next 15 seasons, however, the Jets only won two playoff series, largely due to being in the same division as the powerful Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. Because of the way the playoffs were structured for much of their Winnipeg run, in 1984–85, for instance, they finished with the fifth-best record in the league, only to be bounced by the Oilers in the division finals. Two years later, they dispatched the Flames in the first round, the franchise would not win another playoff series for 25 years. The Jets ran into trouble when player salaries began spiraling up in the 1990s. In addition, the home arena, Winnipeg Arena, was one of the smallest in the league. Despite strong fan support, several attempts to keep the team in Winnipeg fell through, after the franchise considered Mustangs, Outlaws, Wranglers and Freeze, a name-the-team contest yielded the nickname Coyotes, which finished ahead of the second-place Scorpions. In the summer that the move took place, Jets star Alexei Zhamnov left the team, Roenick teamed up with power wingers Keith Tkachuk and Rick Tocchet to form a dynamic 1–2–3 offensive punch that led the Coyotes through their first years in Arizona. Also impressive were young players like Shane Doan, Oleg Tverdovsky and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, another key addition to the squad was veteran forward Mike Gartner, who had come over from the Toronto Maple Leafs
5.
Pittsburgh Penguins
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The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League, the franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the leagues original expansion from six to twelve teams. The Penguins played in the Civic Arena, also known to Pittsburgh fans as The Igloo and they moved into their new arena, PPG Paints Arena, to begin the 2010–11 NHL season. They have qualified for five Stanley Cup Finals, winning the Stanley Cup four times – in 1991,1992,2009, and 2016. Before the Penguins, Pittsburgh had been the home of the NHLs Pirates from 1925 to 1930, in the spring of 1965, Jack McGregor, a state senator from Kittanning, began lobbying campaign contributors and community leaders to bring an NHL franchise back to Pittsburgh. The group focused on leveraging the NHL as an urban renewal tool for Pittsburgh. The senator formed a group of investors that included H. J. Heinz Company heir H. J. Heinz III, Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney. Norris, owner of the Chicago Black Hawks, and his brother Bruce Norris, the effort was successful, and on February 8,1966, the National Hockey League awarded an expansion team to Pittsburgh for the 1967–68 season. The Penguins paid $2.5 million for their entry and $750,000 more for start-up costs, the Civic Arenas capacity was then boosted from 10,732 to 12,500 to meet the NHL requirements for expansion. The Pens also paid a bill to settle with the Detroit Red Wings. The investor group named McGregor president and chief officer. A contest was held where 700 of 26,000 entries picked Penguins as the nickname for the team, mark Peters had the winning entry, a logo was chosen that had a penguin in front of a triangle, which symbolized the Golden Triangle of downtown Pittsburgh. The Pens, along with the rest of the teams, were hampered by restrictive rules which kept most major talent with the existing Original Six teams. Beyond aging sniper Andy Bathgate, All-Star defenseman Leo Boivin and Ranger veteran Earl Ingarfield, a number of the players had played for the Hornets the previous season, Bathgate, wingers Val Fonteyne and Ab McDonald, and goaltenders Hank Bassen and Joe Daley. George Sullivan was named the coach for the clubs first two seasons, and McDonald was named the teams first captain. On October 11,1967, league president Clarence Campbell and McGregor jointly dropped the ceremonial first puck of the Penguins opening home game against the Montreal Canadiens. On October 21,1967, they became the first team from the class to beat an Original Six team. However, the Penguins went 27–34–13 and finished in place in the West Division, missing the playoffs
6.
Atlanta Thrashers
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The Atlanta Thrashers were an American professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League on June 25,1997 and they were members of the Southeast Division of the NHLs Eastern Conference, and played their home games at Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta. The Thrashers qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs only once, during the 2006–07 season in which won the Southeast Division. In May 2011, the Thrashers were sold to Canadian-based ownership group True North Sports & Entertainment, the group moved the franchise to Winnipeg, Manitoba, which became the second incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets. The sale and relocation were approved by the NHL on June 21,2011, with the sale and relocation of the team, Atlanta became the first city in the NHLs modern era to have two ice hockey teams relocate to different cities. In both cases, the team moved from Atlanta to Canada, the citys previous NHL team moved to Calgary, Alberta and this also included teams in Nashville, Columbus and St. Paul, in which each new franchise would begin play as its respective new arena was completed. The birth of the new franchise marked NHL hockeys return to Georgia, as the Atlanta Flames, established in 1972, departed for Canada in 1980 to become the Calgary Flames. The Flames had been the Leagues first foray into the southern U. S. the nickname Thrashers, after Georgias state bird, the brown thrasher, was selected from a fan poll. Thrashers had actually been runner-up to Flames in the poll, and Philips Arena, the Thrashers new home, was built on the site of the former Omni, which had been home to the Flames. The newly formed Thrashers selected Patrik Stefan with the first overall selection, the Thrashers played their first game on October 2,1999, losing 4–1 to the New Jersey Devils. Atlanta had the second pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. The team also had a choice in the 2001 Draft. Tragedy struck the team just eight days after the sale, as star forward Dany Heatley crashed his Ferrari in an accident that seriously injured both himself and Thrashers center Dan Snyder. Heatley suffered a jaw and arm, a sprained wrist. The Thrashers dedicated their entire 2003–04 season to Snyders memory, and Thrashers players wore patches with Snyders number,37. Heatleys blood alcohol content was below the limit, but his combination of speeding and recklessness led to criminal charges. He eventually received three years probation and community service, led by captain Shawn McEachern, the Thrashers jumped quickly out of the gate with some notable highlights. Eleven games into the season, the Thrashers were alone in first place both the Southeast Division and the NHL
7.
Nashville Predators
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The Nashville Predators are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League, the Predators joined the NHL as an expansion team in the 1998–99 season, and play their home games at Bridgestone Arena. In late 1995, rumors began to circulate that the New Jersey Devils would be relocating to the planned Nashville Arena. Nashville offered a $20 million relocation bonus to any team that would relocate, after the attempt to get the Devils, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman noted that Nashville would probably at least be considered in upcoming expansion. The arena was opened in 1996, and after an attempt to bring the National Basketball Association s Sacramento Kings did not go through, in January 1997, a group led by Wisconsin businessman Craig Leipold made a formal presentation before the NHL requesting an expansion franchise. When Bettman and league officials visited Nashville to tour the arena, in June, the league granted conditional franchises to Nashville, Columbus, Ohio, Atlanta, and Minneapolis – Saint Paul. The Nashville team would be scheduled to play in 1998 if they met the NHL requirement of selling 12,000 season tickets before March 31,1998. Of the four cities, Nashville was the one with a completed arena. A month later, Leipold named former Washington Capitals general manager David Poile as the franchises first general manager, portland Pirates head coach Barry Trotz was named the franchises first head coach on August 6. Mitch Korn was named the first goaltending coach for the franchise, on September 25,1997, Leipold and team president Jack Diller held a press conference where they unveiled the franchises new logo, a saber-toothed cat. The logo was a reference to a partial Smilodon skeleton found beneath downtown Nashville in 1971 during construction of the First American National Bank building, once the logo was unveiled, the franchise held a vote among fans to choose a name. Three candidates were culled from 75, Ice Tigers, Fury, Leipold added his own submission to the vote, Predators. On November 13, Leipold revealed at a conference that his submission had won out. At one point, rumors began to circulate that the team would move before the first puck ever hit the ice, one rumor had Leipold trading franchises with the Edmonton Oilers, with the Oilers moving to Nashville and the Nashville expansion franchise moving to Houston, Texas. Leipold shot this rumor down, saying here is no chance, when awarded a franchise, the city of Nashville paid 31. 50% of the $80 million fee to join the League. The city has engaged an affiliate of the team to operate the arena, the $15 million payroll of the team was the lowest of the NHL. The Predators first took the ice on October 10,1998 and it was the only sold out game of the Predators first five bouts in Nashville. Three nights later, on October 13, they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3–2 for their first win, forward Andrew Brunette scored the first goal
8.
SC Bern
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Schlittschuh Club Bern is an ice hockey team based in Bern, Switzerland. They play in the National League A, it is the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system, for the 16th time in a row, the club is the most attended team in Europe for the 2016–17 season, averaging 16,399 spectators. They are traditional rivals with HC Fribourg-Gottéron, EHC Biel, the ice hockey section of the Bern Sports Club, which was established on November 3,1930, officially began playing on January 1,1931. Today, SC Bern is a popular team and regularly fills its home stadium. In 2006, they set a new record among European clubs for average attendance, although, league rules allow only four players without Swiss passports to suit up in a single game. After a disappointing run in the 2006 playoffs, the club replaced head coach Alpo Suhonen with John van Boxmeer, Leuenberger had previously played thirteen seasons of defence with the club, totaling 67 goals,145 assists, and four national championships. His jersey number 16 is one of many that has been retired by SC Bern, on September 30,2008, SC Bern faced off against the National Hockey Leagues New York Rangers to celebrate one hundred years of ice hockey in Switzerland. Forty-nine years since the Rangers last visit to Switzerland, the beat the home team 8-1 in front of a sellout crowd. Despite the slanted score, SC Bern played a game with a 2-0 score at the end of the second. Former Phoenix Coyotes Canadian-born defenceman Travis Roche scored SC Berns goal early in the third period, SC Bern only allowed two even-strength goals, but could not withstand the Rangers potent power play in the final frame. We played for our pride tonight, said center Sébastien Bordeleau after the exhibition game, christian Dubé wore the captains C because Ivo Rüthemann was injured. During the 2012 NHL lockout, Roman Josi, Mark Streit, Tavares quickly became the PostFinance Top Scorer tallying 42 points in 28 games. During the 2013-14 season, Guy Boucher signed a contract as coach of the SC Bern for the current year, Leuenberger was then replaced by former Finnish national team coach Kari Jalonen prior to the 2016-17 campaign. com Retrieved 03-21-07
