Believe it or not, professional ice hockey has been around since the early 20th century. The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, formed in 1902, was the very first league to parade professional hockey players on the ice. What came next really set the pucks in motion. In 1910, the National Hockey Association was established in Montreal before it was rebranded as the more familiar-sounding National Hockey League just seven years later.
Other pro hockey leagues later developed in Europe, and, as of now, there have been professional leagues established in most European countries. The top leagues in Europe include the Swedish Hockey League, the Kontinental Hockey League, the Finnish Liiga, and the Czech Extraliga. Here we’re going to focus on the world’s major ice hockey leagues, including the UK’s very own EIHL.