Professional sports in Canada There are professional teams based
in Canada in several professional sports leagues.
Professionalism in ice hockey goes back to the start of the 20th
century. The hockey world's most important trophy, the Stanley
Cup was originally an amateur championship for Canada which
began in 1893, but after 1906 professionals were allowed to play
for it and quickly came to dominate the most successful teams.
After 1908 the Allan Cup became Canada's amateur title and the
Stanley Cup become a professional trophy, and after 1914 was
opened to teams from the United States. Several rival leagues
competed to dominated the professional hockey market in the
early years but the National Hockey Association (1910–1917) was
the most successful in Central Canada while the Pacific Coast
Hockey Association (1912–1924) was the most successful in
British Columbia and the American Northwest, and the champions
of the two leagues would face each other for the Stanley Cup
each year until 1914 to 1921. The NHA b