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Atlanta Flames
Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a National Hockey League (NHL) team based in Atlanta, Georgia from 1972 to 1980. The team moved to Calgary, Alberta for the start of the 1980-81 NHL season and became the Calgary Flames. The team still resides in Calgary. :Founded: 1972 :Now Known As: Calgary Flames (1980 to present) :Arena: The Omni :Uniform colors: Home: white with red and yellow trim; Road: red with white and yellow trim :Logo design: Home: a red "A" containing stylized flames; Road: a white "A" containing stylized flames; "The Flaming A" :Stanley Cups won: none Franchise history The Flames history begins in 1968, businessman Tom Cousins and former Georgia governor Carl Sanders brought the third major professional sports franchise to the city, buying the NBA's St. Louis Hawks in 1968 and relocating it in Atlanta. The Hawks were in need of a venue suitable for professional sports. As a result one was built for them: the Omni Coliseum. This new world-class facility, owned by Cousins and the rest of the Omni Sports Group consortium, was the crux of the expansion bid made to the National Hockey League for a new hockey franchise. It was announced in November 1971, nine months to the day after the Omni's construction was complete, that hockey was headed to Dixie: the National Hockey League granted the city of Atlanta a franchise for the 1972-73 NHL season. When it was first announced that Atlanta would have an NHL franchise, many hockey observers thought that a team based in the southern United States was a ludicrous and foolish move, especially since the talent pool was ravaged by repeated expansion, and was soon to be raided by the upstart World Hockey Association. Nevertheless, the team quickly began front office operations, naming young Blues assistant general manager Cliff Fletcher as general manager. Soon after, Fletcher had found the team its first coach, former Canadiens star defenseman Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion. The team met with respectable success in their first season on the ice, behind new star goaltenders Dan Bouchard and Phil Myre, solid defensemen such as Randy Manery and Pat Quinn, and forwards Rey Comeau, (captain) Keith McCreary, Larry Romanchych and Bob Leiter. Despite their inexperience as a team, the Flames were quite successful in the beginning of their rookie season, posting a 20-19-8 record by January 19, 1973 off of the personal success of their young goaltending tandem. Unfortunately they lost 19 of their last 31 games, finishing out of the playoffs. However their 65 points were 35 better than their expansion cousin New York Islanders, who toiled at the bottom of the East Division, and a point better than the well-established Maple Leafs. On- and off-ice success continued into the Flames second season, drafting forwards Tom Lysiak and Eric Vail, who quickly became the team's top forwards. Lysiak led the Flames in scoring in his rookie season, upon which the team improved to fourth in the West Division and their first playoff berth. They were quickly dispatched in the first round, being swept in the best-of-seven series against the powerful Philadelphia Flyers. The Flames third season, 1974-75, was marked by disappointment as the team failed to qualify for the post-season. Unlike the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft in which Fletcher had picked immediate success from Lysiak, 1974's was notably unsuccessful (the only notable players being Guy Chouinard, the youngest draft pick ever taken, and prospect defenseman Pat Ribble). Injuries plagued the team's top veteran forwards, Leiter and Romanchych, and former first round pick Jacques Richard. Late in the season popular coach Geoffrion, runner-up in the previous year's coach-of-the-year voting, resigned, forcing Fletcher to replace him with the Flames Central Hockey League affiliate's head coach, Fred Creighton. The season was not without bright spots, as Lysiak continued to lead the team in scoring, and Eric Vail scoring a franchise record 39 goals in his rookie season. Vail won the Calder Trophy as top rookie. The on-ice play improved the follwing season under the demanding Creighton, as the Flames recorded their first winning season, and qualified for the playoffs once again. Lysiak continued to lead the team in scoring, while Cliff Fletcher added depth at all positions, acquiring tough veteran forward Bill Clement, WHA product Claude St. Sauveur, scoring forward Bill Flett and stalwart defenseman Larry Carriere. Eric Vail's sophomore season was unfortunately cut short by injury. Again, the team bowed out of the post-season quickly, losing to Los Angeles in their opening round best-of-three. However, the off-ice situation, while still relatively successful, began to waiver. Average attendance at The Omni had dropped by 1,000. 1976-77 was marked by the addition noteworthy prospects from the minor league affiliate in Tulsa. Talented forward Guy Chouinard had finally matured into an NHL-caliber player, and tough defenseman Ken Houston and forward Willi Plett began terrorizing opponents with their physical play. The team's older faces (Pat Quinn, Kerry Ketter, Randy Manery, Larry Romanchych, and Bob Leiter among others) had been moved, making way for the young core of Lysiak, Vail, Plett, and Chouinard. By 1977 outstanding young goaltender Dan Bouchard had publicly stated his desire to be the clear starting goaltender for the club, refusing to share duties with Myre. In 1978 Myre was traded to the Blues, Cliff Fletcher's former employer, along with high-scoring forward Curt Bennett and tough blueliner Barry Gibbs for scoring forward Bob MacMillan and defenseman Dick Redmond. They continued to play well, however attendance continued to fall, another 1,500 a night. Post-season success continued to elude the young Flames, as they were easily dispacthed once again in the preliminary round. 1978-79 began with an impressive 12-1-2 record, the product of a 10-game winning streak. While this pace did not continue throughout the rest of the season, the Flames finished 41-31-8, good for 90 points -- a new team record. While Tom Lysiak contributed greatly to the early streak he became injured for the first time in his career, slowing his point production. He was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks as part of a seven-man trade which saw the Flames acquire talented Yugoslavian center Ivan Boldirev, quick forward Darcy Rota, and staunch defenseman Phil Russell. Chouinard finished the season with 50 goals, the first and only Atlanta Flame to reach the plateau, while MacMillan won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. 1979-80 would prove to be the last season in Atlanta. The Flames lack of success in the playoffs led to the end of Fred Creighton's reign as head coach, replaced by Al MacNeil. Fletcher added more talent, including outstanding Swede Kent Nilsson from the WHA, rookie defenseman Paul Reinhart, Finnish defenseman Pekka Rautakallio, and veteran forward Don Lever. The team made the playoffs once again, and once again were dispatched quickly. Off-ice the Omni Sports Group felt they could not financially maintain the team, as ticket sales fell and operating costs rose. Cousins and the rest of his consortium quickly sold off the Flames to a group of Canadian businessmen, led by the eccentric Nelson Skalbania (who offered an NHL record $16 million for the team), who promptly moved the team to Calgary. The Flames would make the playoffs six of their first eight seasons, a mark bettered only by the Quebec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, and New York Rangers in the entire history of the NHL, and the team would not post a losing record after the 1974 season. Unfortunately they never won a playoff series. The Atlanta Flames' success carried over to the Calgary Flames, where the team continued to compete well, reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 1986 and 2004 and winning the Cup in 1989. Season-by-season record Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes Career leaders - Games: Rey Comeau, Eric Vail, 469 - Goals: Vail, 174 - Assists: Tom Lysiak, 276 - Points: Lysiak, 431 - Penalty Minutes: Pat Quinn, 555 - Goaltender Games: Dan Bouchard, 384 - Goaltender Wins: Bouchard, 164 - Shutouts: Bouchard, 20 Notable players Hall of Famers none Team captains - Jean Pronovost 1979-80 - Tom Lysiak 1977-79 - Pat Quinn 1975-77 - Keith McCreary 1972-75 Not to be forgotten - Willi Plett - Curt Bennett Retired numbers none See also - Calgary Flames - Atlanta Thrashers - List of Atlanta Flames players - Head Coaches of the Atlanta Flames - List of NHL players - List of NHL seasons References - [http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nhl/atlflames/aflames.html] Category:Atlanta sports Category:defunct National Hockey League teams National Hockey League , the trophy awarded to its champion.]] The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional sports organization composed of hockey teams in the United States and Canada, where it is also known by its French name, Ligue Nationale de Hockey (LNH). It is generally regarded as the premier professional ice hockey league in the world. The NHL is often listed as one of the major professional sports leagues of North America. History The beginnings to The Original Six The National Hockey League was founded in 1917 after a series of disputes within the (Canadian) National Hockey Association (NHA). The first NHL season began in 1917-18 with five teams. 1917-18 The primary conflict involved Toronto Blueshirts' owner Edward J. Livingstone. An ongoing source of controversy among fellow NHA owners, he was often accused of exploiting loopholes in league regulations to create what some viewed as unfair advantages, and had particularly incited the wrath of owners when he merged his two Toronto teams (the Ontarios and the Blueshirts) after the latter had been deprived of its top players. Livingstone sometimes offered contracts to other teams' members not to play hockey, and once campaigned to kick the Montreal Wanderers out of the league after the team tried to lure two of his top Blueshirts players. Throughout his battles with owners, Livingstone repeatedly threatened to start a rival league in the United States. In its final season (1916-17), the National Hockey Association was comprised of six teams: The Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, Toronto Blueshirts, and an army team from the Toronto-based 228th Battalion. Owners met in Montreal to consider the league's future on February 11, 1917, a day after members of the 228th Battalion, the most popular NHA team, were called into World War I action. Livingstone, unable to attend the meeting because of illness, was shocked to learn that owners had chosen to effectively eject him and the Blueshirts from the NHA. After the resignation of NHA president and Livingstone ally Frank Robinson, Livingstone stopped attending league meetings and sent a lawyer to represent his interests. When owners convened on September 29, 1917, they demanded that Livingstone sell the Blueshirts within five days. Livingstone then negotiated a deal in which the Toronto Arena Gardens would take control of the Blueshirts' daily business, with Livingstone to eventually regain control if the NHA continued operations. In response, NHA owners met at Montreal's Windsor Hotel on November 26, 1917, and formed the National Hockey League, with the Canadiens, Wanderers, Senators, Bulldogs and newly-renamed Toronto Arenas as founding members. The NHL endured a rocky inaugural season in 1917-18, starting with the temporary shuttering of the Bulldogs. On January 2, 1918, the Westmount Arena in Montreal, home to the Wanderers and Canadiens, was destroyed in a fire. The Wanderers, already a shadow of its former self, folded in the wake of the fire, ending one of the most storied franchises in the early years of Canadian professional hockey. With the Bulldogs and Wanderers out, the NHL operated with just three teams for the remainder of its opening year, and through the second season. Though Livingstone had been shut out, one of his NHA ideas — a proposal for a split regular season — was adopted by the new league and integrated into its playoff system. The Toronto Arenas became the first NHL winner of the Stanley Cup, the annual trophy awarded since 1893 to the Canadian hockey champion. A furious Livingstone, meanwhile, failed in his attempt to collect a share of profits from the Arenas, then sued the team and the NHL. The dispute lingered through the 1930s, with the Arenas since renamed the Toronto St. Patricks and ultimately the Toronto Maple Leafs. History has looked back on Livingstone and the NHL's formation with a sense of irony: The man whom league owners had worked so hard to exclude was, in the words of Canadiens owner George Kennedy, the same figure that "made [the NHL] a real league". Though the league struggled to stay in business during its first decade, NHL teams were quite successful on the ice, winning the Stanley Cup seven out of its first nine years. (The 1918-19 competition was cancelled because of the Spanish Flu epidemic that had hit Seattle). By 1926, having increased player salaries to a level that couldn't be matched by other Canadian leagues, the NHL was alone in Stanley Cup competition. The league had also expanded into the United States, with the Boston Bruins in 1924, the New York Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1925 and the New York Rangers, Detroit Cougars (later to become the Red Wings), and Chicago Blackhawks in 1926. By the end of the 1930-31 season, the NHL featured a total of 10 teams. However, the Great Depression took a toll on the league; teams such as the Pirates and the Americans folded, and even the fabled Ottawa Senators were forced to fold after moving to St. Louis because of financial difficulties. With these developments and the onset of World War II, the NHL was reduced to six teams during its 25th anniversary year of (1942) – six teams still known today, if somewhat inaccurately, as the Original Six: The Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Bruins, Rangers, and Blackhawks. World War II had provided many players their first chance to play professional hockey, but after the war, many found themselves relegated to minor leagues. Expansion: 1967 and beyond Minor leagues, especially in the western United States, often fielded teams that arguably could have defeated Stanley Cup champions. The rise of the Western Hockey League, which many pundits thought planned to transform into a major league and challenge for the Stanley Cup, spurred the NHL in 1967 to undertake its first expansion since the 1920s. Six new teams were added to the NHL roster, and placed in their own newly-created division. They were the Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Oakland Seals, and Pittsburgh Penguins. Three years later, the NHL added the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres as franchises. In 1972, the World Hockey Association (WHA) was formed. Though it never challenged for the Stanley Cup, its status as a viable NHL rival was unquestionable. In response to that, the NHL decided to rush its own expansion plans by adding the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames that year, along with the Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals two years later. The dilution of the talent pool, however, caused the overall quality of play to suffer. The two leagues fought for the services of hockey players and fans until the WHA folded in 1979. Four of the remaining six WHA teams merged with the NHL: The Hartford Whalers, Québec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, and Winnipeg Jets. As of 2005, the Oilers are the last remaining original WHA franchise still playing in the city where they began in the NHL. Labour Issues There have been three work stoppages in NHL history, all happening between 1992 and 2005. The first was a strike by the National Hockey League Players Association in April 1992 which lasted for 10 days, but the strike was settled quickly and all affected games were rescheduled. A lockout at the start of the 1994-95 forced the league to reduce the schedule from 84 games to just 48, with the teams playing only intra-conference games during the reduced season. The resulting collective bargaining agreement was set for renegotiation in 1998 and extended to September 15, 2004. Negotiations to replace the contract that expired in 2004 turned into one of the most contentious collective bargaining sessions in the history of professional sports. The league vowed to install what it dubbed "cost certainty" for its teams, but the National Hockey League Players Association countered that the move was little more than a euphemism for a salary cap, which the union initially said it would not accept. With no new agreement in hand when the existing contract expired on September 15, 2004, league commissioner Gary Bettman announced a lockout of the players union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office, causing the NHL to lose an entire season. A new collective bargaining agreement was ratified in July 2005 with a term of six years with an option of extending the collective bargaining agreement for an additional year at the end of the term, allowing the NHL to resume as of the 2005-06 season. Post Lockout On October 5, 2005, the first post-lockout NHL season got under way with 15 games. Of those 15 games, 11 were in front of sell out crowds. The NHL, despite negative press generated during the lockout, has success attracting fans to the initial games of the season and extends fan bases into non-traditional markets in the US such as Nashville, Atlanta, and the Carolinas. Trophies and awards 2005]] The National Hockey League also presents numerous trophies, in addition to the Stanley Cup for the overall playoff champion, as well as the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl for the Western Conference playoff champions and the Prince of Wales Trophy for the Eastern Conference playoff champions. They include: - Art Ross Memorial Trophy (1948 - present) -- regular season league scoring champion - Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (1968 - present) -- perseverance and sportsmanship - Calder Memorial Trophy (1933 - present) -- rookie of the year - Conn Smythe Trophy (1965 - present) -- most valuable player during the playoffs - Frank J. Selke Trophy (1978 - present) -- top defensive forward - Hart Memorial Trophy (1924 - present) -- most valuable player during the regular season - Jack Adams Award (1974 - present) -- coach of the year - James Norris Memorial Trophy (1954 - present)-- most outstanding defenceman - King Clancy Memorial Trophy (1988 - present) -- leadership and humanitarian contribution - Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (1925 - present) -- player combining ability and sportsmanship - Lester B. Pearson Award (1971 - present) -- most outstanding player as selected by peers - Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy (1999 - present) -- to the goal-scoring leader during the regular season - NHL Plus/Minus Award (1968 - present) -- highest plus/minus statistic - Presidents' Trophy (1986 - present) - best regular season by a team - Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award (2000 - present) -- best save percentage by a goalkeeper - Vezina Trophy (1927 - present) -- voted to be the most outstanding goaltender - William M. Jennings Trophy (1982 - present) -- goalkeeper(s) for the team with the fewest goals against The O'Brien Trophy was awarded in the NHL before it was retired following the 1949-50 NHL season. The Lester Patrick Trophy has been presented by the National Hockey League since 1966 to honour a recipient's contribution to hockey in the United States. Three years after retirement, players are eligible to be voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In the past, if a player was deemed significant enough, the pending period would be waived. However, only 10 individual have been honoured in this manner. In 1999 Wayne Gretzky became the last player to have the three years waived. After Gretzky's induction, the NHL declared that he would be the last one to have the waiting period omitted. The Pearson Award is the only award named after a politician. Current organization Eastern Conference Western Conference Structure Each team in the NHL plays 82 regular season games, 41 games at home and 41 on the road. Teams used to play all other teams in the league at least once, but this will no longer be the case following implementation of post-lockout changes. Teams will now play 10 interconference (that is, not in their own conference) games throughout the entire season, 1 game against each team in two of the three divisions in the opposite conference. On an observational basis, it seems as if these interconference games are being block-scheduled in two different blocks (much like baseball does with interleague play. Teams will also play 40 games against non-divisional, conference opponents (4 games against each), and 32 games within their division (8 games against each). Two points are awarded for wins, one point for losing in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for a loss in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points in each division is crowned the division champion. Each Conference consists of three divisions, so these three division champions and five more teams fill out each Conference's playoff field. In total, 16 teams (3 division champions and 5 additional teams, for a total of 8 from each Conference) qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Stanley Cup Playoffs is an elimination tournament, where two teams battle to win a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. If the score is tied at the end of the third period an overtime period is played. If the score is tied at the end of an overtime period, additional overtime periods are played until a winner is determined. Overtimes are also full periods of twenty minutes (of five-on-five hockey), rather than the five minutes (of four-on-four hockey, followed by a shootout) in the regular season. The overtime is played with golden goal rule (sudden death) so the game ends as soon as either team scores a goal. The higher-ranked team is said to be the team with the home-ice advantage. Four of the seven games are played at this team's home venue - the first and second, and, where necessary, the fifth and seventh, with the other games played at the lower-ranked team's home venue. The most recent playoff that was contested in the NHL used the following format: the division winners were seeded one through three, and then the next five teams with the best records in the conference were seeded four through eight. However, the league has yet to announce the playoff format for the 2005-06 season, and with the new scheduling format that emphasises division play, the league is reportedly exploring placing greater emphasis on division standings by taking the top 2 teams in each division, along with the teams with the next two best records for each Conference's playoff field. In the event of a tie in points in the standings, ties are broken first by amount of wins, then by record against the team that is tied (disregarding the first game played at the arena of the team that hosted more games than the other during the season series, if applicable). Next, the tied team with the better positive differential between goals scored for and against is given preference, and in the rare circumstance these tiebreakers are insufficient, the Commissioner has the authority to devise some other means of breaking the tie. The first round of the playoffs, or Conference Quarterfinals, consists of the first seed playing the eighth seed, the second playing the seventh, third playing the sixth, and the fourth playing the fifth. In the second round, or Conference Semifinals, the NHL re-seeds (unlike the NBA), with the top remaining Conference seed playing against the lowest remaining seed, and the other two remaining conference teams pairing off. In the third round, the Conference Finals, the two remaining teams in each conference play each other, with the Conference champions proceeding to the Stanley Cup Finals. Presidents/Commissioners of the NHL - Frank Calder (1917-1943) President - Red Dutton (1943-1946) President - Clarence Campbell (1946-1977) President - John Ziegler (1977-1992) President - Gil Stein (1992-1993) President - Gary Bettman (1993-present) Commissioner See also - List of Stanley Cup champions - National Hockey League All-Star Game - NHL Entry Draft - List of defunct NHL teams - List of NHL players - List of NHL franchise post-season droughts - National Women's Hockey League - List of ice hockey leagues - List of most common NHL playoff series - List of NHL statistical leaders - List of NHL head coaches - Violence in ice hockey - World Professional Hockey Championships - List of famous NHL linemates - World Cup of Hockey - NHL team records - NHL All-Star Celebrity Challenge - NHL video game series - Wayne Gretzky Records - 50 goals in 50 games - NHL Challenge - National Hockey League rivalries - Original Six - 1967 NHL Expansion - Notable families in the NHL External links - [http://www.nhl.com NHL's homepage] - [http://www.nhlfa.com National Hockey League Fan's Association homepage] - [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Standings and Statistics, 1917-now] - [http://www.gridmarks.com/nhl.html NHL Rankings] - [http://www.NHLReplay.com NHL Discussion Boards] ja:NHL simple:National Hockey League 1972-73 NHL season The 1972-73 NHL season was the 56th season of the National Hockey League. Sixteen teams each played 78 games. For the first time since the colapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926, the National Hockey League had serious competition. A new professional hockey league, the World Hockey Association, made its season debut with 12 new teams, many of which were based in the same cities as NHL teams. Unlike the Western Hockey League, though, the new World Hockey Assocation didn't challenge for the Stanley Cup. In response to the new league, the NHL quickly added two new teams, the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames, in attempts to secure more markets. Prior to the start of the season, the 1972 Summit Series, which was the first ever meeting between Soviet Union and NHL calibre Canadian ice hockey players, took place. Canada expected to easily beat the Soviets, but were shocked to find themselves with a losing record of one win, two losses, and a tie after four games in Canada. In game four, which Canada lost 5-3, Vancouver fans echoed the rest of Canada's thoughts of Team Canada's poor performance by booing them off the ice. The final four games were played in the Soviet Union. Canada lost game five, but won the last three for a final record of four wins, three losses, and a tie. The Montreal Canadiens won their second consecutive Stanley Cup by beating the Chicago Black Hawks four games to two in the finals. Regular season The Canadiens took over first place in the East Division and the league from the Boston Bruins while for the third straight season the Chicago Black Hawks dominated the West Division. Final standings Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes Scoring leaders Leading goaltenders Stanley Cup playoffs All dates in 1973 Chicago Black Hawks] Stanley Cup finals NHL awards See also - List of Stanley Cup champions - 1972 NHL Amateur Draft - 26th National Hockey League All-Star Game - National Hockey League All-Star Game - 1972 Summit Series - World Hockey Association - List of WHA seasons - 1972 in sports - 1973 in sports References - [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Hockey Database] - [http://nhl.com/] Category:NHL Seasons Category:1972 in sports Category:1973 in sports 1979-80 NHL season The 1979-80 NHL season was the 63rd season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. This season saw the addition of four teams from the collapse of the World Hockey Association (WHA) the previous season. The Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, New England Whalers (re-named Hartford Whalers), and Quebec Nordiques all joined the NHL bringing a new total of 21 teams. The other two WHA teams folded. The collapse of the WHA also saw the much hyped super-star rookie Wayne Gretzky come to the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers. Gretzky would tie Marcel Dionne for the scoring lead with 137 points and capture the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player while Dionne took home the Art Ross Trophy as the leading scorer by virtue of having scored two more goals. The real story of this season, though, was Mike Bossy and the New York Islanders. After a dismal start for their franchise in the early seventies, the Islanders built a contender for the Stanley Cup and won their first of four in a row by beating the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime of game six of the finals. Defenceman Denis Potvin scored a crucial overtime goal in game one and the Cup was won when Bobby Nystrom scored the Cup-winning goal from John Tonelli and Lorne Henning at 7:11 of the first overtime. Hall of Fame announcer Dan Kelly was calling the play-by-play for CBS Sports. Regular season For the four previous seasons, the Boston Bruins had owned first place in the Adams Division. This season saw the Buffalo Sabres de-throne the Bruins in the Adams. The New York Islanders finished first overall in the NHL the previous season with 116 points, but had lost out in the first round of the playoffs. This season saw them fall considerably in the standings as they finished 4th overall with 91 points, a full 25 points below last year's finish. On the other hand, the Philadelphia Flyers improved by 21 points and had the best record in the NHL with 116 points. All four expansion WHA teams finished poorly with records below .500. The Hartford Whalers faired the best with 73 points and the Winnipeg Jets tied the Colorado Rockies for last overall with 51 points. Final standings Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes Prince of Wales Conference Clarence Campbell Conference Scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points Leading goaltenders Stanley Cup playoffs Note: all dates in 1980 Colorado Rockies] Stanley Cup finals Stanley Cup scoring leaders NHL awards See also - List of Stanley Cup champions - 1979 NHL Entry Draft - 32rd National Hockey League All-Star Game - National Hockey League All-Star Game - World Hockey Association - List of WHA seasons - Ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics - 1979 in sports - 1980 in sports References - [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Hockey Database] - [http://nhl.com/] Category:NHL Seasons Calgary, Alberta :Calgary redirects here. This page refers to the city of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. For other places with the name Calgary, see Calgary (disambiguation) Calgary is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. It is situated in the south of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, approximately 80 km east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. As of 2004, the metropolitan population (CMA) was at an estimated 1,037,100. Calgary is the largest city in Alberta and the third largest city (proper), by population, in Canada. It serves as the hub of the fifth largest Census Metropolitan Area in the country. It is located within the relatively densely populated "Calgary-Edmonton Corridor"[http://geodepot.statcan.ca/Diss/Highlights/Page9/Page9d_e.cfm]. It is the largest Canadian metropolitan area west of Toronto and east of Vancouver. Calgary has the second highest concentration of head offices in Canada. A resident of Calgary is known as a Calgarian. Calgary is well-known as a destination for winter sports and ecotourism with a number of major mountain resorts near the city and metropolitan area. Calgary's economy is largely centred on the petroleum industry (see oilpatch), with agriculture, tourism, and the high-tech industries contributing to the city's rapid economic growth. History First settlement oilpatchBefore the Calgary area was settled by Europeans, it was the domain of the Blackfoot people whose presence has been traced back at least 11,000 years. In 1787 cartographer David Thompson spent the winter with a band of Peigan Indians encamped along the Bow River. He was the first recorded European to visit the area. By 1860 settlers began arriving to hunt buffalo and sell illegal whiskey. The first recorded settler in Calgary was rancher Sam Livingston in the early 1870s, and in 1875 the site became a post of the North West Mounted Police (now the RCMP). Originally named Fort Brisebois, after NWMP officer Éphrem-A Brisebois, it was renamed Fort Calgary in 1876 because of questionable conduct on the part of that officer. The NWMP detachment was assigned to protect the western plains from US whiskey traders. Fort Calgary was named by Colonel James Macleod after Calgary (Cala-ghearraidh, Beach of the pasture) on the Isle of Mull, Scotland. When the Canadian Pacific Railway reached the area and a rail station was constructed, Calgary began to grow into an important commercial and agricultural centre. The Canadian Pacific Railway headquarters are located in Calgary today. Calgary was officially incorporated as a town in 1884 and elected its first mayor, George Murdoch. In 1894, Calgary became the first city in what was then, the Northwest Territories. The oil boom Oil was first discovered in Alberta in 1914, but it didn't become a significant industry in the province until the 1960s when huge reserves of it were discovered. Calgary quickly found itself at the centre of the ensuing oil boom. The city's economy grew when oil prices increased with the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973. The population grew from 325,000 in 1974 to 647,000 in 1987. During this time, Calgary skyscrapers were constructed at a pace seen by few cities anywhere. The relatively low-rise downtown quickly became dense with tall buildings: a trend that continues to this day. Calgary's economy was so closely tied to the oil industry that the city's boom peaked with the average annual price of oil in 1981. [http://inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Rate/Historical_Oil_Prices_Table.asp] The subsequent drop in oil prices and the introduction of National Energy Program, were cited by industry as reasons for a collapse in the oil industry, and consequently the overall Calgary economy. The NEP was cancelled in the mid-1980s by the Brian Mulroney federal government. But, continued low oil prices, prevented a full recovery until the 1990s. Recent history Brian Mulroney With the energy sector employing a huge number of Calgarians, the fallout from the economic slump of the early 1980s was understandably significant. The unemployment rate soared. By the end of the decade, however, the economy was in recovery. Calgary quickly realized that it could not afford to put so much emphasis on oil and gas, and the city has since become much more diverse, both economically and culturally. The period during this recession marked Calgary's transition from a mid-sized and relatively nondescript prairie city into a major cosmopolitan and diverse centre. This transition culminated in February of 1988, when the city hosted the XV Olympic Winter Games. The success of these games essentially put the city on the world stage. The economy in Calgary and Alberta is now booming, and the city of over a million people is still among the fastest growing in the country. In fact, Calgary is now second only to Toronto for its concentration of corporate head offices and boasts a higher GDP per capita than any other major Canadian city. While the oil and gas industry and agriculture still comprise a huge part of the economy, the city has invested a great deal into other areas. Tourism is perhaps one of the fastest growing industries in the city. Over 4.5 million people now visit the city on an annual basis for its many festivals and attractions, as well as the Calgary Stampede. The nearby mountain resort towns of Banff, Lake Louise, and Canmore are also becoming increasingly popular with tourists, and are bringing people into Calgary as a result. Other modern industries include light manufacturing, high-tech, film, transportation, and services. The city has also ranked high in quality of life surveys. In 2004, the Calgary Flames of the NHL won the Western Conference championship, only to lose to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Geography Stanley Cup Calgary is located within the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and is relatively hilly as a result. Calgary's elevation is approximately 1048 metres (3440 feet) above sea level downtown, and 1139 metres (3736 feet) at the airport. The city proper covers a land area of 721 km² (as of 2001). There are two major rivers that run through the city. The Bow River is the largest and flows from the west to the south. The Elbow River flows northwards from the south until it converges with the Bow River near downtown. Since the climate of the region is generally dry, dense vegetation only occurs naturally in the river valleys and within Fish Creek Provincial Park, the largest urban park in Canada. The city is quite large in physical area, consisting of an inner city surrounded by various communities of decreasing density. Unlike most cities with a sizable metropolitan area, most of Calgary's suburbs are incorporated into the city proper, with the notable exceptions of the city of Airdrie to the north, Cochrane to the northwest, Strathmore to the east, and the sprawling Springbank district to the west. Though it is not technically within Calgary's metropolitan area, the town of Okotoks is only a short distance to the south and is considered a suburb as well. The Calgary Economic Region includes slightly more area that the CMA and has a population of 1,146,900. Because of the growth of the city, its southwest borders are now immediately adjacent to the Tsuu T’ina (Sarcee) Nation Native Indian reserve. Recent residential developments in the deep southwest of the city have created a need for a major roadway heading into the interior of the city, but because of complications in negotiations with the Sarcee about the construction, the much-needed construction has not yet begun. Calgary's neighbourhoods The downtown region of the city consists of five neighbourhoods: Eau Claire (including the Festival District), the Downtown West End, the Downtown Commercial Core, Chinatown, and the Downtown East Village (also part of the Rivers District). The commercial core is itself divided into a number of districts including the Stephen Avenue Retail Core, the Penny Lane Entertainment District, the Arts District and the Government District. Distinct from downtown and south of 9th Avenue is Calgary's densest neighbourhood, the Beltline. The area includes a number of communities such as Midtown, Victoria Crossing and a portion of the Rivers District. The Beltline is the focus of major planning and rejuvenation initiatives on the part of the municipal government to increase the density and liveliness of Calgary's centre. Adjacent to, or directly radiating from the downtown are the first of the inner-city communities. These include Crescent Heights, Sunnyside, Hounsfield Heights/Briar Hill, Hillhurst (including Kensington BRZ), Bridgeland, Renfrew, Mount Royal, Mission and Inglewood. The inner city is, in turn, surrounded by relatively dense and established neighbourhoods such as Rosedale and Mount Pleasant to the north; Bowness, Parkdale and Westgate to the west; Park Hill, South Calgary (including Marda Loop), Altadore and Killarney to the south; and Forest Lawn/International Avenue to the east. Lying beyond these, and usually separated from one another by highways, are the suburban communities, often characterized as "commuter communities". The city's deep south is probably expanding the fastest and includes communities such as Heritage Pointe and McKenzie Lake. In all, there are over 180 distinct neighbourhoods within the city limits. Climate Although Calgary's winters can be downright cold, Environment Canada still ranks the city as having the 3rd most temperate climate in the country (of major cities) after Victoria and Vancouver. This is due in large part to the dry Chinook winds that routinely blow into the city from the Pacific Ocean during the winter months. These winds have been known to raise the winter temperature by up to 20°C and may last several days. Nevertheless, Calgary is a city of extremes, and temperatures have ranged anywhere from a record low of −45°C in 1893 to a record high of +36°C in 1919. Although summer temperatures in the +30s are not all that uncommon, it rarely gets colder than −30°C, even in the dead of winter. On average the temperature ranges from a minimum −15°C in January to a maximum of 23°C in July and August. With an average relative humidity of 65% in the winter, Calgary is a dry city and receives very little rain or snow relative to other Canadian cities. Despite this, blizzards in the winter and thunder and hail storms in the summer are not uncommon. Calgary receives an average of 400mm (15.7in) of precipitation annually, with 301mm (11.8in) of that as rain, and the remainder as snow. Most of the precipitation occurs from May to August. Seasons - Winter: November to mid-March. - Spring: mid-March to May - Summer: June to August - Autumn: September to November Other climate periods - Heavy snowfall season: March to early May - Heavy rainfall month: June (known to some locals as the "monsoon month") - Thunderstorm/hail season: late May to early September - Chinook season: late October to early April (its effect is most pronounced in the cooler months, though Chinooks can occur at any time.) City sights Chinook winds Calgary's downtown can easily be recognized by its numerous skyscrapers. To connect many of the downtown office buildings, the city also boasts the world's most extensive skyway(skywalk) network (elevated indoor pedestrian bridges), officially called the +15. The name derives from the fact that the bridges are usually 15 feet above grade. The city's downtown also features an eclectic mix of restaurants and bars, cultural venues, shopping (most notably, TD Square, Calgary Eaton Centre, Stephen Avenue, and 17th Avenue), and public squares such as Olympic Plaza. Downtown tourist attractions include the Calgary Zoo, the Telus World of Science, the Telus Convention Centre, the Chinatown district, the Glenbow Museum, the Calgary Tower, the Art Gallery of Calgary (AGC), the EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts, and Eau Claire Market. At 2.5 acres (10,000 m²), the Devonian Gardens is one of the largest urban indoor gardens in the world, and it is located on the 4th floor of TD Square (above the shopping). The downtown region is also home to Prince's Island Park, an urban park located just north of the Eau Claire district. Directly to the south of downtown is Midtown and the Beltline. This area is quickly becoming one of the city's densest and most active mixed use areas. At the district's core is the popular "17th Avenue", which is known for its many bars and nightclubs, restaurants, and shopping venues. During the Calgary Flames' playoff run in 2004, 17th Avenue was frequented by over 50,000 fans and supporters per game night. The concentration of notorious red jersey-wearing fans led to the street's playoff moniker, the Red mile. Downtown Calgary is easily accessed using the city's C-Train rapid transit system. On the west side of the city, on the banks of the Glenmore Reservoir, is Heritage Park Historical Village. Highlights include a working steam train, a historic Calgary streetcar shuttle from the lower parking lots, and an antique midway. The village is comprised of historic buildings relocated from Southern Alberta towns, or in many cases, replicas of these buildings. Other major city attractions include Canada Olympic Park (and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame), Calaway Park amusement park, and Race City Motorsport Park. In addition to the many shopping areas in the city centre, there are a number of large suburban shopping complexes in Calgary. Among the largest are Chinook Centre and Southcentre in the south, Market Mall in the northwest, and Sunridge Mall in the northeast. Attractions and landmarks Calgary's skyline Chinook Centre Calgary's skyline is very recognizable. This is due in large part to the presence of numerous skyscrapers in and around downtown. Some of these structures, such as the Calgary Tower are unique enough to be symbols of Calgary. As a major business centre with a population of just over a million people, this is not suprising. Office buildings tend to concentrate within the commercial core while residential towers occur most frequently within the Downtown West End and the Beltline, south of downtown. These buildings are iconographic of the city's booms and busts, and it is easy to recognize the various phases of development that have shaped the image of downtown. The first skyscraper building boom occured during the late 1950s and continued through to the 1970s. After 1980, during a major recession, many highrise construction projects were immediately halted. It was not until the late 1980s and through to the early 1990s that major construction began again. In total, there are 8 office towers that are 40 floors or higher. The tallest of these (the Petro-Canada Centre), is the tallest office tower in Canada outside of Toronto. Arts and culture Calgary's cultural scene has changed considerably since the city has grown. Today, Calgary is a modern cosmopolitan city that still retains much of its traditional culture of hotel saloons, hockey and western music. As a relatively ethnically diverse city, Calgary also has a number of major multi-cultural areas. It has one of the largest Chinatowns in Canada as well as a burgeoning “Little Italy” in the Bridgeland neighbourhood. Forest Lawn is among the most diverse areas in the city and as such, the area around 17th Avenue SE. within the neighbourhood is also known as International Avenue. The district is home to a wide variety of ethnic restaurants and stores. Calgary is the site of the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, a 4 million cubic foot (113,000 m³) performing arts, culture and community facility. The auditorium is one of two "twin" facilities in the province, the other located in Edmonton. The 2,700-seat auditorium was opened in 1957 and has been host to hundreds of Broadway musical, theatrical, stage and local productions. Annually, over 850,000 visitors frequent the performance space. The "Jubes" as they are known, are the resident home of the Alberta Ballet, the Calgary opera, the Kiwanis Music Festival, and the annual Canadian Legion Remembrance Day Ceremonies. The two auditoria are run by community-based non-profit societies and operate 365 days a year. The two auditoria have recently completed a $91 million renovation. They reopened on the Province's Centennial, September 1, 2005. Remembrance Day Calgary is also home to the internationally-renowned contemporary theatre company, One Yellow Rabbit. The company shares the massive EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and two more established theatre companies, Theatre Calgary and Alberta Theatre Projects. Calgary was also the birthplace of the improvisational theatre games known as Theatresports. The Calgary International Film Festival is also held in the city annually. The city is also home to several museums. The most well known of these, the Glenbow Museum is the largest in western Canada and includes an art gallery. Other major museums include the largest Chinese Cultural Centre in North America, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame (at Canada Olympic Park), the Museum of the Regiments, and the Aero Space Museum. There are also a number of art galleries in the city and many of them are concentrated along the Stephen Avenue and 17th Avenue corridors. The largest of these is the Art Gallery of Calgary (AGC). Calgary is affectionately called the Nashville of the North, and took a large part in the country revival of the 1990s. Currently, some of the city's most popular bars trade on the image of cool country, playing contemporary country music to young twenty-somethings. Calgary also holds many major annual festivals including, The Calgary Stampede, the Folk Music Festival, The Lilac Festival, and the second largest Caribbean festival in the country (Carifest). Calgary is also home to a thriving all-ages music scene. The Stampede The city is famous for the Calgary Stampede, a very large agricultural fair and rodeo every July. The Stampede officially bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth". It features an internationally recognized rodeo competition, a midway, stage shows, agricultural competitions, chuckwagon races, First Nations exhibitions, and pancake breakfasts around the city, among other attractions. It is among the largest and most well known festivals in Canada. The event has a 93 year history. The Calgary Stampede was inaugurated in 1912 by Guy Weadick, an American trick roper. Weadick wanted to put on a world-class rodeo event and Wild West show that would bring the best cowboys from across the continent. The first Stampede was the richest rodeo competition in North America with prize money totaling $20,000. It drew more than 100,000 spectators. In 1923, the Stampede was combined with the Calgary Exhibition and the chuckwagon races were added. In 2004, the rodeo prize money was doubled to $1 million to put the Stampede on par with other major rodeos such as the National Finals Rodeo. In 2005, attendance at the 10-day rodeo and exhibition totalled 1,242,928, which set a new record. Attendance at the "Stampede Parade" (North America's second longest parade), which takes place downtown on opening day is usually somewhere between 300,000 and 400,000. During Stampede Week, many of the city's residents dress in country attire, and many businesses decorate their stores and offices in this "western" style. Other annual festivals Guy Weadick] - Winter Festival (February) - Rodeo Royal (March) - Calgary Independent Film Festival (March) - Visaki Mela (Punjabi Spring Harvest Festival) (May) - International Children's Festival (May) - 4th Street Lilac Festival (May) - Carifest (June) - Banff World Television Festival (June) - International Jazz Festival (June) - Greek Festival (June) - Chariot Festival of India (July) - Folk Music Festival (July) - Heritage Day (August) - Dragonboat Festival (August) - Afrikadey! (August) - International Reggae Festival (August) - GlobalFest - One World Festival and International Fireworks Competition (August) - Expo Latino (August) - Barbecue on the Bow (September) - Artcity - Festival of Art, Design and Architecture (September) - Calgary International Film Festival (September / October) - Banff Festival of Mountain Films (October) - Twelve Days of Christmas (December) Demographics According the 2001 Statistics Canada federal census, there were 878,866 people living within the City of Calgary proper. Of this population, 49.9 per cent were male and 50.1 per cent were female. Children under five accounted for approximately 6.0 per cent of the resident population of Calgary. This compares with 6.2 per cent in Alberta, and almost 5.6 per cent for Canada overall. In 2001, 9.0 per cent of the resident population in Calgary were of retirement age (65 and over for males and females) compared with 13.2 per cent in Canada, therefore, the average age is 34.9 years of age comparing to 37.6 years of age for all of Canada. In the five years between 1996 and 2001, Calgary's population grew by 15.8 percent. This is contrasted with an increase of 10.3 percent for the province of Alberta. The population density of Calgary averaged 1,252.3 persons per square kilometre, compared with an average of 4.6, for the province. - Caucasian: 688,465 or 79.0% - Chinese: 51,540 or 5.9% - Other Asian (Including East Indian): 59,295 or 6.8% - Aboriginal: 19,765 or 2.3% - Filipino: 16,245 or 1.9% - Black: 13,370 or 1.5% - Latin American: 8,525 or 1.0% - Other: 18,955 or 2.2% (based on single responses) Calgary is the main city of Census Division No. 6 and the Calgary Regional Partnership. Statistics are from the 2001 Statistics Canada census [http://www.statcan.ca/]. Political scene Statistics Canada style, made of sandstone, and featuring a 70 foot clock tower.]] Calgary is traditionally a conservative city, dominated by traditional small-c social conservatives and more modern fiscal conservatives. As the city is a corporate power-centre, a high percentage of the workforce is employed in white-collar jobs. During the 1990s the city's mainstream political culture was dominated by the right-wing Reform Party of Canada federally, and the Alberta Progressive Conservatives provincially. The Reform Party was founded in Calgary. However, as Calgary has grown, its politics have become diverse. One growing alternative movement was recently active during the 2000 World Petroleum Congress demonstrations and the J26 G8 2002 protests. Protesters were a mix of locals and outsiders. In early 2003 in response to the War on Iraq, according to organizers, 5,000 to 10,000 people from southern Alberta, and elsewhere, converged outside the U.S. Consulate General's office. The city has chapters of various activist organizations, as well as an Anti-Capitalist Convergence. Left-wing provincial and federal Liberals tend to distance themselves from the activist movement which also claims support from the left. The Green Party of Canada has also made inroads in Calgary, although they have never achieved more than five per cent of the popular vote in any city riding. Another alternative, represented by the right-wing Alberta Alliance, became active during the 26th Alberta general election and campaigned for fiscally and socially conservative reforms, and has managed a growing percentage of support in the past Provincial election. Prior to the November 22, 2004 General Election, all 21 provincial MLAs representing Calgary were Progressive Conservatives. The province's premier and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, Ralph Klein, has his seat in Calgary. The Alberta Liberals won three seats in the provincial legislature during that election, two of which were new as a result of redistricting. Currently, all eight of Calgary's federal MPs are members of the Conservative Party of Canada. The CPC's predecessors have traditionally held the majority of the city's federal seats. The federal electoral district of Calgary-Southwest is currently held by the CPC leader Stephen Harper. Coincidentally, the same seat was also held by Preston Manning, the leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a predecessor of CPC. Joe Clark, former Prime Minister and former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (also a predecessor of the CPC), held the seat in the now-abolished riding of Calgary Centre. Contemporary issues As a city that has experienced rapid growth in recent years, Calgary is having its share of growing pains. Among the most significant is that of urban sprawl. With no geographical barriers to its growth besides the Tsuu T'ina First Nation to the southwest and an affluent population that can afford large homes and properties, the city now has only a slightly smaller urban footprint than that of New York City and its boroughs, despite having less than one-eighth the population of New York City proper. This has led to difficulties in providing necessary transportation to Calgary’s population, both in the form of roadways and public transit. The result has also been a downtown which has traditionally lacked life on the evenings and weekends. It has also led to a somewhat misguided interpretation of the city as being a “driver’s city”. With the redevelopment of the Beltline and the Downtown East Village at the forefront, efforts are underway to vastly increase the density of the inner city, but the sprawl continues nevertheless. Calgary has also struggled to find its own unique identity. On the one hand, it has relentlessly tried to maintain its western heritage. This has led to the popular nickname, "Cowtown". At the same time, the city has branded itself as being a modern economic and business centre. In recent years, Calgary has also become one of Canada's most cosmopolitan cities and has been quickly evolving into a major cultural centre. These very different images have often resulted in ambiguity and confusion with regard to the direction of Calgary's continued development. Even though Calgary has a relatively low crime rate when compared to other cities in North America, gangs and drug-related crime are becoming much larger issues than they have been in the past. Gang “warfare” is becoming more common all the time and contributes to a number of homicides in the city annually. Drug busts (particularly of Marijuana grow operations) are also becoming very common, especially in suburban communities where anonymity is possible. More socioeconomic issues have also found their way into the city’s urban fabric in recent history. As the population grows, so does the rate of poverty and homelessness in the city. Certain neighbourhoods along with portions of downtown have commonly been singled out as being home to much higher proportions of disadvantaged residents. Many neighbourhoods in the city’s east have been particularly (and perhaps unfairly) stereotyped this way. Education downtown In the year 2005 roughly 97,000 students attended K-12 in about 215 schools in the English language public school system run by the Calgary Board of Education.[http://www.cbe.ab.ca/media/facts.asp] Another 43,000 attend about 93 schools in the separate English language Calgary Catholic School District board.[http://www.cssd.ab.ca/schools/index.shtml] The much smaller francophone community has their own French language school boards (public and Catholic), which are both based in Calgary, but serve a larger regional district. Also, there are now several public charter schools in the city. Calgary has a number of unique schools, including the country's first high school exclusively designed for Olympic calibre athletes, the National Sport School. Calgary is the site of five major public post-secondary institutions. The University of Calgary is Calgary's primary large degree-granting facility. Currently, nearly 30,000 students are enrolled there. Mount Royal College is the city's second largest institution (13,000 students), and it grants degrees in a number of fields. Bow Valley College's main campus is located downtown and provides training in business, technology, and the liberal arts for about 10,000 students (the college has three campuses in Calgary and numerous in the region). The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) provides polytechnic education. The Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD) is located in Calgary. In addition, the University of Lethbridge has a satellite campus in the city. The new St. Mary's University College is a private Catholic liberal arts institution located in the south part of the city. There are also a number of other smaller private colleges in the city. Calgary is also home to DeVry Career College's only Canadian campus. Calgary was also the home of the Milton Wiliams School for Education Through the Arts, a national centre of excellence in arts immersion education for children between the fifth and ninth grades; however, in early 2005, the aging school was demolished. However, the school is still active on the grounds of the Willow Park Elementary School. Sports and recreation DeVry Career College's DeVry Career College'sCalgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. Many of the Olympic facilities continue to function as major high performance training facilities for athletes around the world. Among the most notable of these are Canada Olympic Park and the Olympic Oval. Calgary's multipurpose arena, the Pengrowth Saddledome is shown at the right. The Olympic Saddledome (as it was formerly known) was the first modern arena in North America capable of accommodating an Olympic regulation-sized ice rink. Calgary's primary open-air stadium, McMahon Stadium, was the site of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics and is currently the venue for Calgary's Canadian Football League team, the Calgary Stampeders. The stadium has a capacity of nearly 40,000 and is the fifth largest in Canada. The Olympic Oval is primarily a speed-skating arena that can also accommodate hockey and high-performance training. The rink's ice is world-renowned, and it brings some of the best speed skaters in the world to the facility for training and competition. It was at this place where the likes of Catriona LeMay Doan and Cindy Klassen trained for their Olympic and world stardom. Calgary is also the home of "The Dungeon", the pro wrestling training camp founded by the late Stu Hart. Two of Hart's sons trained there & went to be some of the greatest competitors the sport has ever seen: Brett Hart & the late Owen Hart. Many Canadian wrestlers trained at the Dungeon, including Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, & fellow Calgary native, Lance Storm. Current professional franchises
Logo	Club	League	Venue	Established	Championships
Calgary Stampeders	Canadian Football League	McMahon Stadium	1935	5
McMahon Stadium	Calgary Flames	National Hockey League	Pengrowth Saddledome	1972 as Atlanta Flames	1
Atlanta Flames	Calgary Roughnecks	National Lacrosse League	Pengrowth Saddledome	2001	1

Amateur teams

- Calgary Vipers (Baseball/Northern League)
- Calgary Dawgs (Baseball/Western Major Baseball League)
- Calgary Hitmen (Hockey/Western Hockey League)
- Calgary Canucks (Hockey/Alberta Junior Hockey League)
- Calgary Royals (Hockey/Alberta Junior Hockey League)
- Calgary Oval X-treme (Hockey/Western Women's Hockey League)

Outdoor recreation

Calgary is next to some of the most pristine natural scenery in the world. Banff National Park is about 125 km northwest of Calgary on the Trans-Canada Highway. 30 km west of the city is the town of Bragg Creek (and region). Another 45 km west of Bragg Creek is the Kananaskis Country improvement district. Many Calgarians and millions of tourists enjoy activities such as biking, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, camping, and fishing in these great parks every year. The town of Banff hosts nearly five million visitors annually. Within Calgary itself, people make extensive use of the city's network of bike paths and large urban parks. For more extreme adventure, Canada Olympic Park offers [http://www.telusplanet.net/public/oaneale/ bobsledding], luge, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, downhill skiing, and snowboarding in the winter. The Bow River is very popular among fly-fishermen. Golfing is also an extremely popular activity for Calgarians and the region has a very large number of courses.

Major parks in Calgary and vicinity

- Fish Creek Provincial Park, Canada's only provincial park located within a major city
- Nose Hill Park
- Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
- Stanley Park
- Prince's Island Park
- Prairie Winds Park
- Bowness Park
- Prince's Island Park
- Edworthy Park
- Confederation Park
- Kananaskis Country Provincial Improvemend District, approximately 60 km to the west and southwest
- Banff National Park, approximately 130 km to the west, UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Jasper National Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Yoho National Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Kootenay National Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Dinosaur Provincial Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park

Transportation

Calgary is a major Canadian transportation centre and a central cargo hub for freight into and out of north-western North America[http://www.calgaryairport.com/document.cfm?did=700]. The city also sits at the junction between the "Canamex" highway system and the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1 in Alberta). The Calgary International Airport serves the city as well as the international traffic for Alberta and Saskatchewan. The airport saw 9.1 million passenger movements in 2004. In December of that same year, it was the third busiest airport in Canada after Toronto Pearson International Airport and the Vancouver International Airport. It is marginally busier than Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. It is one of Canada's busiest cargo airports as well. Calgary is also by far, the largest Canadian city without any intercity passenger rail service as all VIA Rail service to the city was terminated in the late 80's and early 90's by the Conservative government. Calgary's mass transit system is operated by Calgary Transit. The light rail transit (LRT) system, known as the C-Train, in the city consists of 42.1 km of track connecting 36 stations and was one of the first such systems in North America. Until very recently, Calgary and Edmonton were the only two, under 1 million population cities in North America, to operate mass rapid transit systems. The Whitehorn-City Centre line serves downtown and the Northeast, while the Dalhousie-Somerset line runs between the Northwest and South Calgary via Downtown. Travel between stations along 7th Avenue in downtown is free-of-charge. Unique to the C-Train system, its power is completely wind generated and is thus completely free of emissions. As well as the LRT, Calgary Transit has an effective system of buses, and has routes stretching all over the city. It has won several prestigious awards for its efficiency and its environmental responsibility. It consists of over 160 bus routes and three C-Train lines (two routes) stretching over 4,500 km. The City of Calgary maintains an impressive network of paved bicycle paths. The dedicated path network in Calgary is among the most expansive in North America and spans 583km. There are also about 200km of bike lanes. A PDF [http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/BU/engineering_services/emaps/bicycle_pathways_map_2002.pdf Map] is available from the [http://www.calgary.ca City of Calgary Website]. The pathways connect many of the city's parks, the river valley, residential neighbourhoods, and downtown. Even the airport is on the path network. Thousands of people make year-round use these paths for walking, running, and cycling to various destinations, including to work. Calgary's system of elevated walkways or skyways downtown (known as the +15 system) is the most extensive in the world. These walkways not only serve to connect buildings, but also contain restaurants, shops, and services. The system is 16 kilometres long. Calgary has an extensive, efficient, and well-maintained street network. Smaller roads are supplemented with a number of major arteries and freeways, the largest of which is the north-south running Deerfoot Trail (Queen Elizabeth II Highway/Highway 2). Other major expressways include Glenmore Trail, Macleod Trail (although it is only a principal arterial road north of Anderson Road), named for one of the city founders, Colonel James MacLeod, and Crowchild Trail, named for the 1800s Blackfoot leader Chief Crowchild. Note that the vast majority (but not all) of the main expressways and freeways are Trails, as well as some of the main arterial roads that do not fit in the numbering grid. The city is divided into four quadrants, commonly known as the Northeast, the Northwest, the Southeast and the Southwest. Traditionally, Calgary's roads were built on a grid system with numbered Streets (running north-south) and Avenues (running east-west) on a quadrant system, with most addresses ending in suffixes NW, NE, SE or SW. The central point of the quadrant system is the Centre Street Bridge, with Centre Street and Centre Avenue forming the boundaries (although the points vary; most of the south end has Macleod Trail as a boundary, except near Chinook Centre where Macleod dives westward slightly; in the west end, the Bow River forms the boundary for the most part). An interesting quirk is that the numbers actually start at 100 for addresses on Avenues and 0 for addresses on Streets. For example, [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=550+8+Ave+SW,+Calgary,+AB&hl=en 550 8th Avenue SW] is between 4th and 5th Street SW and [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=550+8+St+SW,+Calgary,+AB&hl=en 550 8th Street SW] is between 5th and 6th Avenue SW. Numbered roads exist all the way into the suburban and rural areas outside the city, although those are mixed in with named streets and only used when they roughly fall in place on the grid.

Industry and employment

Despite much diversification in recent years, Calgary's economy is still dominated by the oil and gas industry. The larger companies include EnCana, Petro-Canada, Shell Canada, Imperial Oil, Suncor Energy, and TransCanada. In 1996, Canadian Pacific Railway moved its head office to Calgary, and is now among the city's top employers. Furthermore, in 2005, Imperial Oil moved its headquarters from Toronto to Calgary, relocating roughly 400 families in the process. Other large employers include the Forzani Group, ATCO, Fluor Canada, Shaw Cable and Westjet Office space totals about 50 million square feet in the city (32 million are within the downtown commercial core).

Military presence

Despite the 1995 closing of Canadian Forces Base Calgary, the city is still home to a significant military presence, including HMCS Tecumseh (Naval Reserve), the HMCS Tecumseh Band, and the 746th Communications Squadron (Communications Reserve). Several units of the Army Reserve are located in Calgary, including:
- Headquarters, 41 Canadian Brigade Group
- The King's Own Calgary Regiment (RCAC)
- Regimental Band of The King's Own Calgary Regiment (RCAC)
- 33 Field Engineer Squadron (Canadian Military Engineers)
- The Calgary Highlanders
- [http://www.calgaryhighlanderpipeband.ca Regimental Pipes and Drums of The Calgary Highlanders]
- 14 (Calgary) Service Battalion
- Calgary Detachment, 15 Field Ambulance (Canadian Forces Medical Service)
- Militia Training Detachment Calgary Additionally, there are several squadrons of the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, Navy League Cadets, Royal Canadian Army Cadets, and Royal Canadian Air Cadets.

Local media

Daily newspapers

- Calgary Herald - The largest newspaper in Calgary. Generally conservative, covers more world news than the Calgary Sun. Owned by CanWest Global Communications.
- Calgary Sun - A division of SUNMEDIA, a Quebecor company. Tabloid format, focus on local news, sports and entertainment.
- FFWD - Weekly alternative arts paper.
- Dose - Free daily paper published by CanWest Global Communications.

Radio stations

AM

- 580 - CKUA - public broadcasting (province-wide frequency)
- 660 - CFFR - oldies
- 770 - CHQR - talk radio
- 910 - CKDQ - country music, broadcasting from Drumheller
- 960 - CFAC - "The Fan" sports
- 1010 - CBR - CBC Radio One
- 1060 - CKMX - classic country music
- 1140 - CHRB - religious programming, broadcasting from High River

FM

- 88.1 - C??? - Aboriginal Voices
- 88.9 - CJSI - Shine FM Christian music
- 89.7 - CBCX - Espace Musique
- 90.9 - CJSW - University of Calgary
- 91.1 - CKDQ - Q91 country, broadcasting from Drumheller
- 92.1 - CJAY - CJAY92 rock, alternative, and classic rock
- 93.7 - CKUA - public broadcasting
- 94.7 - CHKF - Asian Canadian community
- 95.9 - CHFM - Lite 96 adult contemporary
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Alberta

Alberta is one of Canada's provinces. It celebrated 100 years as a province in 2005 on September 1st. As part of the Centennial celebration, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited the province from May 23 to May 25, 2005. Alberta's capital is the city of Edmonton. Its most populous city and metropolitan area, Calgary, is Alberta's economic hub and is located in the southern region of the province. Other major cities and towns include Banff, Camrose, Wetaskiwin, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Jasper, Lethbridge, Lloydminster, Medicine Hat, and Red Deer. See also: List of communities in Alberta. The Premier of the province is Ralph Klein. See also List of Alberta Premiers. Alberta is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848-1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. Princess Louise was also the wife of Sir John Campbell, who was the Governor General of Canada from 1878-1883. Lake Louise was also named in honour of Princess Louise.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Alberta Alberta is in western Canada, with an area of 661,190 km² (255,287 mi²). Southwards, at 49° north, it borders the US state of Montana. Eastwards at 110° west it borders the province of Saskatchewan. At 60° north it is separated from the Northwest Territories. To the west, its border with British Columbia follows the line of peaks of the Rocky Mountains range along the Continental Divide, which runs northwesterly, until it reaches 120° west, at which point the border follows this meridian to 60° north. With the exception of the southern section, the province is well watered. Alberta contains dozens of rivers and lakes ideal for swimming, water skiing, fishing and a full range of other water sports. There are a multitude of fresh-water lakes each less than 260 km² situated in Alberta, and three of more considerable size. These are Lake Athabasca, 7898 km², part of which is in the province of Saskatchewan, Lake Claire, 1436 km², and Lesser Slave Lake, 1168 km². As Alberta extends for 1200 km from north to south, and about 600 km wide at its greatest east-west extent, it is natural that the climate should vary considerably between parallels of 49° and 60° north and also between 110° and 120° west. It is also further influenced by the different altitudes above sea level of the different parts of the province. Northern Alberta has fewer frost-free days than southern Alberta, which is almost desert-like in its summer heat and lack of rain. Western Alberta is protected by the mountains, and enjoys the warmth brought by winter chinook winds, while eastern Alberta is flat, dry prairie, where temperatures can range from very cold (−35°C (−31°F) in the winter) to very hot (+35°C (+95°F) in the summer). Central and southern Alberta are the most likely places in Canada to experience tornadoes because of the summer heat, and violent summer thunderstorms are common in the eastern half of the province. Alberta's capital city, Edmonton, is located almost exactly in the centre of the province, and most of Alberta's oil is refined here. Southern Alberta, where Calgary is located, is known for its ranching, and cattle run free through the whole winter. Much of the unforested part of Alberta is given over either to grain or to dairy farming, with ranching predominantly a southern Alberta industry. In southeastern Alberta, where the Red Deer River traverses the flat prairie and farmland, are the Alberta badlands with deep gorges and striking landforms. Dinosaur Provincial Park, near Drumheller, Alberta, showcases the badlands terrain, desert flora, and remnants from Alberta's past when dinosaurs roamed the then lush landscape. Overall, Alberta has cool winters, with a daytime average of about −10°C (14°F) in the south to −24°C (−12°F) in the north. In the summer the temperature averages about 13°C (55°F) in the Rocky Mountains and 18°C (64°F) in the dry prairie to the south-east. Alberta is one of only two Canadian provinces or territories to have no maritime coast (the other being the neighbouring province of Saskatchewan.)

Largest municipalities and metro areas by population

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Municipality	2005	2001	1996
Census Metropolitan Areas:
Calgary CMA	1,037,100 -	951,395	821,628
Edmonton CMA	1,014,000 -	937,845	862,597
Cities (10 Largest):
Calgary	956,078	878,866	768,082
Edmonton	712,391	666,104	616,306
Red Deer	79,082	67,707	60,080
Lethbridge	77,202	67,374	63,053
St. Albert	56,318	53,081	46,888
Medicine Hat	56,048	51,249	46,783
Grande Prairie	44,631	36,983	31,353
Airdrie	27,069	20,382	15,946
Spruce Grove	18,405	15,983	14,271
Camrose	15,850	14,854	13,728
Districts (3 Largest):
Strathcona County	80,232	71,986	64,176
Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo	73,176	41,466	35,213
Municipality of Rocky View	30,688 -	28,441	23,326

Sources: All 2005 figures are based on official 2005 census data from municipalities. Where no 2005 data is available, (
- ) indicates the most recent official data from either the municipality or the 2001 Statistics Canada federal census. All data for 2001 and 1996 is from the respective federal census. CMA data is from the most recent Statistics Canada estimate. (
- ) indicates 2004 CMA estimates according to [http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/demo05a.htm Statistics Canada - Population of Census Metropolitan Areas] (
- ) indicates 2005 estimate according to the City of Edmonton [http://www.edmonton.ca/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_690414_0_0_18/demographic].

Industry

Main article: Industry in Alberta Alberta is the largest producer of conventional crude oil, synthetic crude, natural gas and gas products in the country. Two of the largest producers of petrochemicals in North America are located in central and north central Alberta. In both Red Deer and Edmonton, world class polyethylene and vinyl manufacturers produce products shipped all over the world, and Edmonton's oil refineries provide the raw materials for a large petrochemical industry to the east of Edmonton. The Athabasca Oil Sands (previously known as the Athabasca Tar Sands) have estimated oil reserves in excess of that of the rest of the world, estimated to be 1.6 trillion barrels (254 km³). With the advancement of extraction methods, bitumen and economical synthetic crude are produced at costs nearing that of conventional crude. This technology is Alberta grown and developed. Many companies employ both conventional strip mining and non-conventional methods to extract the bitumen from the Athabasca deposit. With current technology, only 315 billion barrels (50 km³) are recoverable. Fort McMurray, one of Canada's youngest and liveliest cities, has grown up entirely because of the large multinational corporations which have taken on the task of oil production. Another factor determining the viability of oil extraction from the Tar Sands is the price of oil. In 2005, record oil prices have made it more than profitable to extract this oil, which in the past would give little profit or even a loss. While Edmonton is considered the pipeline junction, manufacturing, chemical processing, research and refining centre of the province, Calgary is known for its senior and junior oil company head offices (unlike Edmonton, Calgary is not close to any large sources of oil). With concerted effort and support from the provincial government, several high-tech industries have found their birth in Alberta, notably the invention and perfection of liquid crystal display systems. With a growing economy, Alberta has several financial institutions dealing with several civil and private funds.

Agriculture and forestry

liquid crystal display liquid crystal display Agriculture has a significant position in the province's economy. Over 5 million cattle are residents of the province at one time or another, and Alberta beef has a healthy worldwide market. Nearly one half of all Canadian beef is produced in Alberta. Alberta is one of the prime producers of plains buffalo (bison) for the consumer market. Sheep for wool and mutton are also raised. raised Wheat and canola are primary farm crops, with Alberta leading the provinces in spring wheat production, with other grains also prominent. Much of the farming is dryland farming, often with fallow seasons interspersed with cultivation. Continuous cropping (in which there is no fallow season) is gradually becoming a more common mode of production because of increased profits and a reduction of soil erosion. Across the province, the once common grain elevator is slowly being lost as rail lines are decreased and farmers now truck the grain to central points. Alberta is the leading beekeeping province of Canada, with some beekeepers wintering hives indoors in specially designed barns in southern Alberta, then migrating north during the summer into the Peace River valley where the season is short but the working days are long for honeybees to produce honey from clover and fireweed. Hybrid canola also requires bee pollination, and some beekeepers service this need. The vast northern forest reserves of softwood allow Alberta to produce large quantities of lumber and plywood, and several northern Alberta plants supply North America and the Pacific Rim nations with bleached wood pulp and newsprint.

Government

See also: Politics of Alberta The government of Alberta is a parliamentary democracy. Its unicameral legislature -- the Legislative Assembly -- consists of 83 members. As Canada's head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is the Government of Alberta's chief executive. Her duties in Alberta are carried out by Lieutenant Governor, Norman Kwong. The government is headed by the Premier, Ralph Klein. The city of Edmonton is Alberta's government capital. The province's revenue comes mainly from the taxation of oil, natural gas, beef, softwood lumber, and wheat, but also includes grants from the federal government primarily for infrastructure projects. Albertans are the lowest-taxed people in Canada, and Alberta is the only province in Canada without a provincial sales tax (though residents are still subject to the federal sales tax, the GST). Alberta's municipalities have their own governments which (usually) work in co-operation with the provincial government. Alberta's politics are much more conservative than those of other Canadian provinces. Alberta has traditionally had three political parties, the Progressive Conservatives ("Conservatives" or "Tories"), the centrist Liberals, and the social democratic New Democrats. A fourth party, the strongly conservative Social Credit Party, was a power in Alberta for many decades, but fell from the political map after the Progressive Conservatives came to power in the early 1970s. Since that time, no other political party has governed Alberta. As is the case with many western Canadian provinces, Alberta has had occasional bouts of separatist sentiment. Even during the 1980s, when these feelings were at their strongest, there has never been enough interest in secession to initiate any major movements or referenda. There are a number of groups wishing to promote the independence of Alberta in some form currently active in the province. See also: Alberta separatism. In the 2004 provincial election, held in November, the Alberta Alliance Party, running to the right of the Conservatives, won one seat. See also: List of Alberta Premiers, List of Alberta general elections

Education

As with any Canadian province, the Alberta government is the highest authority in education, creating and regulating the school boards, public colleges, universities, and other education isntitutions.

K-12

The vast majority of Alberta's schools are run by publicly funded school boards (each with its own district of authority). The largest are English language Public school boards. Alberta also has English Separate Catholic boards throughout the province, which serve a substantial minority of students. There is one protestant school board in part of the province. Where numbers warrant, there are francophone school boards (Public and Separate Catholic). All five of these types of boards are fully publicly funded (without tuition) by local property taxes and provincial grants given on an equal per student basis by the province (with some adjustments). The different types of school boards are a necessity under the Canadian constitution, which guarantees the francophones and Catholic communities both the right to their own schools, and the right to administer them. Some other Canadian provinces have reformed their school systems on non-religious lines, by seeking a constitutional amendment, but Alberta has not. Often the decision to go to one system or another is not based on religion, but a parent's belief of which system provides a better education. Starting in 1994, the province has allowed some chartered schools to operate, independently of any district school board, reporting directly to the province. Homeschooling is officially recognized and partially funded from within the Alberta school system. Originally in Alberta, school boards had the power to levy property taxes within their respective districts. However, this meant districts with a low tax base were underfunded, so the province moved to a system that pools the education property tax, and distributes it based on student population and need.

Post-secondary

The largest two universities in Alberta are the University of Calgary and Edmonton's University of Alberta. There is also Athabasca University, which focuses on distance learning, and the University of Lethbridge. There are 15 colleges that receive direct public funding, along with two technical institutes[http://www.advancededucation.gov.ab.ca/college/postsecsystem/postsecinst/postsecinst.asp]. Students may also receive government loans and grants while attending selected private institutions.

Transportation

Alberta has over 180,000 km of highways and roads, of which nearly 50,000 km are paved. The main north-south corridor is Highway 2, which begins south of Cardston at the Carway border crossing. Highway 4, which effectively extends U.S. Interstate Highway 15 into Alberta and is the busiest U.S. gateway to the province, begins at the Coutts border crossing and ends at Lethbridge. Highway 3 joins Lethbridge to Fort Macleod and links Highway 4 to Highway 2. Highway 2 travels northward through Fort Macleod, Calgary, Red Deer, and Edmonton before dividing into two highways. One continues northwest as Highway 43 into Grande Prairie and the Peace River country; the other (Highway 63) travels northeast to Fort McMurray, the location of the Athabasca Oil Sands. Highway 2 is supplimented by two more highways that run parallel to it: highway 22, west of highway 2, known as 'the cowboy trail', and highway 21, east of highway 2. Alberta has two main east-west corridors. The southern corridor, part of the Trans-Canada Highway system, enters the province near Medicine Hat, runs westward through Calgary, and leaves Alberta through Banff National Park. The northern corridor, also part of the Trans-Canada network but known alternatively as the Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16), runs west from Lloydminster in eastern Alberta, through Edmonton and Jasper National Park into British Columbia. On a sunny spring or fall day, one of the most scenic drives in the world is along the Icefields Parkway, which runs some 300 km between Jasper and Banff, with mountain ranges and glaciers on either side of its entire length. Urban stretches of Alberta's major highways and freeways are often called trails. For example, Highway 2 is Deerfoot Trail as it passes through Calgary, Calgary Trail as it leaves Edmonton southbound, and St. Albert Trail as it leaves Edmonton northbound toward the city of St. Albert. Visitors from outside Alberta often find this disconcerting, accustomed as they are to the notion that a trail is an unpaved route primarily for pedestrians. Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, and Lethbridge have substantial mass transit systems. Edmonton and Calgary also operate light rail vehicles. Alberta is well-connected by air, with international airports at both Edmonton and Calgary. Calgary's airport is the larger of the two, and is also the third busiest in Canada. It is a hub airport for a significant proportion of the connecting trans-border and international flights into and out of Alberta. There are over 9000 km of operating mainline railway, and many tourists see Alberta aboard Via Rail or Rocky Mountain Railtours.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Alberta Alberta is well known for its warm and outgoing friendliness and frontier spirit. Summer brings many festivals to the province. Edmonton's Fringe Festival is the world's second largest after Edinburgh's. Alberta also hosts some of Canada's largest folk festivals, multicultural festivals, and heritage days (to name a few). Calgary is also home to Carifest, the second largest Caribbean festival in the nation (after Caribana in Toronto). These events highlight the province's cultural diversity and love of entertainment. Most of the major cities have several performing theatre companies who entertain in venues as diverse as the Arts Barns and the Francis Winspear Centre. Alberta also has a large ethnic population. Both the Chinese and East Indian communities are significant. According to Statistics Canada, Alberta is home to the second highest proportion (two percent) of Francophones in western Canada (after Manitoba). Many of Alberta's French-speaking residents live in the central and northwestern regions of the province. As reported in the 2001 census, the Chinese represented nearly four percent of Alberta's population and East Indians represented better than two percent. Both Edmonton and Calgary have Chinatowns and Calgary's is Canada's third largest. Aboriginal Albertans make up approximately three percent of the population. The major contributors to Alberta's ethnic diversity have been the European nations. Forty-four percent of Albertans are of British and Irish descent, and there are also large numbers of Germans, Ukrainians, and Scandinavians. Both cities heavily support first-class Canadian Football League and National Hockey League teams. Soccer, rugby union and lacrosse are also played professionally in Alberta. Tourism is also important to Albertans. A million visitors come to Alberta each year just for Calgary's world-famous Stampede and for Edmonton's Klondike Days. Edmonton was the gateway to the only all-Canadian route to the Yukon gold fields, and the only route which did not require gold-seekers to travel the exhausting and dangerous Chilkoot Pass. Visitors throng to Calgary for ten days every July for a taste of "Stampede Fever". As a celebration of Canada's own Wild West and the cattle ranching industry, the Stampede welcomes around 1.2 million people each year. Only an hour's drive from the Rocky Mountains, Calgary also makes a visit to tourist attractions like Banff National Park something which can easily be done in a day. Calgary and Banff each host nearly 5 million tourists yearly. Alberta is an important destination for tourists who love to ski and hike; Alberta boasts several world-class ski resorts. Hunters and fishermen from around the world are able to take home impressive trophies and tall tales from their experiences in Alberta's wilderness.

Demographics

Alberta has enjoyed a relatively high rate of growth in recent years, due in large part to its burgeoning economy. Between 2003 and 2004, the province saw high birthrates (on par with some larger provinces such as British Columbia), relatively high immigration, and a high rate of interprovincial migration when compared to other provinces [http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/demo33c.htm]. As of 2004, the population of the province was 3,183,312 (Albertans). 81% of this population lives in urban areas and 19% is rural. The Calgary-Edmonton Corridor is the most urbanized area in the province and one of the densest in Canada. Many of Alberta's cities and towns have also experienced very high rates of growth in recent history. Racially and ethnically, the province is predominately Caucasian. 88.8% of the population is either white or Aboriginal (Aboriginals represent a fairly small proportion of this percentage, however). This number is significantly smaller in many of the cities, particularly Calgary and Edmonton which are home to a much larger number of visible minorities. Visible Minorities
- 3.3% Chinese
- 2.3% Asian
- 1.1% Black
- 1.1% Filipino Most Albertans identify as Christians. Nevertheless, many people in the province observe other faiths or do not profess to a religion at all. Alberta has a somewhat higher percentage of evangelical Christians than do other provinces. The Mormons of Alberta reside primarily in the extreme south of the province. There are temples in both Cardston and Edmonton. Many Alberta Mormons descend from Mormon pioneers who emigrated from Utah around the turn of the 20th century. Alberta also has a large Hutterite population, a communal Anabaptist sect similar to the Mennonites, and a significant population of Seventh-day Adventists in and around the Lacombe area due to the presence of the Canadian University College. Many people of the Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim faiths also make Alberta their home; one of the largest Sikh temples in Canada is located just outside of Edmonton. Religion
- Protestant: 38.9%
- Roman Catholic: 26.7%
- Christian Orthodox: 1.5%
- other Christian: 4.1%
- Muslim: 1.5%
- Buddhist: 1.1%

History

Main article: History of Alberta The present province of Alberta as far north as about 53° north latitude was a part of Rupert's Land from the time of the incorporation of the Hudson's Bay Company (1670). After the arrival in the North-West of the French around 1731 they settled the prairies of the west, establishing communities such as Lac La Biche and Bonnyville. Fort La Jonquière was established near what is now Calgary in (1752). The North-West Company of Montreal occupied the northern part of Alberta territory before the Hudson's Bay Company arrived from Hudson Bay to take possession of it. The first explorer of the Athabasca region was Peter Pond, who, on behalf of the North-West Company of Montreal, built Fort Athabasca on Lac La Biche in 1778. Roderick Mackenzie built Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca ten years later in 1788. His cousin, Sir Alexander Mackenzie followed the North Saskatchewan River to its northernmost point near Edmonton, then setting northward on foot, trekked to the Athabasca River, which he followed to Lake Athabasca. It was there he discovered the mighty outflow river which bears his name -- the Mackenzie River -- which he followed to its outlet in the Arctic Ocean. Returning to Lake Athabasca, he followed the Peace River upstream, eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean, and so being the first white man to cross the North American continent north of Mexico. The district of Alberta was created as part of the North-West Territories in 1882. As settlement increased, local representatives to the North-West Legislative Assembly were added. After a long campaign for autonomy, in 1905 the district of Alberta was enlarged and given provincial status. Population of Alberta since 1901

Fauna and flora

Fauna

The three climatic regions (alpine, forest, and prairie) of Alberta are home to many different species of animals. The south and central prairie was the land of the bison, its grasses providing a great pasture and breeding ground for millions of buffalo. They were virtually destroyed by early white settlers, partly for sport, partly for the warm buffalo fur, which was used to make coats, and partly as one means of destroying the culture of the native people. The white settlers felt that the best way to "civilize" the natives was to make sure that they thought and behaved like the white men, and by removing the buffalo, a critical element of native culture, thought they could do so. Since then, buffalo have made a strong comeback, and thrive on farms and in parks all over Alberta, and the native culture is also growing stronger again. Alberta is home to many large carnivores. Among them are the grizzly and black bears, which are found in the mountains and wooded regions. Smaller carnivores of the dog and cat families include coyotes, wolves, fox, lynx, bobcat and mountain lion (cougar). Herbivorous, or plant-eating animals, are found throughout the province. Moose and deer (both mule and white-tail varieties) are found in the wooded regions, and pronghorn antelope can be found in the prairies of southern Alberta. Bighorn sheep and mountain goats live in the Rocky Mountains. Rabbits, porcupines, skunks, squirrels, and many species of rodents and reptiles live in every corner of the province. Alberta is fortunate in that it is home to only one variety of venomous snake, the prairie rattlesnake. Central and northern Alberta and the region farther north is the nesting-ground of the migratory birds. Vast numbers of ducks, geese, swans, and pelicans arrive in Alberta every spring and nest on or near one of the hundreds of small lakes that dot northern Alberta. Eagles, hawks, owls, and crows are plentiful, and a huge variety of smaller seed and insect-eating birds can be found. Alberta, like other temperate regions, is home to mosquitoes, flies, wasps, and bees. Rivers and lakes are well stocked with pike, walleye, white fish, rainbow, speckled, and brown trout, and even sturgeon. Turtles are found in some water bodies in the southern part of the province. Frogs and salamanders are a few of the amphibians that make their homes in Alberta.

Flora

In central and northern Alberta the arrival of spring brings the prairie anemone, the avens, crocuses, and other early flowers. The advancing summer introduces many flowers of the sunflower family, until in August the plains are one blaze of yellow and purple. The southern part of Alberta is covered by a short grass, very nutritive, but dries up as summer lengthens, to be replaced by hardy perennials such as the buffalo bean, fleabane, and sage. Both yellow and purple clover fill the roadways and the ditches with their beauty and aromatic scents. The trees in the parkland region of the province grow in clumps and belts on the hillsides. These are largely deciduous, typically birch, poplar, and tamarack. Many species of willow and other shrubs grow in virtually any terrain. On the north side of the North Saskatchewan River evergreen forests prevail for hundreds of thousands of square kilometres. Aspen poplar, balsam poplar (or cottonwood), and paper birch are the primary large deciduous species. Conifers include Jack pine, Rocky Mountain pine, Lodgepole pine, both white and black spruce, and the deciduous conifer tamarack.

External links

- [http://www.gov.ab.ca/ Government of Alberta website]
- [http://www.travelalberta.com/ Travel Alberta]
- [http://www.albertasource.ca/ Alberta Encyclopedia]
- [http://www.albertafirst.com/ Alberta Community Profiles] (A site offering info on tax, census info, and economic development of large and small Albertan Communities)
Category:Alberta zh-min-nan:Alberta ko:앨버타 주 ja:アルバータ州 simple:Alberta

Calgary Flames

The Calgary Flames are a National Hockey League (NHL) team based in Calgary, Alberta. :Founded: 1972 :Formerly Known As: Atlanta Flames 1972-1980 :Arena: Pengrowth Saddledome ::Former Home Arenas: The Omni (as the Atlanta Flames, 1972-1980); Stampede Corral (1980-1982) :Uniform colours: Home: Red with black, white and yellow trim; Road: White with red, yellow and black trim; Alternate: Black with red, yellow and white trim. :Logo design: Home: A black "C" with white flames; Road: A red "C" with yellow flames; Alternate: A "horse head" with flaming nostrils; Assistant captains' "A" on jersey is a miniature Atlanta Flames logo. :Mascot: Harvey the Hound :Stanley Cups won: 1989 :Clarence S. Campbell Bowls won: 1986, 1989, 2004 :Presidents Trophies won: 1988, 1989 :Division Championships won: 1988, 1989, 1990 (Smythe), 1994,1995 (Pacific) :Affiliated teams: Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights (AHL), Las Vegas Wranglers (ECHL) :Main rivalry: Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks

Franchise history

It was announced by the National Hockey League that a new NHL team was to debut in Atlanta, Georgia for the 1972-73 NHL season as the Atlanta Flames. Many observers thought it ludicrous to have a team in the southern United States especially with the dilution of the talent pool due to the newly formed rival World Hockey Association (WHA). The team met with respectable success, though. The Flames had a good core of stars who helped them make the playoffs in six of their first eight seasons, a mark bettered only by the Quebec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, and New York Rangers. Despite the on-ice success, the Atlanta ownership was never on sound financial footing, and eager for hockey in their home province, Calgary interests offered $16 million US for the team, the highest price to date ever paid for a NHL franchise. Tom Cousins, the majority Atlanta owner, promptly sold out. In their first year in Alberta, led by Kent Nilsson's 49 goals, the Flames won their first two playoff series (a sweep over the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round and a seven-game victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round) before bowing out to the Minnesota North Stars in the semi-finals. Minnesota North Stars This early success was not soon repeated. After a losing record in 1981-82, general manager Cliff Fletcher jettisoned several former Atlanta players and rebuilt the team's roster. His efforts to match the gifted Edmonton Oilers, though not wholly successful, led him to draw talent from areas previously neglected by the NHL. The Flames were one of the first teams to sign large numbers of U.S. college players, including Joel Otto, Gary Suter, and Colin Patterson. Fletcher also stepped up the search for European hockey talent, acquiring Hakan Loob and other key players. He was among the first to draft players from the Soviet Union, including CSKA Moscow star Sergei Makarov, but Soviet players were not released to Western teams until 1989. Still, the team was sufficiently improved to challenge the Oilers, who required the maximum seven games to defeat the Flames en route to their 1984 championship. By 1986 the Flames had landed Doug Risebrough, Lanny McDonald, Dan Quinn, Al MacInnis, and goalie Mike Vernon. They beat the Vancouver Canucks in the first round, beat the Edmonton Oilers in the second round on Steve Smith's fluke goal into his own net in the seventh game, and also won in seven games over the St. Louis Blues. They were, however, no match for the Montreal Canadiens in the finals, losing in five games. On 7 March, 1988, the Flames traded away young future super-star Brett Hull along with Steve Bozek to the St. Louis Blues for Rob Ramage and Rick Wamsley. In hind-sight, it looks like a bad trade as Brett Hull came out of his shell with St. Louis and became one of the best pure goal scorers in NHL history. But at that time, the acquisition of Wamsley and Ramage helped them win their first Stanley Cup in 1989 against the Canadiens. 1989After the Cup win, veteran captain Lanny McDonald retired to end his career with a Stanley Cup celebration. This victory was especially significant in that it marked the second time that an opposing team won the Stanley Cup on Montreal Forum ice (the first being the New York Rangers in 1928 ,against the Montreal Maroons). In 1989, thanks in part to Fletcher's diplomatic efforts, the U.S.S.R. finally gave permission for a select group of Soviet hockey players to sign with NHL teams. The first of these players was Sergei Priakin, a forward who joined the Flames in time for their 1989 playoff run. Priakin never became an NHL regular, but his arrival blazed a trail for the large numbers of Russian players who entered the NHL beginning in 1989-90. Sergei Makarov joined the Flames that season and, though already in his thirties, won the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year. It was Fletcher's last great contribution to NHL hockey and to the Flames. In 1991, he left the team to become general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was succeeded by Doug Risebrough, who soon traded Doug Gilmour and four other Flames to his former boss for five inferior Toronto players. With that trade, the Flames entered a long, slow decline. After their 1989 championship, it was 15 years before they won another playoff series, and after 1996 they no longer even qualified for post-season play. After seven consecutive seasons out of the playoffs, the Flames returned to glory in 2004, surprising the hockey world by defeating all three Western Conference division champions to become the first Canadian team in a decade to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Flames' first victim was the Northwest Division winners, the Vancouver Canucks, in seven games. Then, they shocked the Central Division champions and President's Trophy winners for the best regular-season record, the Detroit Red Wings, in six games. After eliminating the Pacific Division champs, the San Jose Sharks, in six games in the Western Conference finals, the Flames earned a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals to face the Tampa Bay Lightning. By this time, practically all of Canada had thrown immense support behind the Cinderella-story Flames, who had now become a hockey-mad country's first chance to win the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. The Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. flew the Flames flag beside the Maple Leaf, as did San Jose's city hall (after the Sharks lost the series, the Mayor of San Jose declared his city hall the world headquarters of Flames fans.) Calgary especially exploded in a non-stop fit of partying unprecedented in the normally conservative city (see "The Red Mile" below). The final series went to seven games, with the Flames suffering a controversial non-goal in game six at home. After winning game 6 in double overtime, Tampa Bay Lightning went on to hold the Flames to only 7 shots in the first two periods in game 7. The Flames went on to a late surge, but it was too little too late as they lost game 7 on June 7, 2004 by a score of 2-1.

The Red Mile

During the Flames' magical run to the finals of 2004, the city of Calgary became a non-stop party as the 1,000,000+ residents jumped on the Flames bandwagon. The 17th Ave SW entertainment district, which runs west from the Saddledome, flooded with as many as 100,000 red-clad fans after games. Similar celebrations had occurred during Flames celebrations during the successful 1980s and primarily took place along 11th Ave SW, then known as "Electric Avenue". During these celebrations, 11th Ave became known as "The Red Mile" and the "Red Mile" moniker was transposed to 17th Ave in 2004. The "Red Mile" also gained notoriety quickly in 2004 as women would frequently celebrate a win by baring their breasts for the crowd atop shoulders or cars. The Red Mile party became world-famous and received coverage in newspapers around the world. While other sports-celebrating crowds frequently turn violent, such as soccer riots, the Red Mile was notable in that incidents were minimal, the crowds were positive, and only one arrest was made. At the start of the 2005-2006 season, merchants and residents along 17th Avenue indicated their weariness of the Red Mile when celebrants again took to the streets during and after regular season games. While the celebrations during the Stanley Cup playoffs were in many cases genuine hockey fever, the revival in Calgary after the return of hockey from the year long lockout seemed less about hockey than an excuse for drunken antics. What had been a once in a lifetime celebration during the playoffs in 2004 threatened to be a season-long nuisance for 2005-2006 and the Calgary Police Service was encouraged to crack down on disturbances along the strip.

Franchise Statistics

Career Leaders (1972-current)

- Games: Al MacInnis, 803
- Goals: Theoren Fleury, 364
- Assists: MacInnis, 609
- Points: Fleury, 830
- Penalty Minutes: Tim Hunter, 2405
- Goaltender Games: Dan Bouchard, 398
- Goaltender Wins: Bouchard, 168
- Shutouts: Bouchard, 20

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes :¹ Season was shortened due to the 1994-95 NHL lockout. :² Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

Players

Current Squad

As of December 2 2005 [http://tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=8949&hubname=] :¹ Naturalized Canadian Citizen.

Hall of Famers

- Lanny McDonald (1992)
- Joe Mullen (2000)

Team captains

Note: This list does not include Atlanta Flames captains
- Jarome Iginla 2003- present
- Craig Conroy 2002-03
- Dave Lowry, Bob Boughner and Craig Conroy 2001-02
- Steve Smith and Dave Lowry 2000-01
- Steve Smith 1999-2000
- Todd Simpson 1997-99
- Theoren Fleury 1995-97
- Joe Nieuwendyk 1991-95
- Rotating captaincy 1990-91
- Brad McCrimmon 1989-90
- Lanny McDonald and Jim Peplinski 1987-89 (co-capts)
- Lanny McDonald, Doug Risebrough and Jim Peplinski 1984-87 (tri-capts)
- Lanny McDonald and Doug Risebrough 1983-84 (co-capts)
- Phil Russell 1981-83
- Brad Marsh 1980-81

Not to be forgotten

Note: Does not include Atlanta seasons
- Phil Housley
- Trevor Kidd
- Steve Konroyd
- Rejean Lemelin
- Tom Lysiak
- Jamie Macoun
- Robert Reichel
- Paul Reinhart
- Gary Roberts
- Mike Vernon
- Brett Hull

Prospects

- Kris Chucko
- Brent Krahn
- Eric Nystrom
- Tim Ramholt
- Dustin Boyd

Retired Numbers

- 9 Lanny McDonald, F, 1981-89
- 99 Wayne Gretzky (retired league-wide by the NHL)

External links

- [http://www.calgaryflames.com/ Calgary Flames official web site] Category:Calgary Flames ja:カルガリー・フレームス

Calgary Flames

Franchise history

The Red Mile

Franchise Statistics

Career Leaders (1972-current)

Season-by-season record

Players

Current Squad

As of December 2 2005 [http://tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=8949&hubname=] :¹ Naturalized Canadian Citizen.

Hall of Famers

- Lanny McDonald (1992)
- Joe Mullen (2000)

Team captains

Not to be forgotten

Prospects

- Kris Chucko
- Brent Krahn
- Eric Nystrom
- Tim Ramholt
- Dustin Boyd

Retired Numbers

- 9 Lanny McDonald, F, 1981-89
- 99 Wayne Gretzky (retired league-wide by the NHL)

External links

- [http://www.calgaryflames.com/ Calgary Flames official web site] Category:Calgary Flames ja:カルガリー・フレームス

1980-81 NHL season

The 1980-81 NHL season was the 64th season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-one teams each played 80 games. This was the first season that the Calgary Flames played in Calgary, Alberta. Previously, they were the Atlanta Flames and played in Atlanta, Georgia.

Regular season

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Prince of Wales Conference

Clarence Campbell Conference

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Stanley Cup playoffs

Notes: all dates in 1981 Atlanta, Georgia]

Stanley Cup finals

Stanley Cup scoring leaders

NHL awards

References

- [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Hockey Database]
- [http://nhl.com/] Category:NHL Seasons

Omni Coliseum

The Omni Coliseum, usually called The Omni, was an indoor arena located in Atlanta, Georgia. Completed in 1972, the arena sat 15,278 for ice hockey and 16,378 for basketball. It was part of the Omni Complex, now called CNN Center. Noted for its distinctive roof, often joked about as looking like an eggcrate, it was home to the Atlanta Hawks from 1972-1997 and the Atlanta Flames from 1972-1980. The arena also hosted the 1977 NCAA Final Four, won by Marquette University over North Carolina in what was Warriors' (their nickname at the time) coach Al McGuire's last game, and the volleyball matches for the 1996 Summer Olympics. The Omni was also home to some legendary professional wrestling events, as it was the "home arena" for the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions and its successor, Ted Turner/Time Warner's World Championship Wrestling. The facility was demolished via implosion in July, 1997 to make way for Philips Arena. Category:Indoor arenas in the United States Category:Defunct indoor arenas Category:Atlanta sports Category:World Championship Wrestling Category:Jim Crockett Promotions Category:Indoor ice hockey venues Category:1996 Summer Olympic Venues

Stanley Cup

] The Stanley Cup, originally called the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, is awarded each year by the National Hockey League to the champion of its playoff tournament.

History

The Stanley Cup, originally a decorative bowl purchased from a London silversmith worth 10 guineas ($48.67 USD), was originally donated in 1892 by Lord Stanley, Governor General of Canada, who had become enamoured with ice hockey. It was originally used as the trophy given out to the top amateur hockey team in Canada, decided by the acceptance of a challenge from another team by the Cup holders and trustees. Lord Stanley had made several preliminary regulations regarding the Cup:
- The Cup also acted as the league championship of the league that the champion belonged in.
- The Cup was not the property of any given team at any given time.
- The Cup trustees have the final say on disputes should there be any on who the Cup holder should be.
- Challengers for the Cup must have won their league championship.
- The challenge games (where the Cup could change leagues) were to be decided either in one game affair, a two-game total goals affair, or a best of three series, to the benefit of both teams involved. All matches would take place on the home ice of the champions, although specific dates and times would have to be approved by the trustees.
- Ticket receipts from the challenge games were to be split equally between both teams.
- A league may not challenge for the Cup twice in one season.
- The Cup champions have the responsibility to return the Cup in good condition when required by the trustees.
- The Cup champions could add a silver ring to the Cup to commemorate their Cup victory. The Cup was originally presented in 1893 to the Montreal AAA, the champion of the Amateur Hockey Association, the top hockey league of Canada at the time.

Early years

Amateur Hockey Association The first Stanley Cup playoff game occurred in March 17, 1894, and the first game where the Cup was on the line occurred on March 22 the same year. The year saw four teams out of the five-team AHA tied for the championship with records of 5-3-0. This created problems for the AHA governors and the league trustees as to which team was champion, as there were no tiebreaking system in place. After long negotiation and the withdrawal of Quebec from the championship situation, it was decided that a three-team tournament would take place in Montreal, with the Ottawa team getting a bye to the finals (being the sole "road" team). The first Stanley Cup Final game saw the Montreal AAA successfully defending their title with a 3-1 win. The next year saw the first challenge for the cup, by Queen's University. However, this did not come without controversy. On March 8, 1895, the Montreal Victorias won the league title, and thus the Stanley Cup, but the challenge match, which was scheduled earlier for the next day, was to be between the previous year's champion and the university squad. Thus, it was decided by the trustees that the Montreal AAA, if they won the challenge match, would mean that the Victorias would become the Stanley Cup champions. The AAA would eventually win the match 5-1, while their cross-town rivals were crowned the champions. The first successful challenge was made the next year by the Winnipeg Victorias, the champions of the Manitoba Hockey League. On February 14, 1896, the Winnipeg squad defeated the champions 2-0, becoming the first team from outside of the AHA to win the Cup. Their cup reign was brief, though: the Montreal Victorias, upon winning the AHA championship, demanded a rematch for the Cup. In what was said to be the most anticipated hockey game of the time, the Montreal Victorias defeated the Winnipeg Victorias 6-5 on December 30, 1896. The first best-of-three challenge was originally scheduled in 1897 between the AHA champion Montreal Victorias against the Central Canada Hockey Association champion Ottawa Capitals. However, the series was ended after the first game, after the Victorias clearly had the upper hand in a 14-2 victory. It would be until 1899 that the first true best-of-three challenge series was played (although the Winnipeg Victorias forfeited the second game — and the championship — after a controversial referee call), and 1900 that the first best-of-three challenge went the distance. 1899 also saw the Cup being defended by two different teams in the same year, as the Montreal Victorias and new league champions Montreal Shamrocks defended the Cup against the Winnipeg Victorias and Queen's University, respectively. The challenge series of January 1902 saw the first series where the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (formerly the AHA) was not involved. The 1903 challenge series was the first to have a game replayed. On January 31, the clock struck midnight as the second game of the series remained tied 2-2 following 27 minutes of overtime between the Winnipeg Victorias and Montreal AAA. Because of the Sabbath, the game was replayed on February 2, with Winnipeg winning 4-2 to even the series. A month later, the AAA would finish third in the CAHL standings with the top two teams tied in the standings, and thus the Stanley Cup champions was determined from a two-game totals affair between the Montreal Victorias and the Ottawa Silver Seven. The Silver Seven, upon winning the title, were then forced to defend their championship two days later in a challenge series against the Rat Portage Thistles, a series that the Ottawa easily won. On January 30, 1904, a league game between the Silver Seven and the Montreal Victorias started late and both teams agreed to end the game at midnight, with the Silver Seven leading 4-1. The CAHL ordered instead the game to be replayed instead of aborted, and the ensuing debate caused the Silver Seven withdrawing from the CAHL. The CAHL hoped that, now without Ottawa, the Cup would remain with the CAHL and become the property of its Quebec team, while the Cup trustees thought otherwise. For a while, the Silver Seven were not affiliated with any league, but in 1905, they would join the rival Federal Amateur Hockey League. That year saw the Dawson City Nuggets in one of the more legendary Stanley Cup challenge series - partly because of the 4000-mile journey from the Yukon to the nation's Capital, and partly because how the Nuggets, tired from the long trip and arriving in Ottawa only a day before the game, were outplayed in the series. The second game of this series set many Stanley Cup records that were unmatched to this date, when Frank McGee scored 14 goals in a 23-2 rout, the largest margin of victory for any challenge game or Stanley Cup Final game to date. 1906 saw the creation of the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association and, in December of that year, the first professional players to play for (and win) the Stanley Cup. Until 1910, when Cup trustees declared that only players who played in their league's regular season were eligible to play for the Cup, it was commonplace for both champion and challenger in the challenge series to bring in professional ringers to play the challenge games. 1908 saw the first all-professional team, the Toronto Trolley Leaguers, compete for the Stanley Cup. By then, the Allan Cup replaced the Stanley Cup as the trophy for Canada's amateurs, and the Stanley Cup became a symbol of professional hockey supremacy. The 1909 saw the departure of the Montreal AAA and the Montreal Victorias, the two remaining amateur teams, from the ECAHA, and thus the ECAHA dropped the "Amateur" from their name, becoming an all-pro league. The following year saw the Canadian Hockey Association (formerly the ECHA) kicking out the Montreal Wanderers as well as the Ottawa Senators (formerly the Silver Seven) leaving the CHA in mid-season after a challenge series for the newly-formed National Hockey Association. With two strong teams in the NHA, the NHA soon proved to be unquestionably the top league in Canada. Prior to 1912, challenges could take place at any time, given the appropriate rink conditions, and it was common for teams to defend the Cup numerous times in the year. In 1912, Cup trustees declared that the Cup was only to be defended at the end of the champion team's regular season.

The new challenge

In 1914, the Victoria Aristocrats from the Pacific Coast Hockey Association informally challenged the Cup champion Toronto Blueshirts to a series of exhibition series. This would set up an agreement between the NHA and the PCHA a year later where their respective champions would face each other for the Cup, an agreement that, by large, lasted until 1926. The Stanley Cup Final series would alternate between the east and the west each year, while the differing rulesets of the NHA and PCHA would alternate each game. The Vancouver Millionaires would win the first "formal" final, three games to zero in a best-of-five series. 1916 saw the first American team, the Portland Rosebuds, in either league, as well as the first American team in the Stanley Cup Final. The following year saw the first American team (the Seattle Metropolitans) to host (and win) the Cup. 1917 saw the dissolution of the NHA and the formation of the National Hockey League in its place. The first year the Stanley Cup was not awarded was 1919, when the influenza epidemic that ravaged the world that year forcing the cancellation of the series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Seattle Metropolitans, with Montreal's "Bad" Joe Hall dying from the flu. (See below for more about this.) The Stanley Cup finals format remained largely unchanged until 1922, with the creation of the Western Canada Hockey League, where two of the league champions would face each other for the right to face the third champion. In 1924, because of a dispute on whether to send one or both of the western champions east, the PCHL's Vancouver Maroons and the WCHA's Calgary Tigers played in a series on the way east to determine who would get the free pass to the Finals and who would face the Montreal Maroons in the semifinal bout. 1924 saw the merger of the PCHA and the WCHL to form the Western Hockey League. Its champion that season, the Victoria Cougars, was the last team outside the NHL to win the Stanley Cup. Following the WHL's demise after the following season, the Cup's Trustees granted the NHL exclusive control of the Stanley Cup.

The Stanley Cup today

Victoria Cougars The Cup has been awarded every year since 1893, except for 1919 (when it was not awarded because of an outbreak of Spanish influenza) and 2005 (as a result of a labour dispute). The Montreal Canadiens have won the most Stanley Cups, twenty-four. The Toronto Maple Leafs come in second with 13 Cup wins. The highest-ranking American team is the Detroit Red Wings with 10 wins. In December 2004, a group of hockey fans from Edmonton announced their intention to ask the trophy's trustees to make the Stanley Cup a challenge trophy once again due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout. Their plan involved the winner of the Memorial Cup, Allan Cup, University Cup, as well as the top Canadian minor professional teams (AHL and ECHL). The Cup's current Trustees, Scotty Morrison and Brian O'Neill (both former longtime NHL officials), made no formal ruling, but were quoted as saying that the NHL's possession of the Cup is firm. There are actually three Stanley Cups; the original bowl, which is displayed in a vault at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario; a duplicate, made by Montreal silversmith Carl Petersen, which is the one awarded to the champions of the playoffs and is also used for promotions; and a replica that is occasionally on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame when the duplicate is travelling. It currently stands at 880 mm (35.2 inches) tall and weighs almost 14.6 kilograms (36 lb 8 oz). To have one's name inscribed on the Stanley Cup, a player must have played at least 41 games for the team during the regular season (provided the player remains with the team when they win the Cup) or a game of the Finals, although the NHL will also permit other reasons on a case-by-case basis. The player who has served on the most Stanley Cup championship teams is Henri "The Pocket Rocket" Richard, of the Montreal Canadiens, holder of 11 Stanley Cup Rings. Two other Canadiens have 10 rings: Jean Beliveau and Yvan Cournoyer.

Engraving on the Cup

A unique feature of the Stanley Cup is the fact that, with few exceptions in the past, the Stanley Cup is the only trophy in professional sports that has the name of every member of the winning team engraved upon it. This has not always been the case - one of Lord Stanley's original conditions said that each team could, at their own expense, add a ring on the Cup to commemorate their Cup victory (the first year being an exception). Initially, there was only one ring, the one added by the Montreal AAA. Teams would engrave their names on that one ring until it was full in 1902, and with no room to engrave their names (perhaps unwilling to pay for a second band to the Cup), teams left their mark on the bowl itself, starting with the 1903 Montreal AAA and continuing to 1908. In particular, the 1907 Montreal Wanderers recorded their names inside the bowl's interior. In 1908, for reasons unknown, the Wanderers, despite having turned aside four challengers, did not record their names on the Cup. The next year saw the Ottawa Senators add a new band onto the Cup. Despite the new room on the Cup, the 1910 Wanderers and the 1911 Senators, for reasons unknown, did not put their names on the Cup. The new band would eventually be filled by the Vancouver Millionaires, who, although they did not properly win the Cup (which by then was a formal championship game akin to the World Series), they did win the league championship of the previous champion's league. It has also been noted that two other teams were on the Cup due to the "league championship" clause from 1915 to 1918, although they did not officially win the Cup. It was a mystery why no further engraving occurred until 1924, when the Canadiens added a new band on the Cup. However, since then, the engraving of the team and its players have been an annual tradition that has not been broken. In particular, a new band was added each year until the Cup was redesigned in 1948, causing the Cup to balloon in size from 16 inches (400 mm) tall in 1909 to almost three feet (900 mm) in height in 1940. The Cup was redesigned in 1948 as a two-piece cigar-shaped trophy with a removable bowl and collar. This Cup also properly honored those teams that did not engrave their names on the Cup themselves. The modern one-piece Cup design was introduced in 1958 with the replacement of the old barrel with a five-band barrel (each of which could contain 13 winning teams). Although the bands were originally designed to fill up during the Cup's centennial year, the names of the 1965 Montreal Canadiens were engraved over a larger area than allotted (and thus there are 12 teams on that band instead of 13). The bands were finally filled up in 1991 when a decision was made to preserve the top band of the large barrel in the Hockey Hall of Fame and introduce a new blank band at the bottom so that the size of the Stanley Cup would not grow further. In 2004, a second band replacement was needed. It is also to be noted that since 1958, the Cup underwent several minor alterations, namely the retirement of the collar in 1963 and the bowl in 1969 in favor of duplicate ones due to the originals being too brittle.

Traditions and anecdotes

The Stanley Cup trophy itself is colloquially known as "Lord Stanley's Mug" or simply as "The Silver Cup" and tradition dictates that the winning team drink champagne from the top bowl after their victory. Another tradition dictates that immediately following the series-winning victory the captain of the winning team receives the Cup, and then is the first to hoist it overhead; the cup is then passed from player to player and hoisted by each member of the team as they skate round the rink, a tradition known as "skating the cup". This second tradition was slightly breached in 2001 by Joe Sakic and Ray Bourque when the Avalanche won the Cup. The seventh game of the 2001 Finals was the last of Bourque's 22 year NHL career, and he had never been on a Cup-winning team until then. After Avs captain Sakic received the Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, he did not hoist it, but instead handed it to Bourque for him to hoist. Sakic then followed Bourque in hoisting the trophy. Another tradition (or rather superstition) that is prevalent among today's NHL players is that no player should touch the Cup itself until his team has rightfully won the Cup. Adding to this superstition is some players' choice to neither touch nor hoist the conference trophies (Clarence S. Campbell Bowl and Prince of Wales Trophy) when these series have been won; the players feel that the Stanley Cup is the true championship trophy and thus it should be the only trophy that they should be hoisting. However, it should be noted that in 1994, Stephane Matteau, then of the New York Rangers, admitted to tapping the Wales Trophy with his stick's blade before the overtime period in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Matteau subsequently scored the game-winning goal in double overtime. Although many players have unofficially had a private day with the Cup before, a tradition started in 1995 wherein each member of the Cup-winning team is allowed personal possession of the Cup for a day, the Cup also being accompanied by representatives of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, Lord Stanley himself never saw a game where his trophy was on the line, nor did he ever present the Cup bearing his name to the champions, having to return to England in 1893.

The Cup's travels

The Cup has been to many places around the world as one of the most recognizable trophies in professional sports. It has logged more than 400,000 miles (640,000 km) during the past five seasons. Among the places the Cup has travelled:
- the top of two mountains — Fisher Peak, near Cranbrook, British Columbia and Mt. Elbert in Colorado;
- both Red Square and a soccer game at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow;
- a monument near Yekaterinburg, Russia marking the geographic boundary between Europe and Asia;
- an auto glass plant where then-Colorado Avalanche head coach Bob Hartley had been working at while he was coaching minor-league hockey;
- an Aboriginal Métis Nation Settlement;
- a roller-coaster at Universal Studios theme park;
- the "Hollywood" sign in Los Angeles;
- on the back of former Detroit Red Wings' player Darren McCarty's motorcycle for a spin;
- on the back of Tampa Bay Lightning's Brad Richards' jetski, and later on his father's fishing boat on Northumberland Strait (both times, the cup had its own life jacket);
- an igloo in Rankin Inlet;
- the White House as a guest of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton;
- a guest on The Late Show with David Letterman, Meet the Press with Tim Russert, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien;
- took part in the 1999 5K Celebrity Run Walk in Los Angeles for Women's Cancer Research.

Misadventures

The Cup has also been mistreated, misplaced, or otherwise misused on numerous occasions:
- A member of the 1905 Ottawa Silver Seven tried to see if he could drop kick the Cup across the frozen Rideau Canal. The attempt failed, and the Cup was not retrieved until the next day.
- Weeks after members of the 1906 Montreal Wanderers left it at a photographer's studio, officials learned that the photographer's mother was using the Cup to plant geraniums.
- Several members of the 1924 Canadiens, en route to celebrate their win at owner Leo Dandurand's home, left it by a roadside after repairing a flat tire. The Cup was recovered exactly where they left it.
- In 1925, Lynn and Muzz Patrick, the children of Victoria Cougars manager-coach Lester Patrick, discover the Cup in the basement of their home, and scratched their names on the Cup with a nail. In 1940, both Lynn and Muzz would be properly engraved on the Cup as members of the New York Rangers. They would also urinate in the cup with teammates in 1940.
- During the 1940-41 season, the mortgage on the then-current Madison Square Garden was paid off. The arena management publicly burned the mortgage in the Cup. Some fans claimed that this act "desecrated" the Cup, leading to the alleged Curse of 1940, which "caused" the Rangers to wait 54 years for another Cup win.
- New York Islanders' Bryan Trottier admitted not only to sleeping with it (as have, apparently, dozens of players before and since), but also to unscrewing the bowl as a food dish for his dog.
- In 1988, the Edmonton Oilers' Mark Messier took it to a strip club and let fans drink out of it. The Cup wound up slightly bent in various places for reasons unknown. The Cup was repaired at a local automotive shop, and shipped back to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
- Both the 1991 Pittsburgh Penguins and 1993 Montreal Canadiens tested its buoyancy, causing it to wind up at the bottom of Mario Lemieux's and Patrick Roy's respective swimming pools ("The Stanley Cup," as pointed out by then-Canadiens captain Guy Carbonneau, "does not float.")
- Several 1994 Rangers, during their year with the Cup, took it to Belmont Park, a horse racing track just outside the New York City limits. While there, they filled the Cup with oats and let the previous Kentucky Derby winner, Go for Gin, eat out of it.
- Sylvain Lefebvre of the 1996 Colorado Avalanche had his daughter baptized in it.
- In 2003, the Cup was slated to make its first-ever visit to Slovakia with New Jersey Devils' Jiri Bicek, but it never arrived, having inadvertently been left behind in Canada; the Cup made the next flight out of Toronto.
- On August 22, 2004, Walter Neubrand, keeper of the Cup, was en route to Fort St. John, British Columbia to deliver it to Tampa Bay Lightning head scout Jake Goertzen. However, Air Canada officials at Vancouver International Airport removed the 35-pound (16 kilogram) trophy before takeoff because of weight restrictions. The Cup spent the night in the luggage area, 750 miles (1200 kilometres) away. It was flown to Fort St. John the following day.

Errors in engraving

There have also been errors on the engraving on the Cup, some of which also exist on the duplicate Cup found in the Hockey Hall of Fame:
- In 1929, Boston Bruins player-coach Cy Denneny's name was listed on the Cup twice (once as a player and once as a coach), with one being spelled correctly and the other as "Cy Dennenny".
- In 1952, Detroit Red Wings' coach Tommy Ivan's last name was misspelled as "Nivan", and Alex Delvecchio's last name was misspelled as "Belvecchio".
- In 1964, the Toronto Maple Leafs was misspelled as "Toronto Maple Leaes", the Montreal Canadiens was misspelled as "Montreal Canadiene" two years later, and in 1981, the New York Islanders were identified as the "New York Ilanders".
- In 1972,The Boston Bruins was spelled "Bqstqn" Source: NHL.com - The Stanley Cup. http://www2.nhl.com/hockeyu/history/cup/fun_facts.html
- Some other misspells on the Cup that never have been corrected: Jacques Plante's name has been misspelled five times, (incl. "Jocko," "Jack" and "Plant"); Bob Gainey was spelled "Gainy" when he was a player for Montreal in the 1970s; Ted Kennedy was spelled "Kennedyy" in the 1940s Source: NHL.com - The Stanley Cup. http://www2.nhl.com/hockeyu/history/cup/fun_facts.html
- In 1984, Oilers owner Peter Pocklington included his father, Basil Pocklington, on his trophy. However, as Basil had no connection to the team, his name was crossed out with a row of Xs.
- In 1996, Colorado Avalanche forward Adam Deadmarsh's last name was misspelled as "Deadmarch". It was later corrected, the first time that had ever happened. Six years later, Detroit Red Wings' goaltender Manny Legace's last name was misspelled "Lagace", and was also corrected.

Playoff games of note

1919 flu epidemic: Stanley Cup not awarded

During the 1918-19 Stanley Cup playoffs between the Montreal Canadiens and the Seattle Metropolitans, several Canadiens players contracted Spanish influenza, part of a worldwide epidemic. The finals were cancelled after five games. The final game was never played, because Montreal players Joe Hall, Manager Kennedy, Billy Coutu, Jack McDonald and Edouard Lalonde were hospitalized with influenza. Joe Hall died four days after the cancelled game, and the series was abandoned, remaining tied at 2-2-1. At that time, it was the only year for which the Stanley Cup was not awarded until the labour stoppage of 2004-2005.

1927 Stanley Cup brawl

In Game 4 of the 1927 Stanley Cup, Boston Bruins defenseman Billy Coutu started a Stanley Cup brawl, apparently at the request of coach Art Ross. Coutu punched referee Jerry LaFlamme. As a result, Billy Coutu was the first player to be suspended from the NHL for life. On October 8, 1929, the suspension was lifted so that Coutu could play in the minor leagues. He never played in the NHL again.

2004-05 lockout

A labour dispute between the NHL's owners and the NHLPA, the union that represents the players, forced a lockout that began on September 15, 2004, leading to the cancellation of the 2004-05 season and Stanley Cup Playoffs on February 16, 2005. A fan site known as [http://www.freestanley.com Free Stanley] was also launched in hopes of having the Cup be given to the best hockey team in Canada; they called for a return to the "challenge cup format" previously used in competing for the Cup. A group in Ontario known as [http://www.justiceforstanley.ca/ Justice for Stanley] also filed an application with the Ontario Superior Court requesting a ruling on the terms of the Stanley Cup trust; they claimed that the trustees must award the trophy regardless of the NHL lockout. Governor General Adrienne Clarkson stated early in the dispute that the Cup should be awarded to the top women's hockey team since the lockout cancelled the NHL season, but on March 10, 2005, she announced that she would instead create a new trophy for women's hockey. Details of how the competition will be organized and the trophy awarded have not yet been announced. An annoucement on July 13, 2005 detailed the ending to the lockout. The players and owners agreed to a ratification of the Collective Bargaining Agreement in a twenty-four hour period on July 21 and July 22 of that year. On October 5,2005, the NHL began the 2005-2006 season with many revised rules.

External links

- [http://www.legendsofhockey.net A virtual look at the Stanley Cup] Category:NHL trophies and awards Category:Ice hockey in Canada ja:スタンレー・カップ

Tom Cousins

Thomas G. Cousins (born December, 1931) is a prominant real estate developer primarily in Atlanta, Georgia. Important rojects include CNN Center, the Omni Coliseum, 191 Peachtree Tower, the Pinnacle Building(Buckhead) and the first phase of the Georgia World Congress Center. He and competitor John Portman completely remade downtown Atlanta in the 1970s and 1980s. He retains air rights over the CNN Center parking deck in Atlanta's massive railroad gulch. He stepped down as head of Cousins Properties in January 2002. Cousins, Tom Cousins, Tom Cousins, Tom

Carl Sanders

Carl Edward Sanders, Sr. (born May 15, 1925) is an American politician who served as the governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1963 to 1967. Sanders was born in Augusta, Georgia and attended the University of Georgia on a football scholarship. He left to fight in World War II, enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Force in 1943 and became a B-17 bomber pilot. After the war, he returned to complete his bachelor's and law degrees. In 1954, Sanders won a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives. He won a seat in the state Senate in 1956. He served two years as president pro tempore of the Senate. Sanders defeated former governor Marvin Griffin in the 1962 primary. Sanders was the first Governor from an urban area since the 1920s and he was the first modern Governor elected by the popular vote, following the end of the County Unit System. As Governor, Sanders worked to improve education and the environment. Sanders also led the transition away from racial segregation, cooperating with John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson on complying with civil rights laws. Under the term limit law then in effect, Sanders was ineligible to run for re-election. He left office at the peak of his popularity, and turned down several jobs from President Johnson. He returned to run for Governor in 1970 but he lost to Jimmy Carter in the primary. After that loss he left electoral politics to concentrate on the practice of law: as of 2005 he is a senior partner at the law firm of Troutman Sanders.

External links

- [http://www.governorcarlsanders.com/ His website] Sanders, Carl Sanders, Carl Sanders, Carl Sanders, Carl Sanders, Carl

1968

1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar).

Events

January

- January 5 - Alexander Dubček elected as the leader of the Czechoslovakian Communist Party - the "Prague Spring" begins in Czechoslovakia.
- January 15 - An earthquake occurs in Sicily - 231 dead, 262 injured.
- January 21 - US B-52 Stratofortress crashes in Greenland and in the process discharges four nuclear bombs.
- January 23 - North Korea seizes the USS Pueblo, claiming the ship violated its territorial waters while spying.
- January 25 - The Israeli Submarine Dakar sinks in the Mediterranean Sea - 69 dead.
- January 27 - French submarine sinks in the Mediterranean with 52 men.
- January 30 - Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive begins, as Viet Cong forces launch a series of surprise attacks across South Vietnam.
- January 31 - Viet Cong soldiers attack the United States embassy in Saigon.
- January 31 - Nauru's president Hammer DeRoburt declares independence from Australia.

February

- February - Classical Gas by Mason Williams is released.
- February 1 - Vietnam War: A Viet Cong officer is executed by Nguyen Ngoc Loan a South Vietnamese National Police Chief. The execution was videotaped and photographed and helped sway public opinion against the war.
- February 8 - Boeing 747 made its maiden flight.
- February 8 - American civil rights movement: A civil rights protest staged at a white-only bowling alley in Orangeburg, South Carolina is broken-up by highway patrolmen leading to the deaths of three college students.
- February 11 - Israeli-Jordan border clashes.
- February 11 - Madison Square Garden III closes, Madison Square Garden IV opens in New York.
- February 13 - Civil rights disturbances at the University of Wisconsin and University of North Carolina.
- February 16 - In Haleyville, Alabama the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service.
- February 18 - British Standard Time introduced.
- February 24 - Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted - South Vietnam recaptures Hué.
- February 28 - Ex-singer Frankie Lymon is found dead from heroin overdose.

March

- March 7 - Vietnam War: The First Battle of Saigon begins.
- March 12 - Mauritius achieves independence from British Rule.
- March 14 - Nerve gas leaks from US Army Dugway Proving Ground near Skull Valley, Utah.
- March 15 - George Brown, British Foreign Secretary, resigns.
- March 16 - Vietnam War: My Lai massacre American troops kills scores of women and children.
- March 17 - A demonstration in London's Grosvenor Square against US involvement in the Vietnam War leads to violence - 91 police injured, 200 demonstrators arrested.
- March 18 - Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.
- March 27 - Russian space pioneer Yuri Gagarin killed in a crash during a training flight.
- March 31 - American President Lyndon Johnson announces he will not seek re-election.

April

- April - Carl Brashear, the first African American United States Navy diver, becomes the first amputee certified to make diving missions, after a long battle which started with the accident which amputated his leg in 1966.
- April 2 - Bombs placed by Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin explode at midnight in two department stores in Frankfurt-am-Main - 3 dead. Culprits are later arrested and sentenced for arson.
- April 4 - Martin Luther King, Jr assassinated.
- April 7 - Racing driver Jim Clark killed in a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim.
- April 11 - London Bridge sold to Robert McCullough for £1 million. It is later re-erected in Arizona.
- April 11 - Joseph Bachmann tries to assassinate Rudi Dutschke, leader of a left-wing movement.APO in Germany and tries to commit suicide afterwards – failing in both.
- April 11 - German left-wing students blockade the Springer Press HQ in Berlin and many are arrested - one of them Ulrike Meinhof.
- April 20 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau becomes Canada's fifteenth prime minister.
- April 20 - English politician Enoch Powell makes controversial Rivers of Blood Speech.
- April 23-April 30 - Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.
- April 23 - Mobutu releases captured mercenaries in Congo.
- April 23 - Surgeons at the Hopital de la Pitie, Paris, perform Europe's first heart transplant on Clovis Roblain.
- April 29 - Official opening of the musical Hair on Broadway.

May-June

- May - "May of 68" is a symbol of the resistance of that generation. Agitations and strikes in Paris leads many young to believe that a revolution is starting. Student and worker strikes sometimes referred to as the French May nearly bring down the French government.
- May 1 - Professor Giorgios Rosas declares independence of his platform nation Isle of the Roses off Rimini, Italy. Italian troops demolish it two months later.
- May 2 - The Israel Broadcasting Authority commence television broadcasts.
- May 22 - The US nuclear-powered submarine the USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard 400 miles southwest of the Azores.
- June 1 - Helen Keller dies in her sleep in Connecticut.
- June 3 - Valerie Solanas shoots Andy Warhol as he enters his studio, wounding him.
- June 5 - U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California by Sirhan Sirhan. Kennedy died from his injuries the next day.
- June 8 - James Earl Ray is arrested for the murder of Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.
- June 10 - Italy beat Yugoslavia 2-0 in a replay to win the 1968 European Championship. The original final on June 8 ended 1-1.
- June 20 - Austin Currie, Member of Parliament (MP) at Stormont in Northern Ireland, along with others, squats a house in Caledon to protest discrimination in housing allocations.
- June 23 - Soccer stampede in Buenos Aires - 74 dead, 150 injured.
- June 29 - Pope Paul VI announces an encyclical entitled "Humanae Vitae", condemning birth control.

July-September

- July 1 - The CIA's Phoenix Program is officially established.
- July 4 - 59-year-old Yachtsman Alec Rose received a hero's welcome as he sailed into Portsmouth after his 354-day round-the-world trip.
- July 15 - The soap opera One Life to Live premieres on the ABC network.
- July 17 - Saddam Hussein becomes the Vice Chairman of the Revolutionary Council in Iraq after a coup d'état.
- July 23-July 28 - African American militants led by Fred (Ahmed) Evans engage in a fierce gunfight with police in the Glenville Shootout of Cleveland, Ohio
- July 26 - Vietnam War: South Vietnamese opposition leader Truong Dinh Dzu is sentenced to five years hard labor for advocating the formation of a coalition government as a way to move toward an end to the war.
- July 29 - Arenal Volcano erupts in Costa Rica for the first time for centuries.
- August 20 - 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 5,000 tanks invade Czechoslovakia to end the "Prague Spring" of political liberalization.
- August 22-August 30 - Police clash with antiwar protesters in Chicago, Illinois outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
- September 6 - Swaziland becomes independent.
- September 17 - the D'Oliveira Affair - Marylebone Cricket Club tour of South Africa is cancelled when the South Africans refuse to accept the presence of Basil D'Oliveira, a Cape Coloured, in the side.
- September 27 - Marcelo Caetano becomes prime minister of Portugal.
- September 29 - A referendum in Greece gives more power to the military junta.

October

- October 2 - A student demonstration ends in a massacre at La Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco, Mexico City, Mexico ten days before the inauguration of the 1968 Summer Olympics.
- October 5 - A civil rights march in Derry, (of the six counties of northern) Ireland, which included several Stormont and British MPs, is batoned off the streets by the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
- October 8 - Vietnam War: Operation Sealords - United States and South Vietnamese forces launched a new operation in the Mekong Delta.
- October 11 - Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham aboard. Goals for the mission include the first live television broadcast from orbit and testing the lunar module docking maneuver.
- October 12 - The Games of the XIX Olympiad in Mexico City, Mexico is inaugurated. The games concludes October 27th.
- October 14 - Vietnam War: The United States Department of Defense announces that the United States Army and United States Marines will be sending about 24,000 troops back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours.
- October 16 - Tommie Smith and John Carlos, two African-Americans competing in the Olympic 200 meter run, raise their arms in a black power salute after winning the gold and bronze medals for first and third place.
- October 16 - Kingston, Jamaica is rocked by the Rodney Riots, inspired by the banning of Walter Rodney from the country.
- October 19 - Cool dela Peña is born in Paniqui, Tarlac.
- October 20 - Aristotle Onassis and Jacqueline Kennedy marry on the Greek island of Skorpios.
- October 31 - Vietnam War: Citing progress with the Paris peace talks, US President Lyndon B. Johnson.announces to the nation that he has ordered a complete cessation of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam" effective November 1.

November-December

- November 5 - U.S. presidential election, 1968: In one of the closest elections in US history, Republican challenger Richard M. Nixon defeats Vice President Hubert Humphrey and American Independent Party candidate George C. Wallace.
- November 5 - Luis A. Ferre is elected Governor of Puerto Rico.
- December 6 - Donald Crowhurst leaves to sail around the globe in hopes of winning Golden Globe award of Sunday Times.
- November 11 - Vietnam War: Operation Commando Hunt initiated to interdict men and supplies on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, through Laos into South Vietnam. By the end of the operation, 3 million tons of bombs are dropped on Laos, slowing but not seriously disrupting trail operations.
- November 11 - A second republic is declared in the Maldives.
- November 14 - Yale University announced it is going co-educational.
- November 26 - Vietnam War: United States Air Force 1st Lt. and Bell UH-1F helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire, earning a Medal of Honor for his bravery.
- December 9 - Douglas Engelbart publicly demonstrates his pioneering hypertext system, NLS, in San Francisco.
- December 13 - Nichols Hall on the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas burns to the ground precipitating the use of the Wabash Cannonball as a KSU fight song.
- December 24 - US spacecraft Apollo 8 enters orbit around the moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William A. Anders become the first humans to see the far side of the moon and planet earth as a whole.

Undated

- Booker Prize for Fiction is established by Booker plc.
- 1968 is known as the year of the Prague Spring and also the year of the Paris riots.
- The ASCII character code is standardized as ANSI Standard X3.4.
- Nauru adopt its national anthem of the Nauru Bwiema.
- The Hong Kong Flu pandemic begins in Hong Kong.
- The International Baccalaureate Organisation is founded.
- Equatorial Guinea became independent from Spain.
- In Panama Gen. Omar Torrijos with a coupe d`etat became president and leader.

Births

January-March

- January 2 - Cuba Gooding Jr., American actor
- January 6 - John Singleton, American film director and writer
- January 14 - LL Cool J, American rapper and actor
- January 24 - Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast
- January 27 - Mike Patton, American singer
- January 28 - Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer
- January 29 - Edward Burns, American actor
- February 1 - Lisa Marie Presley, American actress
- February 3 - Oscar Cabot, Vice-President Bonicca Natural Body Care
- February 5 - Roberto Alomar, baseball player
- February 8 - Gary Coleman, American actor
- February 10 - Atika Suri, Indonesian television newscaster
- February 14 - Jules Asner, American model and television personality
- February 22 - Brad Nowell, American musician (d. 1996)
- February 22 - Jeri Ryan, American actress
- February 27 - Matt Stairs, baseball player
- March 4 - Patsy Kensit, English actress
- March 11 - Lisa Loeb, American singer
- March 15 - Mark McGrath, American musician (Sugar Ray)
- March 23 - Mike Atherton, English cricketer
- March 23 - Damon Albarn, English musician (Blur and Gorillaz)
- March 26 - Kenny Chesney, American musician
- March 26 - James Iha, American musician (Smashing Pumpkins)
- March 28 - Iris Chang, American author (d. 2004)
- March 28 - Nasser Hussain, English cricketer
- March 29 - Lucy Lawless, New Zealand actress and singer
- March 30 - Céline Dion, Canadian singer

April-June

- April 3 - Sebastian Bach, West Indian-born musician (Skid Row)
- April 8 - Patricia Arquette, American actress
- April 15 - Stacey Williams, American model
- April 19 - Ashley Judd, American actress
- April 23 - Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist
- May 1 - D'Arcy Wretzky, American musician
- May 7 - Traci Lords, American actress
- May 9 - Marie-José Perec, French athlete
- May 12 - Tony Hawk, American skateboarder
- May 26 - Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark
- May 27 - Jeff Bagwell, baseball player
- May 27 - Frank Thomas, baseball player
- May 28 - Kylie Minogue, Australian actress and singer
- June 4 - Rachel Griffiths, Australian actress
- June 20 - Peter Paige, American actor
- June 26 - Shannon Sharpe, American football player and commentator
- June 28 - Adam Woodyatt, British actor
- June 29 - Theoren Fleury, Canadian hockey player
- June 30 - Philip Anselmo, American musician

July-September

- July 7 - Jorja Fox, American actress
- July 10 - Hassiba Boulmerka, Algerian athlete
- July 15 - Stan Kirsch, American actor
- July 16 - Dhanraj Pillay, Indian field hockey player
- July 16 - Barry Sanders, American football player
- July 27 - Julian McMahon, Australian actor
- July 30 - Robert Korzeniowski, Polish racewalker
- August 9 - Gillian Anderson, American actress
- August 9 - Eric Bana, Australian actor
- August 17 - Ed McCaffrey, American football player
- August 31 - Todd Carty, British actor
- September 1 - Mohamed Atta al Sayed, Egyptian terrorist
- September 4 - Mike Piazza, baseball player
- September 7 - Marcel Desailly, French footballer
- September 11 - Kay Hanley, American musician
- September 18 - Toni Kukoc, Croatian basketball player
- September 20 - Darrell Russell, race car driver (d. 2004)
- September 25 - Will Smith, American rapper and actor
- September 26 - James Caviezel, American actor
- September 28 - Naomi Watts, English-born actress, star of Peter Jackson's King Kong

October-December

- October 7 - Toni Braxton, American singer
- October 10 - Bart Brentjens, Dutch mountainbiker
- October 11 - Jane Krakowski, American actress
- October 12 - Hugh Jackman, Australian actor
- October 31 - Vanilla Ice, American rapper
- November 4 - Lee Germon, New Zealand cricket captains
- November 8 - Zara Whites, Dutch actress
- November 9 - Nazzareno Carusi, Italian pianist
- November 12 - Sammy Sosa, Dominican Major League Baseball player
- November 13 - Pat Hentgen, baseball player
- November 15 - Jennifer Charles, American singer
- November 15 - Ol' Dirty Bastard, American rapper (d. 2004)
- November 18 - Owen Wilson, American actor
- November 23 - Hamid Hassani, Iranian scholar
- November 27 - Michael Vartan, French actor
- December 2 - Lucy Liu, American actress
- December 8 - Mike Mussina, baseball player
- December 9 - Kurt Angle, American amateur and professional wrestler
- December 12 - Rory Kennedy, son of Robert F Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy
- December 17 - Paul Tracy, Canadian race car driver

Deaths

January-April

- January 11 - Isidor Isaac Rabi, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
- January 19 - Ray Harroun, American race car driver (b. 1879)
- January 21 - Will Lang Jr., Chief Regional Director of Life (magazine)
- January 22 - Duke Kahanamoku, American swimmer (b. 1890)
- January 26 - Merrill C. Meigs, American newspaper publisher and aviation promoter (b. 1883)
- February 4 - Neal Cassady, American writer (b. 1926)
- February 11 - Howard Lindsay, American playwright (b. 1888)
- February 20 - Anthony Asquith, British director and writer (b. 1902)
- February 21 - Howard Walter Florey, Australian-born pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (b. 1898)
- February 22 - Peter Arno, American cartoonist (b. 1904)
- February 27 - Frankie Lymon, American singer (b. 1942)
- February 29 - Tore Ørjasæter, Norwegian poet (b. 1886)
- March 16 - Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian composer (b. 1895)
- March 27 - Yuri Gagarin, cosmonaut (b. 1934)
- April 1 - Lev Davidovich Landau, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
- April 4 - Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., American civil rights activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (assassinated) (b. 1929)
- April 7 - Jimmy Clark, Scottish race car driver (b. 1936)
- April 10 - Gustavs Celmins, Latvian politician (b. 1899)
- April 14 - Al Benton, baseball player (b. 1911)
- April 22 - Stephen H. Sholes, American record executive (b. 1911)
- April 25 - John Tewksbury, American athlete (b. 1876)

May-December

- May 7 - Mike Spence British race car driver (b. 1936)
- May 9 - Mercedes de Acosta, American poet, playwright, costume designer, and socialite (b. 1893)
- May 14 - Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (b. 1882)
- June 1 - Helen Keller, American spokeswoman for deaf and blind (b. 1880)
- June 6 - Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator and U.S. Attorney General (assassinated) (b. 1925)
- June 14 - Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
- June 15 - Sam Crawford, baseball player (b. 1880)
- July 11 - Mervyn Peake, British writer and illustrator (b. 1911)
- July 18 - Corneille Heymans, Belgian physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
- July 23 - Henry Hallett Dale, English scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1875)
- July 28 - Otto Hahn, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
- August 19 - George Gamow, Ukrainian-born physicist (b. 1904)
- August 27 - Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (b. 1906)
- August 29 - Ulysses S. Grant III, American soldier and planner (b. 1881)
- September 12 - Tommy Armour, Scottish golfer (b. 1894)
- October 2 - Marcel Duchamp, French artist (b. 1887)
- October 13 - Bea Benaderet, American actress (b. 1906)
- October 30 - Rose Wilder Lane, American author and reporter (b. 1886)
- November 4 - Michel Kikoine, Belarusian painter (b. 1892)
- November 6 - Charles Munch, French conductor and violinist (b. 1891)
- November 25 - Upton Sinclair, American writer (b. 1878)
- November 26 - Arnold Zweig, German writer (b. 1887)
- December 10 - Karl Barth, German protestant theologian (b. 1888)
- December 10 - Thomas Merton, American author (b. 1915)
- December 12 - Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (b. 1902)
- December 19 - Norman Thomas, American politician (b. 1884)
- December 20 - John Steinbeck, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- December 30 - Trygve Lie, first United Nations Secretary General (b. 1896)
- December 30 - Vladimir Peter Tytla, American animator (b. 1904)

Month/day unknown

- Berthold Bartosch, Czech animator (b. 1893)
- Robert Wood Johnson, American business leader and philanthropist (b. 1893)
- Jouett Shouse, American politician (b. 1879).

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Luis Walter Alvarez
- Chemistry - Lars Onsager
- Physiology or Medicine - Robert W. Holley, Har Gobind Khorana, Marshall W. Nirenberg
- Literature - Yasunari Kawabata
- Peace - René Cassin

Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks are a National Basketball Association (NBA) team based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Franchise history

The franchise was formed in 1946 as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks of the National Basketball League; it was based in the tri-city area between Moline, Illinois, Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa. When the NBL merged with the Basketball Association of America to form the NBA, the Blackhawks reached the playoffs in the NBA's inaugural year, under the leadership of coach Red Auerbach. However, the following season, after the team drafted Bob Cousy and made the blunder of trading his rights to the Chicago Stags (who would later surrender him in a dispersal draft to the Celtics after they folded), they failed to qualify for the postseason. In 1951, the franchise relocated to Milwaukee and became the Hawks. In 1953, the Hawks drafted Bob Pettit, a future NBA MVP. Despite this, the Hawks were one of the league's worst teams, and in 1955 the Hawks moved yet again, this time to St. Louis, Missouri. With acquisitions in the draft and free agency, the Hawks became of the league's top teams. In 1957, the team advanced to the NBA Finals, losing to the Boston Celtics in a double-overtime thriller in game seven. In 1958, the Hawks again advanced to the NBA Finals under coach Alex Hannum and captured their only NBA Championship in game 6 against the Celtics. The Hawks remained one the NBA's premier teams for the next decade. In 1960, under coach Ed Macauley, the team advanced to the Finals yet again, but lost- again- to the Celtics in yet another game seven thriller. The following year, with the acquisition of rookie Lenny Wilkens, the Hawks repeated their success, but met the Celtics in the Finals again and lost in five games. The next few years the Hawks remained contenders, every year advancing deep into the playoffs and also capturing several division titles. In 1968, however, with new owners Thomas Cousins and Carl Sanders, the team moved to Atlanta, Georgia. The following years after the move showcased a talented Hawks team, including Pete Maravich, which won a division championship and advanced to the Finals yet again. However, after this period of success, the Hawks experienced a few years of rebuilding; the Hawks had all losing records in those years and never advanced past the first round of the playoffs. Pete MaravichIn 1977 Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner bought the team and hired Hubie Brown to become head coach. In 1979 the Hawks team finished with 50 wins and won the Central Division. In 1982 the franchise acquired superstar Dominique Wilkins, and in the next four seasons the team had more than 50 victories each season. However, the team could not advance past the semifinals of the playoffs. In 1993, Lenny Wilkens was hired as coach. In the 1993- 1994 season coach Wilkens led the team to 57 victories, a team record, and in 1995 Wilkens broke the record (previously held by former Hawk coach Red Auerbach) for most victories by an NBA head coach with victory number 939. However, in recent years the Hawks team has struggled, yet again becoming one of the league's worst teams. In March 2004 the team was sold to a group of executives by the name of Atlanta Spirit LLC [http://www.atlantathrashers.com/View.aspx?CID01=1865ad53-8062-404b-901a-dd12cfc90251] by Time Warner (who inheirited the Hawks and Braves upon its merger with Turner Broadcasting in 1996), along with the Atlanta Thrashers pro ice hockey team, with which the Hawks share the Philips Arena. After the change in ownership, though, the Hawks still struggled. In the 2004-2005 season the Hawks gained the notorious reputation of the league's worst team with a mere 13 victories (five less than even the expansion Charlotte Bobcats). Despite their league worst-record, though, the Hawks only landed the number two pick in the 2005 NBA Draft (the first pick went to the Milwaukee Bucks). With the 2nd pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks selected Marvin Williams of the University of North Carolina. Marvin Williams is considered to be the player with the most potential and marketablity of the draft class. Additionally, the Hawks have Josh Childress, Josh Smith, Salim Stoudamire, and nearly $25 million in cap space for 2005 free agent market. In the summer of 2005, the Hawks completed a sign-trade deal with the Phoenix Suns that landed Atlanta Joe Johnson in return for Boris Diaw and 2 future 1st round picks. They also signed Zaza Pachulia from the Milwaukee Bucks. These changes occurred after an ugly power struggle between the owners for nearly 3 weeks before the moves were made. [http://www.nba.com/hawks/news/Hawks_Ownership_Dispute_Resolved_081905.html] Recently, the Hawks don't look as bad as last time. Even with a league-worst record, they still managed to triumph over San Antonio Spurs, 94-84.

Players of note

Basketball Hall of Famers:

- Walt Bellamy
- Cliff Hagan
- Pete Maravich
- Bob Pettit

Not to be forgotten:

- Stacey Augmon
- Zelmo Beaty
- Mookie Blaylock
- Hubie Brown (coach)
- John Drew
- Lou Hudson
- Jon Koncak
- Christian Laettner
- Doc Rivers
- Dominique Wilkins
- Jason Collier

Retired Numbers

- 9 Bob Pettit, F, 1954-65 (1954-55 Milwaukee, 1955-65 St. Louis)
- 17 Ted Turner, team owner, 1977-2004 (17 for his cable-TV empire, which began with Atlanta's Channel 17, WTBS)
- 21 Dominique Wilkins, F, 1983-94
- 23 Lou Hudson, F, 1966-77 (1966-68 St. Louis, 1968-77 Atlanta)
- 40 Jason Collier, F/G 2003-05 (2000-2003 Houston Rockets)

Current roster:

Coaches and others

Basketball Hall of Famers:

- Lenny Wilkens

External links

- [http://www.nba.com/hawks/ Atlanta Hawks official web site]
- [http://www.insidehoops.com/teams/atlanta-hawks.shtml Atlanta Hawks] InsideHoops.com coverage
- [http://www.summerproleague.com/ Official Atlanta Hawks Summer Pro League web site]
- [http://www.amiannoying.com/view.aspx?id=11501&collection=3069 AmIAnnoying.com - Atlanta Hawks] Category:NBA teams Category:Atlanta sports ja:アトランタ・ホークス th:แอตแลนตาฮอกส์

Consortium

Consortium is a word that comes from the Latin consortium meaning association or society, from the word consors meaning owner of means or comrade. The word refers to a temporary collaboration to perform a certain task or to provide a specific service or product more efficiently. A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, universities, or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal. Each participant retains its separate legal status and thus, the consortium's control over each participant is generally limited to activities involving the joint endeavor, particularly the division of profits. A consortium is formed by contract, which delineates the rights and obligations of each member. Consortia are more common in the non profit sector. For example, Five Colleges, Inc. is one of the oldest and most successful consortia in the United States. The participants in Five Colleges, Inc. are: Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Another example of a successful consortium is the Five Colleges of Ohio of Ohio: Oberlin College, Ohio Wesleyan University, Kenyon College, College of Wooster and Denison University. These consortia have pooled the resources of their member colleges and the university to share human and material assets as well as to link academic and administrative resources. An example of a for-profit consortium is Airbus Industrie ("Airbus"). Formed in 1970, Airbus is one of the world's premier manufactures of civilian airliners. Airbus is owned by EADS (80%) and British Aerospace (20%). EADS itself is a merger of Aérospatiale-Matra of France, Daimler-Chrysler Aerospace of Germany, and Construcciones Aeronáuticas of Spain, which were originally separate partners in the consortium, owning 37.9%, 37.9%, and 4.2%, respectively. Airbus' status as a consortium means that profits accrue to the partner companies representative to their interests. Work is allocated on the same basis as profits. Another example of a for-profit consortium is when a group of banks colloborate to give a loan. This is more commonly known as a syndicated loan. A more permanent joint activity is usually called an institute.

Famous consortiums

- World Wide Web Consortium
- The Open Group
- Six Companies builder of Hoover Dam (aka Boulder Dam)
- Freeview Consortium - British Digital terrestrial television service
- Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation
- SEMATECH

National Hockey League

, the trophy awarded to its champion.]] The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional sports organization composed of hockey teams in the United States and Canada, where it is also known by its French name, Ligue Nationale de Hockey (LNH). It is generally regarded as the premier professional ice hockey league in the world. The NHL is often listed as one of the major professional sports leagues of North America.

History

The beginnings to The Original Six

The National Hockey League was founded in 1917 after a series of disputes within the (Canadian) National Hockey Association (NHA). The first NHL season began in 1917-18 with five teams. 1917-18 The primary conflict involved Toronto Blueshirts' owner Edward J. Livingstone. An ongoing source of controversy among fellow NHA owners, he was often accused of exploiting loopholes in league regulations to create what some viewed as unfair advantages, and had particularly incited the wrath of owners when he merged his two Toronto teams (the Ontarios and the Blueshirts) after the latter had been deprived of its top players. Livingstone sometimes offered contracts to other teams' members not to play hockey, and once campaigned to kick the Montreal Wanderers out of the league after the team tried to lure two of his top Blueshirts players. Throughout his battles with owners, Livingstone repeatedly threatened to start a rival league in the United States. In its final season (1916-17), the National Hockey Association was comprised of six teams: The Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, Toronto Blueshirts, and an army team from the Toronto-based 228th Battalion. Owners met in Montreal to consider the league's future on February 11, 1917, a day after members of the 228th Battalion, the most popular NHA team, were called into World War I action. Livingstone, unable to attend the meeting because of illness, was shocked to learn that owners had chosen to effectively eject him and the Blueshirts from the NHA. After the resignation of NHA president and Livingstone ally Frank Robinson, Livingstone stopped attending league meetings and sent a lawyer to represent his interests. When owners convened on September 29, 1917, they demanded that Livingstone sell the Blueshirts within five days. Livingstone then negotiated a deal in which the Toronto Arena Gardens would take control of the Blueshirts' daily business, with Livingstone to eventually regain control if the NHA continued operations. In response, NHA owners met at Montreal's Windsor Hotel on November 26, 1917, and formed the National Hockey League, with the Canadiens, Wanderers, Senators, Bulldogs and newly-renamed Toronto Arenas as founding members. The NHL endured a rocky inaugural season in 1917-18, starting with the temporary shuttering of the Bulldogs. On January 2, 1918, the Westmount Arena in Montreal, home to the Wanderers and Canadiens, was destroyed in a fire. The Wanderers, already a shadow of its former self, folded in the wake of the fire, ending one of the most storied franchises in the early years of Canadian professional hockey. With the Bulldogs and Wanderers out, the NHL operated with just three teams for the remainder of its opening year, and through the second season. Though Livingstone had been shut out, one of his NHA ideas — a proposal for a split regular season — was adopted by the new league and integrated into its playoff system. The Toronto Arenas became the first NHL winner of the Stanley Cup, the annual trophy awarded since 1893 to the Canadian hockey champion. A furious Livingstone, meanwhile, failed in his attempt to collect a share of profits from the Arenas, then sued the team and the NHL. The dispute lingered through the 1930s, with the Arenas since renamed the Toronto St. Patricks and ultimately the Toronto Maple Leafs. History has looked back on Livingstone and the NHL's formation with a sense of irony: The man whom league owners had worked so hard to exclude was, in the words of Canadiens owner George Kennedy, the same figure that "made [the NHL] a real league". Though the league struggled to stay in business during its first decade, NHL teams were quite successful on the ice, winning the Stanley Cup seven out of its first nine years. (The 1918-19 competition was cancelled because of the Spanish Flu epidemic that had hit Seattle). By 1926, having increased player salaries to a level that couldn't be matched by other Canadian leagues, the NHL was alone in Stanley Cup competition. The league had also expanded into the United States, with the Boston Bruins in 1924, the New York Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1925 and the New York Rangers, Detroit Cougars (later to become the Red Wings), and Chicago Blackhawks in 1926. By the end of the 1930-31 season, the NHL featured a total of 10 teams. However, the Great Depression took a toll on the league; teams such as the Pirates and the Americans folded, and even the fabled Ottawa Senators were forced to fold after moving to St. Louis because of financial difficulties. With these developments and the onset of World War II, the NHL was reduced to six teams during its 25th anniversary year of (1942) – six teams still known today, if somewhat inaccurately, as the Original Six: The Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Bruins, Rangers, and Blackhawks. World War II had provided many players their first chance to play professional hockey, but after the war, many found themselves relegated to minor leagues.

Expansion: 1967 and beyond

Minor leagues, especially in the western United States, often fielded teams that arguably could have defeated Stanley Cup champions. The rise of the Western Hockey League, which many pundits thought planned to transform into a major league and challenge for the Stanley Cup, spurred the NHL in 1967 to undertake its first expansion since the 1920s. Six new teams were added to the NHL roster, and placed in their own newly-created division. They were the Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Oakland Seals, and Pittsburgh Penguins. Three years later, the NHL added the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres as franchises. In 1972, the World Hockey Association (WHA) was formed. Though it never challenged for the Stanley Cup, its status as a viable NHL rival was unquestionable. In response to that, the NHL decided to rush its own expansion plans by adding the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames that year, along with the Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals two years later. The dilution of the talent pool, however, caused the overall quality of play to suffer. The two leagues fought for the services of hockey players and fans until the WHA folded in 1979. Four of the remaining six WHA teams merged with the NHL: The Hartford Whalers, Québec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, and Winnipeg Jets. As of 2005, the Oilers are the last remaining original WHA franchise still playing in the city where they began in the NHL.

Labour Issues

There have been three work stoppages in NHL history, all happening between 1992 and 2005. The first was a strike by the National Hockey League Players Association in April 1992 which lasted for 10 days, but the strike was settled quickly and all affected games were rescheduled. A lockout at the start of the 1994-95 forced the league to reduce the schedule from 84 games to just 48, with the teams playing only intra-conference games during the reduced season. The resulting collective bargaining agreement was set for renegotiation in 1998 and extended to September 15, 2004. Negotiations to replace the contract that expired in 2004 turned into one of the most contentious collective bargaining sessions in the history of professional sports. The league vowed to install what it dubbed "cost certainty" for its teams, but the National Hockey League Players Association countered that the move was little more than a euphemism for a salary cap, which the union initially said it would not accept. With no new agreement in hand when the existing contract expired on September 15, 2004, league commissioner Gary Bettman announced a lockout of the players union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office, causing the NHL to lose an entire season. A new collective bargaining agreement was ratified in July 2005 with a term of six years with an option of extending the collective bargaining agreement for an additional year at the end of the term, allowing the NHL to resume as of the 2005-06 season.

Post Lockout

On October 5, 2005, the first post-lockout NHL season got under way with 15 games. Of those 15 games, 11 were in front of sell out crowds. The NHL, despite negative press generated during the lockout, has success attracting fans to the initial games of the season and extends fan bases into non-traditional markets in the US such as Nashville, Atlanta, and the Carolinas.

Trophies and awards

2005]] The National Hockey League also presents numerous trophies, in addition to the Stanley Cup for the overall playoff champion, as well as the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl for the Western Conference playoff champions and the Prince of Wales Trophy for the Eastern Conference playoff champions. They include:
- Art Ross Memorial Trophy (1948 - present) -- regular season league scoring champion
- Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (1968 - present) -- perseverance and sportsmanship
- Calder Memorial Trophy (1933 - present) -- rookie of the year
- Conn Smythe Trophy (1965 - present) -- most valuable player during the playoffs
- Frank J. Selke Trophy (1978 - present) -- top defensive forward
- Hart Memorial Trophy (1924 - present) -- most valuable player during the regular season
- Jack Adams Award (1974 - present) -- coach of the year
- James Norris Memorial Trophy (1954 - present)-- most outstanding defenceman
- King Clancy Memorial Trophy (1988 - present) -- leadership and humanitarian contribution
- Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (1925 - present) -- player combining ability and sportsmanship
- Lester B. Pearson Award (1971 - present) -- most outstanding player as selected by peers
- Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy (1999 - present) -- to the goal-scoring leader during the regular season
- NHL Plus/Minus Award (1968 - present) -- highest plus/minus statistic
- Presidents' Trophy (1986 - present) - best regular season by a team
- Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award (2000 - present) -- best save percentage by a goalkeeper
- Vezina Trophy (1927 - present) -- voted to be the most outstanding goaltender
- William M. Jennings Trophy (1982 - present) -- goalkeeper(s) for the team with the fewest goals against The O'Brien Trophy was awarded in the NHL before it was retired following the 1949-50 NHL season. The Lester Patrick Trophy has been presented by the National Hockey League since 1966 to honour a recipient's contribution to hockey in the United States. Three years after retirement, players are eligible to be voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In the past, if a player was deemed significant enough, the pending period would be waived. However, only 10 individual have been honoured in this manner. In 1999 Wayne Gretzky became the last player to have the three years waived. After Gretzky's induction, the NHL declared that he would be the last one to have the waiting period omitted. The Pearson Award is the only award named after a politician.

Current organization

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Structure

Each team in the NHL plays 82 regular season games, 41 games at home and 41 on the road. Teams used to play all other teams in the league at least once, but this will no longer be the case following implementation of post-lockout changes. Teams will now play 10 interconference (that is, not in their own conference) games throughout the entire season, 1 game against each team in two of the three divisions in the opposite conference. On an observational basis, it seems as if these interconference games are being block-scheduled in two different blocks (much like baseball does with interleague play. Teams will also play 40 games against non-divisional, conference opponents (4 games against each), and 32 games within their division (8 games against each). Two points are awarded for wins, one point for losing in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for a loss in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points in each division is crowned the division champion. Each Conference consists of three divisions, so these three division champions and five more teams fill out each Conference's playoff field. In total, 16 teams (3 division champions and 5 additional teams, for a total of 8 from each Conference) qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Stanley Cup Playoffs is an elimination tournament, where two teams battle to win a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. If the score is tied at the end of the third period an overtime period is played. If the score is tied at the end of an overtime period, additional overtime periods are played until a winner is determined. Overtimes are also full periods of twenty minutes (of five-on-five hockey), rather than the five minutes (of four-on-four hockey, followed by a shootout) in the regular season. The overtime is played with golden goal rule (sudden death) so the game ends as soon as either team scores a goal. The higher-ranked team is said to be the team with the home-ice advantage. Four of the seven games are played at this team's home venue - the first and second, and, where necessary, the fifth and seventh, with the other games played at the lower-ranked team's home venue. The most recent playoff that was contested in the NHL used the following format: the division winners were seeded one through three, and then the next five teams with the best records in the conference were seeded four through eight. However, the league has yet to announce the playoff format for the 2005-06 season, and with the new scheduling format that emphasises division play, the league is reportedly exploring placing greater emphasis on division standings by taking the top 2 teams in each division, along with the teams with the next two best records for each Conference's playoff field. In the event of a tie in points in the standings, ties are broken first by amount of wins, then by record against the team that is tied (disregarding the first game played at the arena of the team that hosted more games than the other during the season series, if applicable). Next, the tied team with the better positive differential between goals scored for and against is given preference, and in the rare circumstance these tiebreakers are insufficient, the Commissioner has the authority to devise some other means of breaking the tie. The first round of the playoffs, or Conference Quarterfinals, consists of the first seed playing the eighth seed, the second playing the seventh, third playing the sixth, and the fourth playing the fifth. In the second round, or Conference Semifinals, the NHL re-seeds (unlike the NBA), with the top remaining Conference seed playing against the lowest remaining seed, and the other two remaining conference teams pairing off. In the third round, the Conference Finals, the two remaining teams in each conference play each other, with the Conference champions proceeding to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Presidents/Commissioners of the NHL

- Frank Calder (1917-1943) President
- Red Dutton (1943-1946) President
- Clarence Campbell (1946-1977) President
- John Ziegler (1977-1992) President
- Gil Stein (1992-1993) President
- Gary Bettman (1993-present) Commissioner

External links

- [http://www.nhl.com NHL's homepage]
- [http://www.nhlfa.com National Hockey League Fan's Association homepage]
- [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Standings and Statistics, 1917-now]
- [http://www.gridmarks.com/nhl.html NHL Rankings]
- [http://www.NHLReplay.com NHL Discussion Boards] ja:NHL simple:National Hockey League

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, known simply as hockey in Canada and the United States, is a team sport played on ice. It is one of the world's fastest sports, with players on skates capable of going high speeds on natural or artificial ice surfaces. The most prominent ice hockey nations are Canada, United States, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. In all there are 64 members in the International Ice Hockey Federation. As one might expect, its worldwide popularity is concentrated primarily in locales cold enough for natural, long-term seasonal ice cover. It is the official national winter sport of Canada, and it is comparably popular in certain regions of the United States (notably the Northeast, the Northern Midwest, and Alaska). The parts of North America which have the strongest followings of the sport are often called "hockey country". Although it is the least watched major professional sport in the United States, it enjoys intense popularity in Canada. It is generally accepted that about 10 million Canadians watched the 2002 Olympic gold medal hockey game on television, in which Canada defeated the United States 5-2. While most of the countries mentioned above have their own professional ice hockey league, North America's National Hockey League, commonly called the NHL, is considered the world's premier professional ice hockey league and attracts almost all of the world's elite players.

Game

National Hockey League Ice hockey is played on a hockey rink by six players per side, each of whom is on ice skates. The objective of the game is to score goals by playing a hard vulcanized rubber disc, the puck, into the opponent's goal net, which is placed at the opposite end of the rink. The players may control the puck using a long stick with a blade that is commonly curved at one end. Players may also redirect the puck with any part of their bodies, subject to certain restrictions. One of the six players is typically a goaltender, whose primary job is to stop the puck from entering the net, and who is permitted unique gear towards that end. goaltender The other five players are divided into three forwards and two defencemen. The forward positions are named left wing, center and right wing. Forwards often play together as units or lines, with the same three forwards always playing together. The defencemen usually stay together as a pair, but may change less frequently than the forwards. A substitution of an entire unit at once is called a line change. Substitutions are permitted at any time during the course of the game, although during a stoppage of play the home team is permitted the final change. When players are substituted during play, it is called changing on the fly. The boards surrounding the ice help keep the puck in play, and play often proceeds for minutes without interruption. When play is stopped, it is restarted with a faceoff. There are two major rules of play in ice hockey that limit the movement of the puck: offside and icing. In most competitive leagues, each team may carry at most 23 players on its game roster, two of whom are typically goaltenders. North American professional leagues restrict the total number of skaters to 18 or fewer. The remaining characteristics of the game often depend on the particular code of play being used. The two most important codes are those of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and of the North American National Hockey League (NHL), the world's top professional league. North American amateur hockey codes, such as those of Hockey Canada and USA Hockey, tend to be a hybrid of the NHL and IIHF codes, while professional rules generally follow those of the NHL.

Penalties

USA Hockey A typical game of ice hockey has two to four officials on the ice charged with enforcing the rules of the game. There are typically two linesmen, who are responsible only for calling offside and icing violations, and one or two referees, who call goals and all other penalties. In men's hockey, but not in women's, a player may use his hip or shoulder to hit another player if the player has the puck or is the last to have touched it. This use of the hip and shoulder is called body checking. Not all physical contact is legal -- in particular, most forceful stick-on-body contact is illegal -- as there are many infractions for which a player may be assessed a penalty. For most penalties, the offending player is sent to the penalty box and his team has to play without him for a short amount of time, giving the other team what is popularly termed a power play. A two-minute minor penalty is often called for lesser infractions such as tripping, elbowing, roughing, boarding, high-sticking, too many players on the ice, illegal equipment, charging (leaping into an opponent), holding, interference, delay of game, hooking, or cross-checking. More egregious fouls of this type may be penalized by a four-minute double-minor penalty, particularly those which (inadvertently) cause injury to the victimized player. These penalties end either when the time runs out or the other team scores on the power play; in the case of a goal scored during the first two minutes of a double minor, the penalty clock is set down to two minutes upon a score (effectively expiring the first minor). Five-minute major penalties are called for especially violent instances of most minor infractions which result in intentional injury to an opponent, as well as for fighting (from which comes the band Five for Fighting) and spearing. Major penalties are always served in full: they do not terminate on a goal scored by the other team. Two varieties of penalty do not always require the offending team to play a man down. Ten-minute misconduct penalties are served in full by the penalized player, but his team may immediately substitute another player on the ice unless a minor or major penalty is assessed in conjunction with the misconduct (a two-and-ten or five-and-ten). In that case, the team designates another player to serve the minor or major; both players go to the penalty box, but only the designee may not be replaced, and he is released upon the expiration of the two or five minutes, at which point the ten-minute misconduct begins. The rare game misconducts are assessed for deliberate intent to inflict severe injury on an opponent. The offending player is ejected from the game and must immediately leave the playing surface (he does not sit in the penalty box); meanwhile, if a minor or major is assessed in addition, a designated player must serve out that segment of the penalty in the box (similar to the above-mentioned "two-and-ten"). A player who is tripped by an opponent on a breakaway – when there are no defenders except the goaltender between him and the opponent's goal – is awarded a penalty shot, an attempt to score without opposition from any defenders except the goaltender. A penalty shot is also awarded for a defender other than the goaltender covering the puck in the goal crease. Officials also stop play for puck movement violations, but no players are penalized for these offenses. The sole exceptions are deliberately falling on or gathering the puck to the body, carrying the puck in the hand, and shooting the puck out of play in one's defensive zone (all penalized two minutes for delay of game). Games are overseen by Official (ice hockey) that are selected by the league for which they work. The most common officiating organisation is [http://www.usahockey.com USA Hockey], where referees are selected for games depending on their experience level (one, two, three, or four. Officials are divided into on-ice officals and off-ice officals.

Tactics

Official (ice hockey) An important defensive tactic is checking – attempting to take the puck from an opponent or to remove the opponent from play. Forechecking is checking in the other team's zone, backchecking is checking while the other team is advancing down the ice toward one's own goal; these terms usually are applied to checking by forwards. Stick checking, sweep checking, and poke checking are legal uses of the stick to obtain possession of the puck. Body checking is using one's shoulder or hip to strike an opponent who has the puck or who is the last to have touched it. Offensive tactics include improving a team's position on the ice by advancing the puck out of one's zone towards the opponent's zone, progressively by gaining lines, first your own blue line, then the red line and finally the opponent's blue line. Offensive tactics are designed ultimately to score a goal by taking a shot. When a player purposefully directs the puck towards the opponent's goal, he or she is said to shoot the puck. A deflection is a shot which redirects a shot or a pass towards the goal from another player, by allowing the puck to strike the stick and carom towards the goal. A one-timer is a shot which is struck directly off a pass, without receiving the pass and shooting in two separate actions. A deke (short for decoy) is a feint with the body and/or stick to fool a defender or the goalie. Headmanning the puck is the tactic of rapidly passing to the player farthest down the ice. A team that is losing by one or two goals in the last few minutes of play may elect to pull the goalie; that is, removing the goaltender and replacing him or her with an extra attacker on the ice in the hope of gaining enough advantage to score a goal. However, this tactic is extremely risky, and as often as not leads to the winning team scoring a goal in the empty net. Although it is officially prohibited in the rules, at the professional level fights are sometimes used to affect morale of the teams, with aggressors hoping to demoralize the opposing players while exciting their own, as well as settling personal scores. Both players in an altercation receive five-minute major penalties for fighting. The player deemed to be the "instigator" of an NHL fight is penalized an additional two minutes for instigating, plus a ten-minute misconduct penalty. This so-called instigator rule is highly controversial in NHL hockey: many coaches, sportswriters, players and fans feel it prevents players from effectively policing the objectionable behavior of their peers, which is often cleverly hidden from referees. They point to less extreme on-ice violence during the era before the rule was introduced. Toronto Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe famously observed that "If you can't beat 'em in the alley you can't beat 'em on the ice."

Periods and overtime

A game consists of three periods of twenty minutes each, the clock running only when the puck is in play. In international play, the teams change ends for the second period, again for the third period, and again after ten minutes of the third period. In many North American leagues, including the NHL, the last change is omitted. Various procedures are used if a game is tied. In tournament play, as well as in the NHL playoffs, North Americans favor sudden death overtime, in which the teams continue to play until a goal is scored. Prior to the 2004-05 NHL season , the National Hockey League decided ties by playing a single five-minute sudden death overtime period, with the added stipulation that each side can play with a maximum of five players on the ice during the overtime. International play and several North American professional leagues, including the NHL, now use an overtime period followed by a penalty shootout. If the score remains tied after an extra overtime period, the subsequent shootout consists of five (or three) players from each team taking penalty shots. After these six (or ten) total shots, the team with the most goals is awarded the victory. If the score is still tied, the shootout then proceeds to a sudden death (actually sudden victory) format. Regardless of the number of goals scored during the shootout by either team, the final score recorded will give the winning team one more goal than the score at the end of regulation time.

Equipment

The hard surfaces of the ice and boards, pucks flying at high speed (over 160 km/h at times), and other players maneuvering (and often intentionally colliding) pose a multitude of inherent safety hazards. Besides skates and sticks, hockey players are usually equipped with an array of safety gear to lessen their risk of serious injury. This usually includes a helmet, shoulder pads, elbow pads, mouth guard, protective gloves, heavily padded pants, a 'jock' athletic protector, and leg guards. Goaltenders wear masks and much bulkier, specialized equipment designed to protect them from many direct hits from pucks. Youth and college hockey players are required to wear a mask made from metal wire or transparent plastic attached to their helmet that protects their face during play. Professional and adult players may instead wear a visor that protects only their eyes, or no mask at all; however, some provincial and state legislations require full facial protection at all non-professional levels. Rules regarding visors and face masks are mildly controversial at professional levels, as some players feel that they interfere with their vision or breathing and/or encourage carrying of the stick up high, in a reckless manner, while others believe that they are a necessary safety precaution. In fact, the adoption of safety equipment has been a gradual one at the North American professional level, where even helmets were not mandatory until the 1980s. The famous goalie, Jacques Plante, had to suffer a hard blow to the face with a flying puck in 1959 before he could persuade his coach to allow him to wear a protective goalie mask in play.

History

The history of ice hockey is one of the most contested in all of sports. The city of Montreal had been traditionally credited with being the birthplace of hockey, but early paintings contest this claim; 16th-century Dutch paintings show a number of townsfolk playing a hockey-like game on a frozen canals. city of Montreal city of Montreal Kingston, Ontario and Windsor, Nova Scotia also lay claim to its origins for similar reasons. The origin of the word hockey is officially unknown, it may derive from the Old French word hoquet, shepherd's crook, but it may also derive from the Middle Dutch word hokkie which is the diminutive of 'hok', meaning litterally meaning 'shack' or 'doghouse' but in popular use meant goal. When Great Britain conquered Canada from France in 1763, soldiers used their knowledge of field hockey and the physically aggressive aspects of what the Mi'kmaq Aboriginal First Nation in Nova Scotia called dehuntshigwa'es (lacrosse). As Canadian winters are long and harsh, new winter sports were always welcomed. Using cheese cutters strapped to their boots, both English- and French-speaking Canadians played the game on frozen rivers, lakes, and ponds. Early paintings show hockey being played in Nova Scotia, as well as in the state of Virginia in the United States. On March 3, 1875, the first ever organized indoor game was played in Montreal, as recorded in the Montreal Gazette. In 1877, in order to make some sense of the game, McGill students, James Creighton, Henry Joseph, Richard F. Smith, W. F. Robertson and W. L. Murray invented seven ice hockey rules. Having an organized system in place, the game became so popular that it was featured for the first time in Montreal's annual Winter Carnival in 1883. In 1888, the governor general of Canada, Lord Stanley of Preston (whose sons were hockey enthusiasts), attended the Carnival and was so impressed with the hockey spectacle that he thought there should be a championship trophy for the best team. The Stanley Cup was first awarded then to the champion amateur team in Canada, and continues to be awarded today to the National Hockey League's championship team. As an interesting historical footnote, one of Lord Stanley's sons was instrumental in introducing ice hockey to the United Kingdom and from there, to Europe at large. By 1893, Winnipeg hockey players incorporated cricket pads to better protect the goaltender's legs. They also introduced the "scoop" shot, later known as the wrist shot. In the Upper Penninsula of Michigan, Houghton, MI was the birthplace of professional ice hockey in the United States when the Portage Lakers were formed in 1899. The National Hockey League was formed in November of 1917, when members of the former National Hockey Association were engaged in a dispute with one of their fellow owners over insurance proceeds. The NHA disbanded, and the new league began play in December of that year. On February 16, 2005, the NHL became the first major professional team sport in North America to cancel an entire season because of a labour dispute. Play resumed again in the fall of 2005.

Women's ice hockey

cancel an entire season Ice hockey is one of the fastest growing women's sports in the world, with the number of participants increasing 400 percent in the last 10 years. While there are not as many organized leagues for women as there are for men, there exist leagues of all levels, including the National Women's Hockey League, Western Women's Hockey League, and various European leagues; as well as university teams, national and Olympic teams, and recreational teams. There have been nine IIHF World Women Championships. The chief difference between women's and men's ice hockey is that bodychecking is not allowed in women's ice hockey. After the 1990 Women's World Championship, bodychecking was eliminated because women in many countries do not have the size and mass seen in North American players. There are many who feel that the relative lack of physical play is a detriment to its popularity among the mainstream hockey public. One woman, Manon Rhéaume, appeared as a goaltender for the Tampa Bay Lightning in preseason games against the St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins, and in 2003 Hayley Wickenheiser signed with the Kirkkonummi Salamat in the Finnish men's Suomi-sarja league. Several women have competed in North American minor leagues, including goaltenders Kelly Dyer, Erin Whitten and Rheaume, and forward Angela Ruggeiro.

International competition

Europeans highly regard the annual men's Ice Hockey World Championships, but it is less important to North Americans, because it coincides with the NHL playoffs and, therefore, in North Americans' view, Canada and the United States cannot field the best team since many of their players are unavailable. Now that most Europeans play in the NHL, the world championships no longer represent the best of any nation's players. Hockey has been played at the Winter Olympics since 1924 (and at the summer games in 1920). Canada won six of the first seven gold medals. The USSR won all but two Olympic ice hockey golds from 1956 to 1988, and won a final time as the Unified Team at the 1992 Albertville Olympics. Since all players in the communist system were "amateurs," the USSR's elite national team was the best the country had to offer, while the best Americans, Swedes, Finns, and Canadians were professionals and thus barred from Olympic competition. Nonetheless, American amateur college players defeated the heavily favored Soviet squad on the way to winning the gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. This "Miracle on Ice" launched a surge of newfound popularity for a game many Americans had not cared much about before. The 1972 Summit Series established Canada and the USSR as a major international ice hockey rivalry. It was followed by five Canada Cup tournaments, where the best players from every hockey nation could play. This tournament later became the World Cup of Hockey, played in in 1996 and 2004. Since 1998, NHL professionals have played in the Olympics as well, so that the best in the world have had more opportunities to face off. There have been nine women's world championships, beginning in 1990. Women's hockey has been played at the Olympics since 1998. Currently Canada and the US dominate the world scene (all world championship and Olympic finals have involved both countries).

Terminology

World Cup of Hockey net, while visiting the Powerade Centre.]]

External links

- [http://www.iihf.com/ International Ice Hockey Federation]
- [http://www.hhof.com/ Hockey Hall Of Fame]
- [http://www.nhl.com/ National Hockey League]
- [http://www.youthhockeyforum.com/ Youth Hockey]
- [http://hockeydb.com/ North American Statistics Database]
- [http://www.eurohockey.net/players/ European Player Statistics Database]
- [http://www.hockeyrefs.com/ HockeyRefs.com]
- [http://www.hockeysfuture.com/ Hockey's Future]
- [http://www.hockey.to/ Toronto Hockey]
- [http://www.tmlforum.com/ Toronto Maple Leafs discussion boards]
- [http://www.NHLReplay.com/ NHL Hockey discussion boards]
- [http://www.achahockey.org/ American Collegiate Hockey Association]

Notes

# Category:Olympic sports Category:Hockey Category:Winter sports Category:Team sports Category:Skating ja:アイスホッケー simple:Ice hockey

November

---- November is the eleventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with the length of 30 days. November begins (astrologically) with the sun in the sign of Scorpio and ends in the sign of Sagittarius. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of Libra, passes through Scorpius from approximately the 24th through the 29th and ends in the constellation of Ophiuchus, which is the only zodiacal constellation that is not counted as an astrological sign. The name is from the Latin novem for "nine". November was the ninth month in the Roman calendar until a monthless winter period (summer in the southern hemisphere) was divided between January and February. In old Japanese calendar, the month is called Shimo tsuki (霜月).

Events in November

old Japanese calendar
- In the pagan wheel of the year November begins at or near Samhain in the northern hemisphere and Bealtaine in the southern hemisphere.
- All Saints' Day, a Christian holiday. Observance is on November 1, the day after Halloween. In Sweden the All Saints' official holiday takes place on the first Saturday of November.
- In Ireland November 1 is regarded as the first day of Winter.
- November 1 is called November Day (Lá Samhna) in Celtic tradition and is thus named in the Irish Calendar, where the month is called Mí na Samhna.
- In Australia, the Melbourne Cup horse race is held annually on the first Tuesday in November.
- In the United States, elections are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November. They therefore fall between November 2 and November 8. In even numbered years, members of the House of Representatives are elected to two-year terms, and about one third of the U.S. Senate are elected to six-year terms. The President of the United States is elected in years divisible by four. Most U.S. states, counties, and municipalities have some part of their election cycle coincident with this date.
- Americans celebrate Thanksgiving holiday on the fourth Thursday of November, with the following Friday being also a day off from work for many.
- Around November 17 the Leonids reach their peak.
- In Britain and New Zealand Guy Fawkes night is celebrated on November 5, the anniversary of the failed Gunpowder Plot.
- November is NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month.
- Movember, a monthlong celebration of moustaches occurs.

Trivia

- November begins on the same day of the week as March every year and also February except in leap years.
- November's flower is the chrysanthemum.
- November's birthstone is the topaz.

Other names

- In Finnish, November is called marraskuu, meaning "month of the dead".

1971 in sports

See also: 1970 in sports, other events of 1971, 1972 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto Racing

- Stock car racing:
- Richard Petty won the Daytona 500
- NASCAR Championship - Richard Petty
- Indianapolis 500 - Al Unser, Sr.
- USAC Racing - Joe Leonard
- Formula One Championship - Jackie Stewart of Great Britain
- 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Helmut Marko / Gijs van Lennep won, driving a Porsche 917
- Rally racing - the team of Ove Andersson / David Stone won the Monte Carlo Rally driving an Alpine-Renault A110
- Drag racing:
- The NHRA announces the first "Grandnational" in Canada at Sanair International Drag Strip, near Montreal, Quebec.
- Hank Johnson won Top Fuel at the NHRA Supernationals.

Baseball

- World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates won 4 games to 3 over the Baltimore Orioles. Game four was the first night game in World Series history.

Basketball

- NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
- UCLA wins 68-62 over Villanova
- NBA Finals:
- Milwaukee Bucks win 4 games to 0 over the Baltimore Bullets

Boxing

- March 8 - Joe Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali in the first of three epic bouts. Frazier defends the World Heavyweight Championship in a star-studded Madison Square Garden.

Cricket

- 5 January, Melbourne - First one-day international, played bion after a Test match abandoned because of rain. Australia won by 5 wickets.

Cycling

- Giro d'Italia won by Gosta Pettersson of Sweden
- Tour de France - Eddy Merckx of Belgium
- World Cycling Championship: Eddy Merckx of Belgium

Figure Skating

- World Figure Skating Championships:
- Men's champion: Ondrej Nepela, Czechoslovakia
- Women's champion: Beatrix Schuba, Austria
- Pairs champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexei Ulyanov, Soviet Union

Football (American)

- Super Bowl V: Baltimore Colts won 16-13 over the Dallas Cowboys
- December 25 - The Miami Dolphins defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in a divisional playoff game. The double-overtime contest is the longest game in NFL history, and the Chiefs' last-ever home game at Municipal Stadium.
- 1970 NCAA Division I-A national football championship: The Nebraska Cornhuskers win 17-12 over the LSU Tigers on January 1st ,1971.

Football (Australian Rules)

- Victorian Football League
- Hawthorn wins the 75th VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 12.10 (82) d St Kilda 11.9 (75))
- Brownlow Medal awarded to Ian Stewart (Richmond)

Football (Canadian)

- Grey Cup: Calgary Stampeders won 14-11 over the Toronto Argonauts
- Vanier Cup: Western Ontario Mustangs won 15-14 over the Alberta Golden Bears

Football (Soccer)

- Arsenal are the English First Division champions
- England - FA Cup: Arsenal won 2-1 over Liverpool to win The Double
- European Championship Cup Final: Ajax - Panathinaikos 2-0
- January 2 - At the end of a Rangers-Celtic match at Ibrox Park in Glasgow, Scotland, barriers at Stairway 13 give way under a mass of fans, killing 66 and injuring over 200 others.

Golf

Men's Golf
- Grand Slam of golf results:
- #May - The Masters - Charles Coody
- #June - US Open - Lee Trevino
- #July - British Open - Lee Trevino
- #August - PGA Championship - Jack Nicklaus
- PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Jack Nicklaus - $244,491
- Ryder Cup: United States won 18 1/2 to 13 1/2 over Britain in world team golf Women's Golf
- US Women's Open - JoAnne Carner
- LPGA Championship - Kathy Whitworth
- Kathy Whitworth: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $41,181

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

- Australia - Melbourne Cup - Silver Knight
- Canada - Queen's Plate - Kennedy Road
- France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Mill Reef
- Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Irish Ball
- English Triple Crown Races:
- #Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Brigadier Gerard
- #Epsom Derby - Mill Reef
- #St. Leger Stakes - Athens Wood
- United States Triple Crown Races:
- #Kentucky Derby - Canonero II
- #Preakness Stakes - Canonero II
- #Belmont Stakes - Pass catcher

Harness Racing

- United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
- #Cane Pace - Albatross
- #Little Brown Jug - Nansemond
- #Messenger Stakes - Albatross
- United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
- #Hambletonian - Speedy Crown
- #Yonkers Trot
- #Kentucky Futurity
- Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
- Pacers: Stella Frost
- Trotters: Geffini

Ice Hockey

- Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins
- Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
- Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 3 over the Chicago Blackhawks
- World Hockey Championship
- Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Czechoslovakia

Radiosport

- Sixth Amateur Radio Direction Finding European Championship held in Duisburg, Federal Republic of Germany.

Skiing

- Alpine Skiing
- The men's overall season champion: Gustavo Thoeni, Italy
- The women's overall season champion: Annemarie Pröll, Austria

Snooker

- World Snooker Championship: John Spencer beats Warren Simpson 37-29

Tennis

- Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
- #Australian Open - Ken Rosewall
- #French Open - Jan Kodes
- #Wimbledon championships - John Newcombe
- #US Open - Stan Smith
- Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
- #Australian Open - Margaret Smith Court
- #French Open - Evonne Goolagong
- #Wimbledon championships - Evonne Goolagong
- #US Open - Billie Jean King
- Davis Cup: United States wins 3-2 over Romania in world tennis.
- Sixteen year old Chris Evert makes her US Open debut reaching the semifinals where she is defeated by eventual champion Billie Jean King.
- First time in 16 years that Americans won both the men's and women's title at the US Open.

General sporting events

Births

January-April

- January 2 - Karina Massota, Argentinian field hockey player
- January 4 - Melanie Cremer, German field hockey player
- January 14 - Bert Konterman, Dutch football player
- January 16 - Sergi Bruguera, Spanish tennis player
- January 16 - Ulrich van Gobbel, Dutch football player
- January 18 - Josep Guardiola, Spanish football player
- January 22 - Ellen Elzerman, Dutch swimmer
- January 26 - Karin Kienhuis, Dutch judoka
- January 26 - Denise Klecker, German field hockey player
- February 1 - Zlatko Zahovič, Slovenian football player
- February 19 - Martin van der Spoel, Dutch swimmer
- February 20 - Jari Litmanen, Finnish football player
- February 24 - Pedro de la Rosa, Spanish Formula 1-driver
- February 25 - Nova Peris-Kneebone, Australian athlete and field hockey player
- February 28 - Koos Issard, Dutch waterpolo player
- March 1 - Atif Bashir, Pakistani field hockey player
- March 6 - Servais Knaven, Dutch cyclist
- March 20 - Dmitriy Gaag, Kazakhstani triathlete
- March 27 - David Coulthard, Scottish Formula 1-driver
- March 31 - Pavel Bure, Russian ice hockey player
- April 1 - Vladimir Selkov, Russian swimmer
- April 2 - Todd Woodbridge, Australian tennis player
- April 8 - Ellen Kuipers, Dutch field hockey player
- April 9 - Jacques Villeneuve, Canadian Formula 1-driver
- April 10 - Helen Clarke, New Zealand field hockey goalkeeper
- April 12 - Christophe Moreau, French cyclist
- April 13 - Franck Esposito, French swimmer
- April 15 - Finidi George, Nigerian football player
- April 20 - Carla Geurts, Dutch swimmer
- April 24 - Phil Rogers, Australian swimmer

May-August

- May 1 - Damon Diletti, Australian field hockey player
- May 8 - James Elmer, Australian field hockey player
- May 12 - Ingrid van Lubek, Dutch triathlete
- May 16 - Gabriela Sabatini, Argentine tennis player
- May 21 - Tom Nanne, Dutch baseball player
- May 28 - Manuel Beltran, Spanish cyclist
- May 30 - Kyle Vander Kuyp, Australian indigenous athlete
- June 16 - Christian Mayerhöfer, German field hockey player
- June 21 - Irene Van Dyk, netballer
- June 26 - Max Biaggi, Italian motorcyclist
- June 28 - Fabien Barthez, French football goalkeeper
- July 6 - Jessica Gal, Dutch judoka
- July 9 - Hilary Rose, British field hockey goalkeeper
- July 13 - Richard Groenendaal, Dutch cyclist
- July 17 - Wilma van Hofwegen, Dutch swimmer
- July 17 - Nico Mattan, Belgian cyclist
- July 19 - Erik Jazet, Dutch field hockey player
- July 19 - Vitali Klitschko, Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion
- July 26 - Mladen Rudonja, Slovenian footballer
- July 30 - Mzukisi Sikali, South African boxer (d. 2005)
- August 4 - Jeff Gordon, NASCAR driver
- August 6 - Angela Postma, Dutch swimmer
- August 8 - Johnny Balentina, Dutch baseball player
- August 8 - Ramón Sala, Spanish field hockey player
- August 9 - Davide Rebellin, Italian cyclist
- August 10 - Roy Keane, Irish footballer
- August 10 - Mario César Kindelán Mesa, Cuban amateur boxer
- August 12 - Svetlana Bondarenko, Ukrainian swimmer
- August 12 - Diana van der Plaats, Dutch swimmer
- August 12 - Pete Sampras, American tennis player
- August 19 - Mary Joe Fernandez, American-Dominican tennis player
- August 23 - Demetrio Albertini, Italian footballer
- August 25 - Gilberto Simoni, Italian cyclist
- August 26 - Jeroen van Dijk, Dutch badminton player
- August 26 - Lisa Keightley, Australian cricketer
- August 27 - Ernest Faber, Dutch footballer
- August 28 - Janet Evans, American Olympic swimming champion

September-December

- September 1 - Hakan Şükür, Turkish footballer
- September 2 - Tom Steels, Belgian cyclist
- September 3 - Paolo Montero, Uruguay football player
- September 4 - Bas van de Goor, Dutch volleyball player
- September 9 - Serge Kats, Dutch sailor
- September 12 - Perry Ubeda, Dutch fighter
- September 13 - Goran Ivanisevic, Croatian tennis player
- September 15 - Annamarie Thomas, Dutch speed skater
- September 17 - Jens Voigt, German cyclist
- September 18 - Lance Armstrong, American cyclist
- September 19 - Mirnawan Nawawi, Malaysian field hockey player
- September 20 - Henrik Larsson, Swedish footballer
- September 22 - Trinko Keen, Dutch table tennis player
- September 24 - Linda Moes, Dutch swimmer
- October 13 - André Bergdølmo, Norwegian football player
- October 13 - Pyrros Dimas, Greek weightlifter
- October 22 - Amanda Coetzer, South African tennis player
- October 23 - Suzanne Plesman, Dutch field hockey player
- October 25 - Pedro Martinez, Major League Baseball player
- October 25 - Geoffrey Prommayon, Dutch football player
- October 26 - Didier Martel, French football player
- October 30 - Suzan van der Wielen, Dutch field hockey player
- November 1 - Jorge Lombi, Argentinian field hockey player
- November 16 - Alexander Popov, Russian swimming champion
- November 18 - Danny Heister, Dutch table tennis player
- November 18 - Bobby Julich, American cyclist
- November 23 - Christoph Bechmann, German field hockey player
- November 27 - Sam Smith, British tennis player
- November 30 - Gerard van Velde, Dutch speed skater
- December 3 - Henk Timmer, Dutch football player
- December 4 - Inge van den Broek, Dutch field hockey player
- December 6 - Richard Krajicek, Dutch tennis player who won Wimbledon (1996)
- December 6 - Carole Thate, Dutch field hockey player
- December 7 - Spira Grujic, Serbian football player
- December 17 - Antoine Rigaudeau, French basketball player
- December 18 - Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Spanish tennis player
- December 19 - Karen Pickering, British swimmer
- December 26 - Mika Nurmela, Finnish footbal player
- December 27 - Falko Zandstra, Dutch speed skater
- December 28 - Sergi Barjuán, Spanish football player
- December 29 - Jeroen Blijlevens, Dutch cyclist

Deaths

- March 15 - Jean-Pierre Monser, age 22‚ Flemish cyclist
- April 4 - Carl Mays, Major League Baseball pitcher (1915-1929)
- April 13 - Michel Briere 21, star rookie ice-hockey player, Pittsburgh Penguins
- April 7 - Charles Pahud de Mortanges, Dutch 2 time Olympic Equestrian gold medalist
- May 12 - Heinie Manush, Major League Baseball player (1923-1939)
- May 15 - Goose Goslin, Major League Baseball player (1921-1938)
- June 17 - C. Christopher Morris, American cricketer
- June 30 - Georgi Asparuhov, age 28, bulgarian football player, in a car crash
- October 24 - Chuck Hughes, Detroit Lions wide receiver collapsed during a game Category:1971
- ja:1971年のスポーツ

Ice hockey

Game

Penalties

Tactics

Periods and overtime

Equipment

History

Women's ice hockey

International competition

Terminology

World Cup of Hockey net, while visiting the Powerade Centre.]]

Statistics

- Goal
- Assist
- Plus/minus
- Save percentage
- Goals Against Average

Personnel

- Alternate captain
- Captain
- Centre
- Coach
- Defenceman
- Forward
- Goal judge
- Goaltender
- Official
- Power forward
- Winger
- Puck Bunnies

Rink

- Crease
- Blue line
- Hash marks
- Rink
- Penalty box
- Red line
- Slot

Game play

Equipment

- Hockey pants/ Breezers
- Hockey stick
- Hockey jersey
- Shin guards/pads
- Goalie mask
- Hockey puck
- Helmets
- Visors
- Zamboni
- Ice Skates
- Jock/Jill
- Mouthguard
- Socks

External links

Notes

# Category:Olympic sports Category:Hockey Category:Winter sports Category:Team sports Category:Skating ja:アイスホッケー simple:Ice hockey

National Hockey League

History

The beginnings to The Original Six

Expansion: 1967 and beyond

Labour Issues

Post Lockout

Trophies and awards

Current organization

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Structure

Presidents/Commissioners of the NHL

External links

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and largest city of Georgia, a state of the United States of America. It is the county seat of Fulton County, although a portion of the city (the 1909 annex) is located in DeKalb County. According to the latest census estimates (as of December, 2004), the city had a population of 425,000 and the fast-growing Atlanta metropolitan area totaled 4,708,297, making it the ninth-largest metropolitan area in the United States and the 41st-largest city proper. Atlanta is arguably a poster-child for cities worldwide experiencing rapid urban sprawl, population growth, and commercial development. As a result, Atlanta is a common case study for college students who study Urban Geography around the globe. The Atlanta area was originally inhabited by Cherokee and Creek Indians, and was named Standing Peachtree. In 1823, the area was opened to white settlement. It remained mostly woods until 1836, when the area was chosen as the southern "Terminus" of a railroad from Chattanooga. A local settlement called "Thrashersville" (near present-day Philips arena, home of the Atlanta Thrashers) was renamed "Terminus," but in 1843 the town was renamed "Marthasville," after the wife of the governor of Georgia. The business community, however, was concerned that such a name wouldn't sell, and a new name, "Atlanta," was chosen in 1845 as much more marketable. Hence, from the start "Atlanta" began as a transportation hub and marketing center. The town was incorporated as the "city" of Atlanta in 1847, and by 1860 the population was 9,554. Atlanta was largely destroyed by Union forces during the Civil War, but was chosen as the state capital in 1868, having been established as the site of command for Union soldiers and the Reconstruction administration. In the 1880's, a revival was led by newspaperman Henry Grady, who advocated Atlanta as the "capital of the New South." By 1890 Atlanta had 65,000 residents and was one of the 50 largest cities in America, a distinction Atlanta has held for over 110 years. In the 20th century, Atlanta was a center for the American Civil Rights Movement and served as the host city for the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics. One of the city's nicknames, "The Phoenix City", relates to its rise after the Civil War. The phoenix appears in many of Atlanta's symbols, including its seal and flag. In the 1940s and 1950s, former Atlanta mayor William B. Hartsfield called Atlanta "The City Too Busy to Hate". In addition, it has also been called the "New York of the South" in response to one of Georgia's own nicknames, "The Empire State of the South." Atlanta may also be known as ATL, a colloquialism for the city (also the IATA airport code for the airport). Atlanta is circled by Interstate 285, which has come to delineate the interior of the city from the surrounding suburbs. This has given rise to calling residents inside the "Perimeter" (local parlance for I-285) as ITP (Inside the Perimeter) and those in the suburbs OTP (Outside the Perimeter). The Perimeter is Atlanta's equivalent to the Capital Beltway around Washington, DC. Atlanta has such a great economic impact on the state and the surrounding region that cities and towns up to 60 miles away are considered 'exurbs', defined by the fact that people depend on their livelihoods by commuting to work in the city, rapidly growing what is called Metro Atlanta. The city is also arguably the most influential seat of African political and economic power in the globe; Atlanta has not had a non-black mayor for over 30 years, and in recent decades nearly all Fire Chiefs, Police Chiefs, and other government officials have been African-American.

History

The region where Atlanta and its suburbs were built was originally Creek and Cherokee Native American territory. In 1835, leaders of the Cherokee nation ceded their land to the government in exchange for land out west under the Treaty of New Echota, and act that eventually led to the Trail of Tears. In 1836 the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western and Atlantic Railroad to provide a trade route to the Midwest, with the area around Atlanta--then called Terminus--serving as the terminal. The terminus was originally planned for Decatur, but its citizens did not want it. Besides Decatur, several other suburbs of Atlanta predate the city by several years, including Marietta and Lawrenceville. Terminus grew as a railroad town; later it was renamed Marthasville after then-Governor Wilson Lumpkin's daughter Martha. Marthasville was renamed Atlanta in 1845 and was incorporated as such in 1847. 1847 In 1864, the city became the target of a major Union invasion (the subject of the 1939 film Gone with the Wind). The area now covered by Atlanta was the scene of several battles, including the Battle of Peachtree Creek, the Battle of Atlanta, and the Battle of Ezra Church. On September 1, 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood evacuated Atlanta after a four-month siege mounted by Union General William Sherman and ordered all public buildings and possible union assets destroyed. The next day, mayor James Calhoun surrendered the city, and on September 7 Sherman ordered the civilian population to evacuate. He then ordered Atlanta burned to the ground on November 11 in preparation for his punitive march south. After a plea by Father Thomas O'Reilly of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Sherman did not burn the city's churches or hospitals. The remaining war resources were then destroyed in the aftermath and in Sherman's March to the Sea. The fall of Atlanta was a critical point in the Civil War, giving the North more confidence, and leading to the re-election of Abraham Lincoln and the eventual surrender of the Confederacy. After the war, Atlanta was gradually rebuilt and soon became the industrial and commercial center of the South. From 1867 until 1888, US Army soldiers occupied McPherson Barracks (later renamed Fort McPherson) in southwest Atlanta to ensure Reconstruction era reforms. To help the newly freed slaves, the federal government set up a Freedmen's Bureau, which helped establish what is now Clark Atlanta University, one of several historically black colleges in Atlanta. In 1868, Atlanta became the fifth city to serve as the state capital. Henry W. Grady, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution, promoted the city to investors as a city of the "New South," by which he meant a diversification of the economy away from agriculture and a shift from the "Old South" attitudes of slavery and rebellion. Atlanta Constitution As Atlanta grew, ethnic and racial tensions mounted. A race riot in 1906 left at least twelve dead and over seventy injured. In 1913, Leo Frank, a Jewish supervisor at an Atlanta factory, was put on trial for raping and murdering a thirteen-year old white employee. After doubts about Frank's guilt led his death sentence to be commuted in 1915, riots broke out in Atlanta and Frank was lynched. In the 1930s, the Great Depression hit Atlanta. With the city government nearing bankruptcy, the Coca-Cola Company had to help bail out the city's deficit. The federal government stepped in to help Atlantans by establishing Techwood Homes, the nation's first federal housing project in 1935. With the entry of the United States into World War II, soldiers from around the southeast went through Atlanta to train and later be discharged at Fort McPherson. War-related manufacturing such as the Bell Aircraft factory in the suburb of Marietta helped boost the city's population and economy. Shortly after the war in 1946, the Communicable Disease Center, later called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was founded in Atlanta from the old Malaria Control in War Areas offices and staff. In 1951, the city received the All-America City Award, due to its rapid growth and high standard of living in the southern U.S. In the 1960s, Atlanta was a major organizing center of the civil rights movement, with Dr. Martin Luther King and students from Atlanta's historically black colleges and universities playing major roles in the movement's leadership. On October 19, 1960, a sit-in at the lunch counters of several Atlanta department stores led to the arrest of Dr. King and several students, drawing attention from the national media and from presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. Despite this incident, Atlanta's political and business leaders fostered Atlanta's image as "the city too busy to hate" by avoiding the types of violent confrontations that took place in Selma, Alabama and Birmingham. In 1990, the International Olympic Committee selected Atlanta as the site for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Following the announcement, Atlanta undertook several major construction projects to improve the city's parks, sports facilities, and transportation. Former Mayor Bill Campbell allowed many "tent cities" to be built creating a carnival atmosphere around the games. The games themselves were a wonderful achievement in sports, but were marred by the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, which resulted in the death of two people and injured several others. The bombing was carried out by Eric Robert Rudolph.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 343.0 km² (132.4 mi²). 341.2 km² (131.8 mi²) of it is land and 1.8 km² (0.7 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.51% water. At about 1000 feet or 300 meters above mean sea level, Atlanta sits atop a ridge south of the Chattahoochee River. Amongst the 25 largest MSAs, Atlanta is the third-highest in elevation, slightly lower than Phoenix and 1 mile (1,600 m) high Denver. According to folklore, its central avenue, Peachtree Street, runs through the center of the city on the Eastern Continental Divide. In actuality, the divide line enters Atlanta from the southwest, proceeding to downtown. From downtown, the divide line runs eastward along DeKalb Avenue and the CSX rail lines through Decatur. Rainwater that falls on the south and east side runs eventually into the Atlantic Ocean while rainwater on the north and west side of the divide runs into the Gulf of Mexico. The latter is via the Chattahoochee River, part of the ACF River Basin, and from which Atlanta and many of its neighbors draw most of their water. Being at the far northwestern edge of the city, much of the river's natural habitat is still preserved, in part by the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Downstream however, excessive water use during droughts and pollution during floods has been a source of contention and legal battles with neighboring states Alabama and Florida.

Climate

Due to its high elevation and distance from a large body of water, Atlanta experiences a climate much more temperate than the subtropical coastal areas of Georgia, with extremes of hot and cold and a high degree of seasonal temperature variation. Though now somewhat offset by the urban heat island effect, this still results in a climate colder than many other cities in the South of the U.S., despite its common nickname, "Hotlanta". At 33 degrees 39 minutes north, Atlanta lies at approximately the same latitude as Los Angeles, Phoenix and Casablanca, but due to its elevation and location in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is much cooler than these places and sees snowfall in winter. Atlanta's record high of 105 F was recorded on July 13 and 17, 1980, still lower than most major cities (even Detroit has reached 106, and New York City 107). The record low temperature in the city is a very cold -9 F.

People and culture

Demographics

South The census of 2000 states there are 416,474 people, (423,019 as of 2003 estimates), 168,147 households, and 83,232 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,221/km² (3,161/mi²). There are 186,925 housing units at an average density of 548/km² (1,419/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 61.39% Black , 33.22% White,1.93% Asian,, 0.18% Native American, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.99% from other races, and 1.24% from two or more races. 4.49% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. The city has one of the largest gay populations in the nation; according to Census 2000 both DeKalb and Fulton counties are among the ten most heavily gay counties in America. There are several predominately and largely gay neighborhoods, mostly in the Midtown area of the city. There are 168,147 households out of which 22.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 24.5% are married couples living together, 20.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 50.5% are non-families. 38.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.30 and the average family size is 3.16. In the city the population is spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 13.3% from 18 to 24, 35.2% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 97.6 males. The median income for a household in the city is $51,482 and the median income for a family is $55,939. Males have a median income of $36,162 compared to $30,178 for females. The per capita income for the city is $29,772, and 24.4% of the population and 21.3% of families are below the poverty line. 38.8% of those under the age of 18 and 20.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. :See also: population of Atlanta

Crime

Despite the city's overwhelming prosperity, Atlanta has had a negative reputation as being among the most violent cities in North America for several decades. The 2003 FBI crime report listed Atlanta as having the highest violent crime rate per 100,000 people in the country, beating Detroit by a narrow margin. The designation is based on crime statistics in six categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and auto theft. [http://www.morganquitno.com/cit05pop.htm#25] Specifically, the murder rate was a very high 26 per 100,000 citizens in 2004. The high crime rate has also negatively affected Atlanta at the International level, where crime statistics were among the greatest factors in the possibility of the International Olympic Committee awarding the 1996 Olympic Games to a safer host city in the early 1990's. Atlanta eventually won out due to its superior infrastructure and financial support. In 2005 alone, Atlanta-based crime has received embarrassing national and International media attention for the high-profile Brian Nichols manhunt, who became internationally known as the "Courthouse Killer". In addition, a murder suspect who perched himself on top of a construction crane for several days in the upscale Buckhead district had the ensuing drama broadcast on international television for several days. Furthermore, the Atlanta City Council approved an ordinance to ban panhandling, which attracted worldwide attention due to public protests and a legal challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Despite these setbacks, however, crime statistics have consistently pointed toward a decline in crime in Atlanta, and while still high, the murder rate in 2004 was half that of New Orleans. As of July 2005, Atlanta was on track to reduce its murder rate by over thirty percent in comparison to 2004.
- The latest Uniform Crime Reports can be downloaded at the [http://www.atlantapd.org/index.asp?nav=crime Atlanta Police Department's Website].
- Atlanta's 2004 crime statistics are available for viewing [http://atlanta.areaconnect.com/crime1.htm here].

Attractions, events, and recreation

New Orleans New Orleans New Orleans New Orleans Atlanta boasts a variety of museums on subjects ranging from history to fine arts, natural history, and beverages. Prominent among them are sites honoring Atlanta's participation in the civil rights movement. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in the city, and his boyhood home on Auburn Avenue in the Sweet Auburn district is preserved as the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. Meetings with other civil rights leaders, including Hosea Williams and current Congressman John Lewis, often happened at Paschal's, a diner and motor inn which was a favorite for "colored" people, banned from "white" restaurants in an era of racial segregation and intolerance. King's final resting place is in the tomb at the center of the reflecting pool at the King Center. Other history museums and attractions include the Atlanta History Center; the Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum (a huge painting and diorama in-the-round, with a rotating central audience platform, that depicts the Battle of Atlanta in the Civil War); the Carter Center and Presidential Library; and the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum. The arts are represented by several theaters and museums, including the Fox Theatre. The Woodruff Arts Center is home to the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony, High Museum of Art, and Atlanta College of Art. Museums geared specifically towards children include the Fernbank Science Center and Imagine It! Atlanta's Children's Museum. The High Museum of Art is the city's major fine/visual arts venue, with a significant permanent collection and an assortment of traveling exhibitions. Atlanta features the world's largest aquarium, the Georgia Aquarium, which will be open to the public in November, 2005. The aquarium will feature over 100,000 specimens in tanks holding approximately eight million gallons of water. Another unique museum is the World of Coca-Cola featuring the history of the world famous soft drink brand and its well-known advertising. Adjacent is Underground Atlanta, a historic shopping and entertainment complex situated under the streets of downtown Atlanta. While not a museum per se, The Varsity is the main branch of the long-lived fast food chain, featured as the world's largest drive-in restaurant. A few miles west of Atlanta on I-20 is the Six Flags Over Georgia Theme Park, which opened near the city in 1967, and was the second theme park in the Six Flags chain. The heart of the city's festivals is Piedmont Park. In 1887, a group of prominent Atlantans purchased 189 acres (0.76 km²) of farmland to build a horse racing track, later developed into the site of the Cotton States International Exposition of 1895. In 1904, the city council purchased the land for $99,000, and today it is the largest park in metro Atlanta, with more than 2.5 million visitors each year. The grounds were part of the Battle of Peachtree Creek – a Confederate division occupied the northern edge on July 20, 1864 as part of the outer defense line against Sherman's approach. Next to the park is the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Zoo Atlanta, home to its own panda exhibit, is located in Grant Park. Just east of the city, Stone Mountain is the largest piece of exposed granite in the world. On its face are giant carvings of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. It is also the site of impressive laser shows in the summer. Popular annual cultural events include:
- Atlanta Dogwood Festival, a Spring arts and crafts festival at Piedmont Park.
- Music Midtown - Three-day music festival in early summer.
- Atlanta Gay Pride [http://www.atlantapride.org]
- Atlanta Jazz Festival [http://www.atlantafestivals.com/], largest free jazz festival in the USA
- Sweet Auburn SpringFest
- Inman Park Festival [http://www.inmanpark.org/festival.php]
- Virginia-Highlands Summerfest [http://www.vahi.org/summerfest.html]
- Georgia Renaissance Festival [http://www.garenfest.com/]

Media

The major daily newspaper in Atlanta is The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Other weekly papers include Creative Loafing and Atlanta Nation. The Atlanta metro area is served by a wide variety of local television stations, and is the ninth largest designated market area (DMA) in the U.S. with 2,059,450 homes (1.88% of the total U.S.). The major network television affiliates are WXIA 11 (NBC), WSB 2 (ABC), WGCL 46 (CBS), WAGA 5 (FOX), WATL 36 (WB), WUPA 69 (UPN), WUVG 48 (Univision), WPXA 14 (i), and WHSG 63 (TBN). There are also two PBS stations: WGTV 8 (PBS) and WPBA 30 (PBS), and one independently operated station: WATC 54. Several cable television networks also operate from Atlanta, including TBS Superstation, CNN, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and TNT. These stations are owned by Turner Broadcasting System (now Time Warner). The Weather Channel (owned by Landmark Communications) also broadcasts from the Atlanta area. Nintendo's American Division has its distribution center based in Atlanta. It's the main place where imported games and products arrive to United States and are often inspected and shipped to stores nationwide.

Music

Jermaine Dupri's 2001 hip hop single "Welcome to Atlanta" declares Atlanta the "new Motown", referencing the city of Detroit, Michigan, which was known for its contributions to popular music. A significant number of Atlantans have become successful musicians, including artists such as OutKast, Jerry Reed, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Kelly Rowland, Blaque, Ludacris, T.I., Young Jeezy, Ying Yang Twins, Monica, Youngbloodz, Mase, and Lil Jon, Others, such as Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, have moved to the city and made it their home. Of the many modern day recording artist/groups to be originated in Atlanta, TLC still by records sold, holds the crown for the biggest present day act with records sell hovering around the 50 million mark. Atlanta has also produced rock and pop music singers, such as alternative metal band Sevendust, modern rock band Collective Soul, and Connecticut-born pop-rock musician John Mayer. Record Producers L.A. Reid and Babyface founded LaFace Records in Atlanta in the late-1980s; the label has eventually become the home to multi-platinum selling artists such as Toni Braxton, TLC, OutKast, Goodie Mob, Usher and Ciara, many of whom are Atlantans themselves. It is also the home of So So Def Records, a label founded by Jermaine Dupri in the mid-1990s, that signed acts such as Da Brat, Jagged Edge, Xscape,Dem Franchise Boyz, and Bow Wow. The success of LaFace and SoSo Def led to Atlanta as an established scene for record labels such as LaFace parent company Arista to set up satellite offices. Despite producing numerous famous musicians, however, Atlanta's live music scene has suffered in recent years. Due in part to harsher new laws dictating the closing times of bars and nightclubs, many small to medium sized venues have closed down. As a result, fewer and fewer touring acts are stopping by Atlanta, putting further financial strain on the remaining clubs and venues. In the early 1980s, Atlanta was the home of a thriving new wave music scene featuring such bands as The Brains and The Producers, closely linked to the new wave scenes in Athens, Georgia and other college towns in the southeast.

Sports

Athens, GeorgiaAtlanta has a rich sports history, including the first intercollegiate football game in the South, Auburn University vs. University of Georgia in 1892. This game is often considered the Oldest Rivalry in the South. Currently it hosts college football's annual Peach Bowl and the Peachtree Road Race, the world’s largest 10K race. Atlanta was the host city for the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics. Centennial Olympic Park, built for 1996 Summer Olympics, sits adjacent to CNN Center and Philips Arena. It is now operated by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. The city is also host to four different major league sports. The Atlanta Braves baseball team has been the Major League Baseball franchise of Atlanta since 1966; the franchise was previously known as the Boston Braves (1912-1952), and the Milwaukee Braves (1953-1965). The team was founded in 1871 in Boston, Massachusetts as a National Association club, making it the oldest continuously operating sports franchise in North American sports. The Braves won the World Series in 1995 and have had an unprecedented run of fourteen straight divisional championships since 1991. Before the Braves moved to Atlanta, the Atlanta Crackers were Atlanta's professional baseball team from 1901 until their last season in 1965. They won 17 league championships in the minor leagues. The Atlanta Black Crackers were Atlanta's Negro League team from around 1921 until 1949. The Atlanta Falcons American football team plays at the Georgia Dome. They have been Atlanta's National Football League franchise since 1966. They have won the division title three times, and a conference championship once, only to go on to lose to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII. The Atlanta Hawks basketball team has been the National Basketball Association franchise of Atlanta since 1969; the team was previously known as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks (1946-1951), Milwaukee Hawks (1951-55), St. Louis Hawks (1955-68). Their only NBA championship was in 1958, when they were the St. Louis Hawks. From 1992 to 1996 Atlanta was home to the short-lived Atlanta Knights, an International Hockey League team. Their inaugural season was excellent for a new team, and was only bested by their sophomore season in which they won the championship Turner Cup. In 1996 they moved to Quebec City and became the Quebec Rafales. In 1999 the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team became Atlanta's National Hockey League franchise. They replaced the Atlanta Flames which had departed for Calgary in 1980, becoming the Calgary Flames. The Thrashers have yet to make it to the playoffs. Both the Thrashers and the Hawks play in Philips Arena. The Georgia Force has been Atlanta's team in the Arena Football League since the franchise relocated from Nashville in 2002. The 2005 National Conference champions currently play in Philips Arena. The final event of the PGA Tour season, THE TOUR Championship, is played annually at East Lake Golf Club. This golf course is used because of its connection to the great amateur golfer Bobby Jones, an Atlanta native. From 2001 to 2003 Atlanta hosted the Atlanta Beat soccer team of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association. They appeared in two of the three Founders Cup championships held, losing to the Bay Area CyberRays in 2001, and the Washington Freedom team in 2003. Currently, Atlanta is the home of the Atlanta Silverbacks of the United Soccer Leagues First Division (Men) and W-League (Women) Other nearby sports facilities include Atlanta Motor Speedway, a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) NASCAR race track in Hampton, Georgia. Atlanta is home to the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl which is played at the Georgia Dome and matches a SEC team against an ACC opponent, as well as the SEC Championship Game in football annually, as well as hosting the basketball and gymnastics championships on several occasions.

Religion

Being the unofficial capital of the 'bible belt', a geographic region considered among the most highly religious in western civilization, the Atlanta cityscape is teeming with a seemingly countless amount of large denominational churches and other places of worship. A large majority of Atlantans profess to following a Protestant Christian faith, and many people point out that religion plays a reasonably important role in their weekly lives. As a result, the city could arguably have the distinction of being among the most religious major cities in the country. Furthermore, a large number of students in the Metro area's northern counties attend faith-based Private Schools at a rate unsurpassed by many other parts of the country. Atlanta serves as the provincial see for the Province of Atlanta, in addition to being home to the Archdiocese of Atlanta (Catholic). The city is also a major Southern Baptist center.

Economy

Despite romantic associations, Atlanta has always been more a commercial city than an ante-bellum monument. It is the major center of regional commerce, and boasts an especially strong convention and trade show business. According to the ranking of world cities undertaken by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC) and based on the level of presence of global corporate service organisations, Atlanta is considered a gamma or minor world city. Several major national and international companies are headquartered in Atlanta or its nearby suburbs, including five Fortune 100 companies: The Coca-Cola Company (started in Atlanta), BellSouth, United Parcel Service in Sandy Springs, Home Depot (started in Atlanta), and Georgia-Pacific. Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus has donated more than 200 million dollars to build the new Georgia Aquarium. Newell Rubbermaid recently moved to Sandy Springs as well. Atlanta also has its own Flatiron Building, built before (1897) the better-known one in New York City (1902). On the north side of the city near Midtown, the former Atlantic Steel plant is being redeveloped as Atlantic Station, a mixed-use urban renewal project combining housing, retail, and office space, and promoted as one solution to Atlanta's ever more serious traffic and summer smog problems. The metro area has one of America's longest daily commutes, and is one of the most car-dependent cities on the planet, both due to suburban sprawl, an only somewhat effective mass transit system, and lack of large nearby lakes or mountains to compress growth. It also has a notorious reputation as being one of the most dangerous for pedestrians, as far back as 1949, when Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell was struck by a speeding car and killed. The city is a major cable television programming source; CNN Center, headquarters of the Cable News Network, is in Atlanta where the network was founded, and The Weather Channel broadcasts from just outside of town. In addition to CNN, Ted Turner's (and now Time Warner's) other networks from Atlanta include Cartoon Network/Adult Swim and companion channel Boomerang, TNT, Turner South, CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Headline News, CNN Airport Network, and TBS. Atlanta's WTBS channel 17 (originally WTCG) was Turner's start in television in the 1970s, after he bought the struggling UHF TV station, turning it into a profitable venture which still broadcasts "Superstation" TBS locally and nationally. Atlanta's WSB was the first AM radio station in the South. There are also many Atlanta FM radio stations that play music of different kinds.

Infrastructure

Government

Atlanta FM radio stations Atlanta is governed by an at-large elected mayor and a city council. The city council consists of representatives of twelve districts from the city as well as three at-large positions. The mayor may veto a bill passed by the council, but the council may override with a two-thirds majority. The current mayor of Atlanta is Shirley Franklin. Possibly owing to the city's African American majority, each mayor elected since 1973 has been black; the uninterrupted string of black mayors in excess of thirty years is a first for any metropolitan area in the country. Maynard Jackson was elected for two terms and then for another term in the early 1990s. His successors Andrew Young (and later, Bill Campbell) owed their success in the mayoral election at least in part to Jackson's endorsement. In July 2004, Atlanta became the first city in the state to impose a sales tax of its own, bringing the total to 8% in both the Fulton and DeKalb parts of the city. This passed in a referendum during the July 20th primary election with a 75% majority, after being allowed by the state legislature earlier in 2004. The sales tax helped to reduce a huge rate increase on water and sewer bills, necessary to pay three billion dollars in bonds to fix the city's aging (and in places decrepit) municipal water and sewer systems. Combined sewer overflows will also be eliminated, so that runoff water is separated, preventing diluted sewage from overflowing at sewage treatment plants during heavy rains. As the state capital, Atlanta is also the site of most of Georgia's state government, including the Georgia State Capitol (topped with gold from Dahlonega, Georgia), the General Assembly, and the residence of the Governor of Georgia in Buckhead. It is also home to Georgia Public Broadcasting headquarters and Peachnet, and is the county seat of Fulton County, with which it shares responsibility for the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System.

Transportation

Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System Atlanta is served by Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport , the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic and the world's second busiest by aircraft traffic, providing air service to and from many national and international destinations. It is situated 10 miles south of downtown, adjacent to the intersection of I-85 and I-285. The MARTA rail system has a station within the airport terminal, and provides direct service to the business areas in downtown Atlanta, Buckhead and Sandy Springs. The major general aviation airports near the city proper are DeKalb-Peachtree Airport and Atlanta/Fulton County Airport-Brown Field . See List of airports in the Atlanta area for a more complete listing. Three major interstate highways intersect the city; I-20 runs east-west, while I-75 runs NW to SE and I-85 runs NE to SW, and join together as the Downtown Connector through the center of the city. I-285 (also known as "the Perimeter") encircles the city and some of its inner suburbs. I-75 just north of the Windy Hill Road interchange in Cobb County is one of the widest freeways (seventeen lanes) in the entire world. The intersection of I-85 and I-285 in Doraville, locally referred to as Spaghetti Junction, is one of the tallest in the eastern United States. Metropolitan Atlanta is crisscrossed by thirteen freeways (in addition to the aforementioned interstates, I-575, Georgia 400, Georgia 141, I-675, Georgia 316, I-985, Stone Mountain Freeway (US 78), and Langford Parkway (SR 166)). The [http://www.dot.state.ga.us/ Georgia Department of Transportation] operates [http://georgianavigator.com/ Georgia Navigator] to disseminate current traffic (travel times, camera images, accidents) and road (construction, flooding, ice, debris) conditions throughout the state. MARTA is the public transit agency in the city, operating the subway and bus system within Fulton and Dekalb Counties. Clayton County, Gwinnett County and Cobb County all operate separate, autonomous transit authorities, all consisting of a bus network, with no rail. However, many commuters in Atlanta and the surrounding suburbs use automobiles as their primary mode of transportation. This results in heavy traffic during rush hour and contributes to Atlanta's air pollution problems. In recent years, the Atlanta metro area has ranked at or near the top of the longest average commute time in the US. Atlanta grew up as a railroad town and is still today a major rail junction, with several busy freight lines belonging to Norfolk Southern and CSX intersecting below street level in the downtown area. Long distance passenger service is provided by Amtrak's Crescent train which connects Atlanta with the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Charlotte, Birmingham and New Orleans. The Amtrak station is situated at 1688 Peachtree St. N.W., several miles north of downtown and not well located for onward public transportation. An ambitious long-standing proposal would create a Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal in downtown adjacent to Philips Arena and the Five-Points MARTA station which would link MARTA bus and rail, intercity bus service, proposed commuter rail service to other Georgia cities, and Amtrak in a single facility. Greyhound Lines provides intercity bus service between Atlanta and many locations throughout the United States and Canada. The Greyhound terminal is situated at 232 Forsyth Street, on the southern edge of the downtown area and directly beneath MARTA's Garnett rail station. The proposed Beltline would create a greenway and public transit system in a circle around the city from a series of mostly abandoned rail lines. This rail right of way would also accommodate multi-use trails connecting a string of existing and new parks.

Education

Public schools

The public school system (Atlanta Public Schools) is run by the Atlanta Board of Education. Currently, the system has an active enrollment of 51,000 students, attending a total of 85 schools: 59 elementary schools (three of which operate on a year-round calendar), 16 middle schools, 10 high schools, and 7 charter schools. The school system also supports two alternative schools for middle and/or high school students, two community schools, and an adult learning center. The school system also owns and operates radio station WABE-FM 90.1 (the National Public Radio affiliate) and PBS television station WPBA 30.

Private schools

There are also several private schools in the area. Some notable private schools include Atlanta International School (Buckhead), The Galloway School, Marist School, Holy Spirit Preparatory School, Pace Academy, The Lovett School (Buckhead), The Paideia School, Greater Atlanta Christian School (Norcross), St. Pius X Catholic High School (Chamblee-Tucker), Blessed Trinity Catholic High School, The Westminster Schools (Buckhead), Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School (Rabun Gap), Woodward Academy (College Park), Atlanta Girls' School (Buckhead), Mount Vernon Presbyterian School (Sandy Springs).

Colleges and universities

Some of the prominent institutions of higher education in Atlanta include Emory University, Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, Mercer University, and Oglethorpe University. Atlanta University Cen

1972-73 NHL season

The 1972-73 NHL season was the 56th season of the National Hockey League. Sixteen teams each played 78 games. For the first time since the colapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926, the National Hockey League had serious competition. A new professional hockey league, the World Hockey Association, made its season debut with 12 new teams, many of which were based in the same cities as NHL teams. Unlike the Western Hockey League, though, the new World Hockey Assocation didn't challenge for the Stanley Cup. In response to the new league, the NHL quickly added two new teams, the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames, in attempts to secure more markets. Prior to the start of the season, the 1972 Summit Series, which was the first ever meeting between Soviet Union and NHL calibre Canadian ice hockey players, took place. Canada expected to easily beat the Soviets, but were shocked to find themselves with a losing record of one win, two losses, and a tie after four games in Canada. In game four, which Canada lost 5-3, Vancouver fans echoed the rest of Canada's thoughts of Team Canada's poor performance by booing them off the ice. The final four games were played in the Soviet Union. Canada lost game five, but won the last three for a final record of four wins, three losses, and a tie. The Montreal Canadiens won their second consecutive Stanley Cup by beating the Chicago Black Hawks four games to two in the finals.

Regular season

The Canadiens took over first place in the East Division and the league from the Boston Bruins while for the third straight season the Chicago Black Hawks dominated the West Division.

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Scoring leaders

Leading goaltenders

Stanley Cup playoffs

All dates in 1973 Chicago Black Hawks]

Stanley Cup finals

NHL awards

References

- [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Hockey Database]
- [http://nhl.com/] Category:NHL Seasons Category:1972 in sports Category:1973 in sports

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded¹ from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

State and local governments

supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system. The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole. In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships. The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean. The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited. The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.

Foreign relations and military

sovereign] The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between. Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war. The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation. The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development. (For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)

Largest cities

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged. Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics. The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:

Economy

The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. gross domestic product The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others. Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry. Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars. The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries. In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000. Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years. The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 (2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually. Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws. America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s. America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.’s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."

Transportation

Alan Greenspan ]] Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states. Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world's largest and most heavily used subway systems. The regional rail and bus networks that extend into Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate New York, and Connecticut are among the most heavily used in the world. Air travel is often preferred for destinations over 300 miles (500 kilometers) away. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; in terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. There are several major seaports in the United States; the three busiest are the Port of Los Angeles, California; the Port of Long Beach, California; and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Others include Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington; plus, outside the contiguous forty-eight states, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Society

Demographics

Hawaii The mean center of the U.S. population continues to drift farther west and south. The fastest growing region is the western United States followed by the southern portion. According to Census 2000, the states that saw the greatest increases from 1990 were: Nevada (66.3%), Arizona (40%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%), Idaho (28.5%), Georgia (26.4%), Florida (23.5%), Texas (22.8%), North Carolina (21.4%), and Washington (21.1%). [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf]

Ethnicity and race

:Main article: Racial demographics of the United States The United States is a very racially diverse country. According to the 2000 census, it has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, and numerous others represented in smaller amounts. The majority of Americans descend from white European immigrants who arrived at the establishment of the first colonies (most after Reconstruction). This majority--69.1% in 2000--decreases each year, and is expected to become a plurality within a few decades. The most frequently stated European ancestries are German (15.2%), Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) and Scandinavian (3.7%). Many immigrants also hail from Slavic countries such as Poland and Russia. Other significant immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada. Russia Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are the largest minority group in the country, comprising 12.5% of the population (2000 census). People of Mexican descent made up 7.3% of the population in the 2000 census, and this proportion is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades. About 12.3% (2000 census) of the American people are African Americans (Blacks). African Americans are spread throughout the country, but their presence is largest in the South. Asian Americans--including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders--are a third significant minority (3.7% of the population in 2000). Most Asian Americans are concentrated on the West Coast and Hawaii. The largest groups are immigrants or descendants of emigrants from the Philippines, China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. Indigenous peoples in the United States, such as American Indians and Inuit, make up 0.9% of the population (2000 census). About 35% live on Indian reservations.

Religion

Polls estimate that just under 80 percent of Americans are Christians of various denominations. The other 20 percent comprises other religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, other various faiths, and those without a specific religion. The United States is noteworthy among developed nations for its relatively high level of religiosity. According to a 2004 Gallup poll, about 44% of Americans attend a religious service at least once a week. However, this rate is not uniform across the country; attendance is more common in the Bible Belt—composed largely of Southern and Midwestern states—than in the Northeast and West Coast. In the Southern states, Baptists are the largest group, followed by Methodists; Roman Catholics are dominant in the Northeast and in large parts of the Midwest due to their being settled by descendants of Catholic immigrants from Europe (such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland) or other parts of North America (mainly Quebec and Puerto Rico). The rest of the country for the most part has a complex mixture of various Christian groups.

Education

West Coast's home at Monticello and the University of Virginia (library building shown above, and designed by Jefferson), the only collegiate campus on the list. Both sites are located in Charlottesville, Virginia.]] In the United States, education is a state, not federal, responsibility, and the laws and standards vary considerably. However, the federal government, through the Department of Education, is involved with funding of some programs and exerts some influence through its ability to control funding. In most states, all students must attend mandatory schooling starting with kindergarten, which children normally enter at age 5, and following through 12th grade, which is normally completed at age 18

World Hockey Association

The World Hockey Association (French: Association Mondiale de Hockey) was a professional ice hockey league in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League after the 1925-26 WHL season. Although the WHA was not the first league since that time to attempt to challenge the NHL's supremacy, it was by far the most successful. A key part of its success was its firm stance in not recognizing the reserve clause that found its way onto NHL contracts of the time, and its active scouting of players from all over the world, in contrast to the mainly-North American NHL. However, the WHA was also known for its unstable franchises, and the multi-million-dollar salaries it introduced to the game have remained a source of contention. The WHA hoped to capitalize on the lack of hockey teams in a number of major cities, it also hoped to attract the best players by paying more than the cartel of NHL owners were.

History

The league was founded by American promoters Dennis Murphy and Gary Davidson, the founder and first president of the American Basketball Association, respectively. Murphy and Davidson were quick to bring Canadian investor Bill Hunter into the fold. Hunter was considered one of the most powerful men in hockey not associated with the NHL, and with his help, the WHA had solid backing in Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg, potentially giving the new league four Western Canadian teams - one more than the NHL had in all of Canada at the time. Part of the WHA's success was its abolishment of the reserve clause in its contracts, as well as the fact that it would also not honour the reserve clauses in NHL contracts. As many players employed by the NHL were set to have their contracts expire in 1972, many would try to defect to the WHA as a negotiation tool with their teams, or, in any event, consider offers to play for the fledgling league before looking to new NHL contracts. Some, including many stars such as Bobby Hull, would carry out their threat and join the WHA. The NHL, for its part, did nothing, believing the WHA would fold before their first season. When it was apparent that the WHA would play, the NHL responded by adding the New York Islanders and the Atlanta Flames into their fold. On November of 1971, twelve teams were formally announced. They included teams from cities without NHL teams such as the Miami Screaming Eagles -- possibly the best known hockey franchise never actually to take the ice -- as well as teams in cities where it was felt there was room for more than one team, such as the Los Angeles Sharks, Chicago Cougars, and New York Raiders. Of the original twelve teams, a few, such as the Dayton Aeros and the San Francisco Seahawks, folded, citing arena troubles. These two franchises were moved to become the Houston Aeros and Quebec Nordiques, respectively. Other teams, such as the Calgary Broncos and the Screaming Eagles, folded outright. The Philadelphia Blazers and the Cleveland Crusaders would replace the Screaming Eagles and the Broncos. Although the league had many players under contract by June of 1972, including a few NHL stars such as Bernie Parent, many of its players were career minor leaguers and college players. Thus, the new league was not considered much of a threat - that is, until Bobby Hull, arguably the NHL's top player at the time, moved to the new league. Hull, who considered moving to the WHA as part of a negotiation tactic with the Chicago Blackhawks, had jokingly told reporters that he would only move to the WHA for a million dollars, at that time a ridiculous amount of money for a hockey player. But to everyone's surprise the Winnipeg Jets accepted the offer, and Hull accepted and moved to the WHA. Hull had signed a five-year, million-dollar contract, with a million-dollar signing bonus. Hull's signing attracted a few other top stars such as Gerry Cheevers, Derek Sanderson, and J. C. Tremblay. The WHA officially made its debut on October 11, 1972 in the Ottawa Civic Centre, when the Alberta Oilers defeated the Ottawa Nationals 7-4. Although the quality of hockey was predictably below that of the NHL, the WHA had indeed made stars out of many players that had little or no playing time in the NHL. The New England Whalers would eventually win the WHA's World Trophy (later renamed the Avco World Trophy when the Avco Financial Services Corporation became its main sponsor). However, the league was suffering. Big stars lacked supporting players, and many teams often found themselves in financial difficulty, folding or moving from one city to another - often in mid-season. The New York franchise was a key example: as the NHL's Islanders had locked up Nassau Coliseum for their own use, the WHA were forced to play in lesser arenas, often without visitor's locker rooms. Because of this, the franchise went through several ownership changes year after year after year. Part of the financial troubles was also attributed to the high player salaries: Derek Sanderson was paid large amounts of cash to play for the WHA, but when his on-ice performance suffered, he was paid even more money to sit at home. Despite this, the WHA had several key victories, including a court ruling which prevented the NHL from binding players to NHL teams via the reserve clause, and the signings of more NHL stars such as Marc Tardif and Gordie Howe, and in later years, Frank Mahovlich and Paul Henderson. In 1974, the WHA began employing European players -- which the NHL had largely ignored up to that time -- such as Swedish players Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson and Czech star Vaclav Nedomansky. By 1976, it had become evident that the WHA's franchises were teetering on the verge of existence, with stable teams few and far between, and that the combined efforts of the NHL and WHA had badly strained the talent pool. Merger discussions then began, with one popular proposal (but not popular enough among the NHL owners) having six of the then eight WHA teams moving to the NHL. Another idea had the Edmonton Oilers and the New England Whalers moving to the NHL, with the Winnipeg Jets following a year later. Neither of these ideas were accepted. The final two seasons of the WHA saw the debut of many superstars, some of which became hockey legends in the NHL. They included Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Rob Ramage, Ken Linseman, and Mike Gartner. However, by the end of the final season, only six teams remained. Facing financial difficulty and unable to meet payrolls, the WHA and the NHL came to an agreement on March 22, 1979, where the Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers (renamed the Hartford Whalers), Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets joined the NHL while the Birmingham Bulls and the Cincinnati Stingers were paid generous amounts of money to fold.

The Effects of the WHA

With the WHA no more, the four teams that were formerly of the WHA were predicted to not perform well against NHL competition, since the NHL allowed the incoming WHA teams to protect only two goalies and two skaters each in the player dispersement draft. Each did respectably well in their first year, with the Whalers and Oilers earning playoff berths. The Oilers would go on to a Stanley Cup dynasty in the 1980s. As for the other three teams, financial interests from the United States would lead those teams southbound. The WHA had many lasting effects on NHL hockey. Scouts no longer scoured the Canadian wilderness for the next big NHL superstar, instead looking overseas for the best that Europe could offer. The WHA also ended the NHL policy of paying its players only a fraction of the league's profits and, combined with the abolition of the reserve clause, led to much higher player salaries. Many great stars began their careers in the WHA, including Wayne Gretzky, Mike Gartner, Mark Howe, Mike Liut, and Mark Messier, who was the last player skating in the WHA to remain active in professional hockey.

Trophies and Awards

This is a list of the trophies and awards handed out annually by the World Hockey Association.
- AVCO World Trophy - Awarded to the playoff champion
- Gary L. Davidson Award/Gordie Howe Trophy - Most valuable player of the regular season
- Bill Hunter Trophy - Leading scorer of the regular season
- Lou Kaplan Trophy - Rookie of the year
- Ben Hatskin Trophy - Best Goaltender
- Dennis A. Murphy Trophy - Best defenceman
- Paul Deneau Trophy - Most gentlemanly player
- Howard Baldwin Trophy/Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy - Coach of the year
- WHA Playoff MVP - Most valuable player in the playoffs

WHA Teams

- Chicago Cougars (1972-75)
- Cincinnati Stingers (1975-79)
- Calgary Broncos (never played)/Cleveland Crusaders (1972-76)/Minnesota Fighting Saints (1976-77)
- Denver Spurs (1975-76)/ Ottawa Civics (1976)
- Edmonton Oilers (1972-79, originally called Alberta Oilers in 1972-73)
- Houston Aeros (1972-78)
- Indianapolis Racers (1974-78)
- Los Angeles Sharks (1972-74)/ Michigan Stags (1974-75)/Baltimore Blades (1975)
- Minnesota Fighting Saints (1972-76)
- New England Whalers (1972-79)
- New York Raiders (1972-73, renamed New York Golden Blades in 1973)/New Jersey Knights (1973-74)/San Diego Mariners (1974-77)
- Ottawa Nationals (1972-73)/Toronto Toros (1973-76)/Birmingham Bulls (1976-78)
- Miami Screaming Eagles (never played)/Philadelphia Blazers (1972-73)/Vancouver Blazers (1973-75)/Calgary Cowboys (1975-77)
- Phoenix Roadrunners (1974-77)
- Quebec Nordiques (1972-79)
- Winnipeg Jets (1972-79)

External links

- [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/wha1973.html Internet Hockey Database] - standings and statistics
- http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Arena/6925/wha.html
- http://www.geocities.com/braniff73/WHA.html
- http://whauniforms.com Category:WHA ja:WHA

St. Louis Blues (hockey)

The St. Louis Blues are a National Hockey League (NHL) team based in Saint Louis, Missouri. They are named after the famous W. C. Handy tune "St. Louis Blues". :Founded: 1967 :Arena: Savvis Center (formerly Kiel Center) :Uniform colors: Blue, white, and gold :Logo design: A winged musical note with lines departing to the right :Stanley Cup Finals Appearances: 3 :Stanley Cups won: 0 :Added in the NHL's 1967 expansion, along with the Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Oakland Seals. :Affiliated teams: Peoria Rivermen (AHL), Alaska Aces (ECHL)

Franchise history

The Blues were one of the six teams added to the NHL in the 1967 expansion, along with the Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Oakland Seals, when the league doubled in size. The newcomers were, however, hampered by restrictive rules that kept virtually all the top players with the existing teams. Oakland Seals The Blues, originally coached by Lynn Patrick and then Scotty Bowman, proved to be the class of the new Western Division and made the Stanley Cup finals in each of their first three years of existence, although they failed to win a finals game, winning two division titles in that time. While the first Blues' teams included aging and faded retreads like Doug Harvey, Don McKenney and Dickie Moore, the veteran goaltending tandem of Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante proved more durable (winning a Vezina Trophy in 1969 behind a sterling defense featuring players like skilled defensive forward Jim Roberts and hardrock defensemen Bob and Barclay Plager. New York Rangers' castoff Red Berenson became the expansion teams' first major star at center, and Phil Goyette won the Lady Byng for the Blues in 1970. The 1970s were less kind to the Blues. Older stars such as Hall, Plante and Goyette retired or were traded, as was Berenson for star Detroit Red Wings center Garry Unger. Unger scored thirty or more goals eight straight seasons for the franchise en route to breaking the NHL record for most consecutive games played, but beyond the Plagers on defense talent was thin, and the division was soon dominated by Chicago and Philadelphia. St. Louis missed the playoffs outright for the first time in 1974. Realignment placed the team in the Smythe Division the next season and the team got a few good seasons out of forward Chuck Lefley and the reacquired Berenson, but the division in general was so weak as to become a cliche for mediocrity -- the Blues won the division title in 1977 five games under .500 -- and they missed the playoffs the two seasons following behind disastrous goaltending In the meantime, the franchise was on the brink of financial collapse. Ralston Purina invested in the team, and by 1981 they were the second-best team in the league in the regular season, with Berenson as coach and fresh new stars, including Wayne Babych scoring 54 goals, future Hall of Famer Bernie Federko (who would lead the team in scoring), inspirational leader Brian Sutter and franchise goaltender Mike Liut. The Blues fell flat in the playoffs that year, losing in six games to the New York Rangers in the second round. The Blues quietly slid back below .500, but they still made the playoffs in 1982 (and have done so every year since 1980). The team was still faltering off the ice. Purina got out of its investment with the team and padlocked the arena. The team looked destined for a move to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1983 before the league blocked the sale to a group of investors led by Bill Hunter, and ended up having to take over the team itself. Bill Hunter After Harry Ornest ended up purchasing the team, it became competitive both on and off the ice. Doug Gilmour, drafted by St. Louis in 1982, emerged as a superstar. By 1986, they reached the league semi-finals against the Calgary Flames. Doug Wickenheiser's overtime goal in game six to cap a furious comeback remains one of the greatest moments in team history, but they lost game seven 2-1. The Blues kept chugging along through the late 1980s and early 1990s. General Manager Ron Caron was one of the more astute in the league, landing Brett Hull, Adam Oates, Curtis Joseph, Brendan Shanahan and Al MacInnis, among others. Always a contender during this time period, they never passed the second round of the playoffs. Hull remained one of the league's top superstars, scoring 86 goals in 1990-91 - second only to Wayne Gretzky (who himself played in St. Louis briefly in 1995-96) in goals scored in a season in NHL history. The Blues were the second-best team in the regular season last year, but a second-round defeat to the Minnesota North Stars was indicative of their playoff woes. Mike Keenan was hired as both general manager and coach prior to the 1994-95 NHL season, lauded as the "playoff coach" that could cure the postseason turmoil Blues fans had endured for years. He instituted major changes, among them trades that sent away fan favorites Brendan Shanahan and Curtis Joseph, as well as the acquisition of the legendary but aging Wayne Gretzky (who left for the New York Rangers as an unrestricted free agent following the season). In spite of all he was prophesized to accomplish, his playoff resume with St. Louis included a first round exit in 1995 and a second round exit in 1996. Neither the fans nor the team ownership was fond of what he did, and he was fired on December 19, 1996. Caron was reinstated as general manager, but even he could not stop the tide of free agency. Hull left for the Dallas Stars in 1998 and won the Stanley Cup in his first year in the Lone Star State. Defenseman Chris Pronger (acquired from the Hartford Whalers in 1995), Pavol Demitra, Pierre Turgeon, Al MacInnis, and goalie Roman Turek, kept the Blues a contender. In 1999-2000, they had the best record in the NHL during the regular season, earning the Presidents' Trophy, but were stunned by the San Jose Sharks in the first round in seven games. In 2001 the Blues advanced to the Western Conference Finals before bowing out in five games to the eventual champion Colorado Avalanche. Despite years of mediocrity and the stigma of never being able to "take the next step", the Blues have been a playoff presence every year since the 1979-80 NHL season. In fact, the team only missed the playoffs three times in franchise history and currently enjoys the longest current streak in North American professional sport for consecutive playoff appearances. Walmart heir Bill Laurie purchased the Blues in 1998, but on June 17, 2005 announced that he would sell the team. On September 29, 2005 it was announced that that the Lauries has signed an agreement to sell the St. Louis Blues to Dave Checketts. On November 14, 2005 the Blues announced that Dave Checketts group (Sports Capital Partners) has offically withdrawn from negotiations to buy the team.

Notable players

Current Squad

As of December 12, 2005 [http://tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=8973&hubname=]

Team captains

- Al Arbour 1967-70
- Red Berenson & Barclay Plager 1970-71
- Barclay Plager 1971-76
- no captain 1976-77
- Red Berenson 1977-78
- Barry Gibbs 1978-79
- Brian Sutter 1979-88
- Bernie Federko 1988-89
- Rick Meagher 1989-90
- Scott Stevens 1990-91
- Garth Butcher 1991-92
- Brett Hull 1992-95
- Brett Hull & Shayne Corson & Wayne Gretzky 1995-96
- no captain 1996-97
- Chris Pronger 1997-2003
- Al MacInnis 2003-05
- Dallas Drake 2005- present

Hall of Famers

- Glenn Hall ('75)
- Jacques Plante ('78)
- Joe Mullen ('00)
- Bernie Federko ('02)
- Grant Fuhr ('03)

Not to be forgotten

- Jack Brownschidle
- Kelly Chase
- Geoff Courtnall
- Blake Dunlop
- Greg Millen
- Greg Paslawski
- Jorgen Pettersson
- Pierre Plante
- Rob Ramage
- Gary Sabourin
- Frank St. Marseille
- Pierre Turgeon
- Mike Liut
- Garry Unger

Retired numbers

- 2 Al MacInnis, D, 1994-2003 (will be retired, April 9, 2006)
- 3 Bob Gassoff, D, 1974-77
- 8 Barclay Plager, D, 1967-77; Head Coach, 1978-79 & 1982-83
- 11 Brian Sutter, LW, 1976-88; Head Coach, 1988-92 (the only one of the six Sutter brothers in the NHL to have his number retired by any team)
- 24 Bernie Federko, RW, 1976-89
- 99 Wayne Gretzky, C, 1996 (retired League-wide) Note: The number 5 of Bob Plager (D, 1967-78; Head Coach, 1992-93; Barclay's brother) and the number 14 of Doug Wickenheiser (LW, 1984-87) are honored by the club with banners but are not officially retired. After Wickenheiser's death in 1999, the number was unofficially retired: the last player to wear it was Geoff Courtnall.

External links

- [http://www.stlouisblues.com/ St. Louis Blues official web site] Category:St. Louis Blues ja:セントルイス・ブルース

Bernie Geoffrion

Bernard Joseph Andre "Boom Boom" Geoffrion (born February 14, 1931 in Montreal, Quebec) is a former professional ice hockey player and coach. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972 following a 16-year career with the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. National Hockey League He started playing in the NHL in 1951 for the Montreal Canadiens. He received many awards, among them
- 1952: Calder Trophy as the league's outstanding rookie
- 1955: Hart Trophy as the most valuable player
- 1955 and 1961: Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer Geoffrion earned the nickname "Boom Boom" for his thundering slapshot. He was the second player in NHL history to score 50 goals in one season, the first being teammate Rocket Richard. He played right wing on Montreal's front line with superstars Richard and Jean Beliveau, helping the Canadiens to six Stanley Cup championships. His career statistics total 393 goals, 429 assists, and 689 penalty minutes in 883 games. In a testament to the rough-and-tumble style of play of that era, Geoffrion broke his nose six times, and received over 400 stitches. In 1958, a training accident severely injured him and his life was saved by emergency surgery. Despite advice from his doctors to stop playing for a season, Geoffrion was on the ice six weeks later to take part in the Stanley Cup finals. Geoffrion first retired in 1964, but returned two seasons later to play for the New York Rangers. In 1968 he finally retired as a player and became coach of the Rangers, a position he kept for less than a season due to stomach problems. In 1972 he became the first coach of the Atlanta Flames, and held the position for two and a half seasons, leading them to their first playoff appearance in 1974. He realized a longtime dream of coaching his beloved Montreal Canadiens in 1979, but his recurring stomach ailment forced him to step down mid-season. In the 1970s and into the 1980s, Geoffrion appeared in several television commercials for Miller Lite beer, part of their stable of retired atheletes-turned-spokesmen which also included Billy Martin and Bob Uecker. His wife Marlene is the daughter of fellow Hockey Hall of Famer Howie Morenz. Their son Dan Geoffrion (born January 24, 1958) played three seasons of professional hockey, for the Quebec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association in 1978-79, Montreal Canadiens in 1979-80 (with his father as coach), and Winnipeg Jets in 1980-81. His grandson Blake Geoffrion (born February 3, 1988) attends and plays hockey for the University of Wisconsin, and appears poised to be the third generation of Geoffrions, and fourth generation of the Morenz-Geoffrion family, in the NHL. The Canadiens announced on October 15, 2005 that Geoffrion's uniform number 5 will be retired on March 11, 2006.

Career statistics

Regular Season

Playoffs

Season	Team	Gm	G	A	Pts.	PM
1950-51	MON NHL	18	8	6	14	9
1951-52	MON NHL	67	30	24	54	66
1952-53	MON NHL	65	22	17	39	37
1953-54	MON NHL	54	29	25	54	87
1954-55	MON NHL	70	38	37	75	57
1955-56	MON NHL	59	29	33	62	66
1956-57	MON NHL	41	19	21	40	18
1957-58	MON NHL	42	27	23	50	51
1958-59	MON NHL	59	22	44	66	30
1959-60	MON NHL	59	30	41	71	36
1960-61	MON NHL	64	50	45	95	29
1961-62	MON NHL	62	23	36	59	36
1962-63	MON NHL	51	23	18	41	73
1963-64	MON NHL	55	21	18	39	41
1964-65	Retired
1965-66	Retired
1966-67	NY NHL	58	17	25	42	42
1967-68	NY NHL	59	5	16	21	11
Totals		883	393	429	822	689

Season	Team	Gm	G	A	Pts.	PM
1950-51	MON NHL	11	1	1	2	6
1951-52	MON NHL	11	3	1	4	6
1952-53	MON NHL	12	6	4	10	12
1953-54	MON NHL	11	6	5	11	18
1954-55	MON NHL	12	8	5	13	8
1955-56	MON NHL	10	5	9	14	6
1956-57	MON NHL	10	11	7	18	2
1957-58	MON NHL	10	6	5	11	2
1958-59	MON NHL	11	5	8	13	10
1959-60	MON NHL	8	2	10	12	4
1960-61	MON NHL	4	2	1	3	0
1961-62	MON NHL	5	0	1	1	6
1962-63	MON NHL	5	0	1	1	4
1963-64	MON NHL	7	1	1	2	4
1964-65	Retired
1965-66	Retired
1966-67	NY NHL	4	2	0	2	0
1967-68	NY NHL	1	0	1	1	0
Totals		132	58	60	118	88

GM=Games, G=Goals, A=Assists, Pts=Points, PM=Penalty Minutes

Dan Bouchard

Dan Bouchard (born December 12, 1950, Val-d'Or, Quebec) was a Canadian goaltender who played in the National Hockey League with the Atlanta Flames, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets. He was originally drafted by the Boston Bruins, but made his league debut in 1972-73 after the Flames claimed him in the expansion draft. After eight seasons in Atlanta, the team moved to Calgary, Alberta in the summer of 1980. Halfway through the 1980-81 season, he was traded to the Quebec Nordiques for Jamie Hislop. He then led Quebec to their first playoff appearance since the 1979 WHA-NHL merger. The following season was a magical one as the Nordiques lost in the semi-finals to the New York Islanders, who would go on to win their 3rd straight Stanley Cup. Along the way Quebec disposed of the hated Montreal Canadiens and then Boston in a pair of thrilling series. Each went down to the wire in the final game, but they held on to win. In the 1985-86 season he was traded to the Jets where he retired after losing in the opening round to the Calgary Flames. Bouchard, Dan Bouchard, Dan Bouchard, Dan Bouchard, Dan Bouchard, Dan Bouchard, Dan Bouchard, Dan Bouchard, Dan

Sterna striata

The White Fronted Tern is the most common tern in New Zealand. Like all terns it flies with its head and bill pointing down to see food which it dives into the water for. Apart from bathing, they only rarely swim, despite having webbed feet. The species is protected. The white fronted tern feed in large flocks on small fish by plunge diving. They feed on shoals of smelt and pilchards which have been driven to the surface by larger fish and are easily caught by the terns. Breeding is between October and January in large colonies on rocky cliffs and offshore islands. Category:Sterna

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