Canadian Hockey League

Canadian Hockey League

Canadian Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1975
No. of teams	60
Countries	Canada United States
Most recent champion(s)	London Knights
TV partner(s)	Sportsnet Sportsnet One Shaw TV (WHL and OHL) Rogers TV/TV Rogers (OHL) Eastlink TV/TVA Sports (QMJHL)
Official website	www.chl.ca

The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; French: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canadian-based major junior ice hockey leagues for players 16 to 20 years of age. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, and is composed of its three member leagues, the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. For the 2016-17 season, its three leagues and 60 teams represent nine Canadian provinces (52 teams) as well as four American states (8 teams).

The CHL schedule culminates in the Memorial Cup tournament, which sees each of the three league champions, as well as a host team, play a round-robin tournament to determine a national champion. The CHL also hosts the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, for the top draft eligible players in the league, as well as the CHL Canada/Russia Series, a six-game all-star exhibition series against a team of Russian juniors.

The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) is the governing body for Major Junior hockey (formerly known as Tier One Junior A), the top level of amateur hockey in Canada. The CHL currently oversees the Western Hockey League (WHL), the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), with the OHL and WHL having teams in both Canada and the United States. Each league plays individual regular season schedules, and playoffs. The annual CHL championship is determined by the Memorial Cup tournament held in May.