AceCasino League

The Major League Hockey (aka AceCasino League for sponsorship reasons) is a North American professional ice hockey league. It comprised of 31 teams in North America having 24 teams in the US and 7 in Canada.

The North American Cup is awarded annually to the league's playoff champion at the end of each season. The title Challenger Cup is given to the team with the highest amount of points introduced in 1906 as the Ford Cup. The team that has won the most Challenger Cups is the Montreal Railmen with 22 titles. The team that has had the highest amount of points goes to the 1996-97 Houston Stealth with 140 Points.

## Establishment

The leagued was formed in 1888 as a response to the unfair treatment from several owners by the CIHA (Commissioner Ice Hockey Association).

The league was known as the American Hockey Association until 1920 and was changed into the Major League Hockey. 5 Canadian teams and 1 American teams that have joined are Montreal Crystals (Montreal Railmen), Toronto HC (Toronto Dynamo), New York Americans, Quebec Battalion 142 (Folded), Manitoba Royals and Hamilton Reds (Folded).

From 2020-21 season and then on, Major League Hockey is also branded to AceCasino League as a sponsorship agreement for AceCasino.

## List of Teams

### American Hockey Conference

-Northern Division-

New York Americans
Toronto Dynamo
Boston Foresters
Lehigh Valley Clash
New Jersey Bombers
Chicago Stars
Ottawa Empire
New York Republic

-Southern Division-

Atlanta Sixers
Carolina Crew HC
Knoxville Wings
Navy Virginia
Tampa Bay Swords
Nashville Blues
Carolina Racers
Columbus Killerhawks

### National Hockey Conference

-Mountain Division-

Winnipeg Rampage (Will become Winnipeg Aces)
Montreal Railmen
Minnesota Thunder
Dallas Chaos
Texas Oilers
Houston Stealth
Alberta Wild
Manitoba Royals

-Western Division-

Las Vegas Nationals
Seattle Barracudas
Vancouver Bears
San Jose Stingrays
Denver Huskies
Los Angeles Blades of Anahiem
Los Angeles HC

## Season Structure

Since 1972, the league has divided into 2 conferences with 2 divisions in it. The regular season is played in 72 games however it is reduced or ends in situations such as in 2019-20 Season ended early and went straight to playoffs due to the COVID-19 Outbreak. The eight top-ranked teams in each conference receive playoff berths. Within each conference quarterfinals, semifinals and finals are played before the conference winners play against each other for the North American Cup. The division winners are seeded first and second in their conference, based on their regular season record. All playoff rounds are played as best-of-seven series. In each round, the top seeded remaining team is paired with the lowest seeded team etc.

## Major League Hockey Pyramid

The entirety of Major League Hockey has 96 teams. 31 Playing in the MLH, 31 Playing in the now MLH Championship, 26 Playing in the MLH League One and 8 Playing in the MLH League Two. The leagues do use the Promotion/Relegation system but it is not enforced as it is used in cases as such, When a team is in financial instability where they don't have the money to stay in the league.( i.e, St.John Fog Devils when they were transferred to MLH League One in 2002 or Texas Bandits when transferred to MLH Championship in 2017) or when a team in its league gets approved to get transferred (i.e Dallas Chaos were approved to join MLH in 1990 as expansion team).

## All Star Game

The Major League Hockey All Star Game is an exhibition game held annually at the midway point (usually January or February) of the season, with the league sometimes playing against other leagues or teams and even play in NHC vs AHC format.

Most Notables

* CSKA Moscow vs Team MLH (1977)
* NHC vs AHC (2011)
* MLH All-Stars vs YaMZ Yaroslavl (1962)
* NHC vs AHC (2013)
* MLH All-Stars vs Dynamo Moscow (1991)

## Outdoor/International Games

MLH is not only know for dominance but they are also known for their top Outdoor/International games since  there has been a long-standing tradition of **international games played by MLH teams**. The following is a list of games played by MLH teams against other MLH teams and non-MLH teams outside the United States and Canada, as well games played by MLH teams in the United States and Canada against non-North American teams. The MLH began playing games around the globe, with 31 teams traveling to 15 countries across Europe and Asia since the 1970s.

### Notable Europe Games

* Carolina Racers vs Carolina Crew HC (4:3 SO) Cologne,Germany | 2009-10 Season | CAR-R Won
* Winter Festival I (Finland) | New York Americans vs New York Republic (5:2) | 2007-08 Season | NYA Won
* Nashville Blues vs CSKA Moscow (6:4) | 1994-95 Season | CSKA Won
* Team MLH vs USSR National Team (7:6) | 1969-70 Season | USSR Won
* SC Bern vs Alberta Wild (2:0) | 2019-20 Season | ALB Won

### Notable Asian Games (W.I.P)

* Winter Games XII (Japan) | Nashville Blues vs Columbus Killerhawks (5:4 SO) | 2019-20 | NSH Won
* Winter Games III (Novosibirsk) | Toronto Dynamo vs Montreal Railmen (6:3) | 2009-10 | TOR Won
* Kunlun Red Star vs Los Angeles HC (4:1) | 2016-17 | LAHC Won