Pittsburgh Penguins ice and in attendance following the Jaromir Jagr trade. Today, the Penguins are one of the NHL's most popular teams, especially among American non-Original Six franchises and are considered second behind the Steelers among Pittsburgh's three major professional sports teams, taking advantage of both its success and the Pittsburgh Pirates struggles both on and off the field. Especially notable was a 2007 survey done of the four major sports leagues 122 teams, in which the Penguins surprised observers by being ranked 20th overall and third among NHL teams, while the Steelers were ranked number one and the Pirates (before the
Ice hockey in the United Kingdom finished better than twelfth in the World Championships since 1962. Ice hockey is played professionally in the United Kingdom in the Elite Ice Hockey League, a ten-team league which was founded in 2003. Ice hockey was first played in Canada during the early nineteenth century, based on similar sports such as field hockey that were played in Europe. The sport was originally played with a stick and ball, but in 1860 a group of English veterans from the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment played a game in Kingston, Ontario, utilising a puck for what is believed to be the first time.