Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada to compete, with the provision that the Stanley Cup winners were to be recognized as "World's Champions". The phrase was repeatedly engraved on the Cup, and continued to be used, when the NHL began admitting American franchises. When the NHL assumed formal control of the Cup in 1947, the resulting agreement required "that the winners of this trophy shall be the acknowledged World's Professional Hockey Champions" (in contrast to the IIHF's Ice Hockey World Championships, at the time contested only by amateurs). When the World Hockey Association commenced play in the 1970s, they sought to challenge for the Stanley Cup,
William Ryan Trophy hosted the Keystone Cup five times. Thunder Bay, Ontario hosted the Cup in 1994, 1999 and 2009. Schreiber, Ontario hosted the second-ever tournament in 1984 and again in 2004. There has been no trophy competition since the demise of the NSHL after the 2003-04 season. William Ryan Trophy The William Ryan Trophy is a Canadian ice hockey series to determine the Northwestern Ontario seed of the Keystone Cup - the Western Canada Junior "B" Hockey championship. Hockey Northwestern Ontario sanctioned league winners play-off for the trophy. From 1997 until 2004, the right to compete in the Keystone Cup was an