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,
Bob Paine Trophy were the only multiple winners of the trophy, having won it three of the six years, including back-to-back wins from 1984–85 to 1985–86. The last team to win the Payne Trophy was the Virginia Lancers. Bob Paine Trophy The Bob Payne Trophy was awarded to the play-off champion of the now-defunct Atlantic Coast Hockey League. The Payne Trophy was awarded to teams since the ACHL's inaugural season of 1981–82 until the ACHL's final season of 1986–87. The trophy is named after Bob Payne, an executive with several teams in the Southern Hockey League and Eastern Hockey League. The trophy was