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,
Jari Kurri Trophy To date, Jussi Tarvainen in 2001 is the only player who was awarded the trophy while playing for the team that lost the finals. Trophy winners: Jari Kurri Trophy The Jari Kurri Trophy is an ice hockey trophy awarded by the Finnish Liiga to the best player in the Liiga playoffs. The trophy is named after Jari Kurri. In the 2005–06 season, the trophy was awarded to the player voted the best player in the playoffs by the fans by an SMS vote. This practice was discontinued after only one season. Starting in 2007, in a similar fashion to NHL's