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,
North American Supporters' Trophy North American Supporters' Trophy The Supporters Cup was a proposed annual award intended to be given to the North American Soccer League team with the best regular season, as determined by the NASL points system on aggregate between the Spring and Fall championship seasons in year. Akin to the Supporters' Shield in Major League Soccer, the minor premiership of Australasian sports (called a "premiership" by the A-League), and the Presidents' Trophy of the NHL, the Supporters' Cup would have been awarded each year in order to recognize overall consistent performance through the calendar year. Prior year winners, dating back to