The National Women's Hockey League, founded in 2015, is the first women's ice hockey league in the country to pay its players and features five teams in the northeast and upper midwest, plus one Canadian team. Three of the five U.S.-based teams (the Buffalo Beauts, Minnesota Whitecaps and Metropolitan Riveters) are either owned or operated by, or affiliated with, their metro area's NHL franchise (the Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild and New Jersey Devils, respectively). At the international level, the United States women's national ice hockey team is one of the two predominant international women's teams in the world, alongside its longtime rival Team Canada.