Top 10 Hockey Leagues in the World

[Snippit]

I'm particularly curious to see where people think AHL or NCAA ranks on a list like this.

Just rankings based off of overall quality.

1. NHL
2. KHL
3. AHL
4. SHL
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Then after that I would be completely guessing

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[MonarchFlames]

1. Nhl
2. Ahl
3. Khl
4. Shl
5. Chl
6. Ncaa
7. ???
8. ???
9. ???
10. ???

 

[Albatros]

1. NHL
2. KHL
3. SHL (Sweden)
4. Liiga (Finland)
5. NLA (Switzerland)
6. AHL
7. Extraliga (Czechia)
8. DEL (Germany)
9. Allsvenskan (Sweden)
10. EBEL (Austria)

 

[Snippit]

1. Nhl
2. Ahl
3. Khl
4. Shl
5. Chl
6. Ncaa
7. ???
8. ???
9. ???
10. ???

Uh, CHL is not above most pro leagues...

 

[Bixby Snyder]

Uh, CHL is not above most pro leagues...

It's also not above the NCAA. But really for a list like this we should maybe just keep it to pro leagues.

 

[MonarchFlames]

Uh, CHL is not above most pro leagues...

I see it as the quality of players the CHL and NCAA produce compared to other pro leagues. Most of the other pro leagues cant consistently produce talent like the CHL or NCAA does.
You said quality of the League. That depends on what you mean. If its quality as in competitiveness, then sure I'd rank those above the CHL or NCAA, but if it's as a whole I'd rate the CHL and as of recently the NCAA above those pro leagues.

Edit: If it's in competition then yea its probably not as good as those pro leagues
NHL
KHL
AHL
SHL
Liiga
NLA
Extraliga
Allsvenskan
DEL

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

1. NHL
2. KHL
3. AHL
4. SHL (Sweden)
5. Liiga (Finland)
6. NLA (Switzerland)
7. VHL (Russia, tier 2)
8. ECHL
9. Extraliga (Germany)
10. Allsvenskan (Sweden, tier 2)

 

[randomrob7]

I see it as the quality of players the CHL and NCAA produce compared to other pro leagues. Most of the other pro leagues cant consistently produce talent like the CHL or NCAA does.
You said quality of the League. That depends on what you mean. If its quality as in competitiveness, then sure I'd rank those above the CHL or NCAA, but if it's as a whole I'd rate the CHL and as of recently the NCAA above those pro leagues.

Edit: If it's in competition then yea its probably not as good as those pro leagues
NHL
KHL
AHL
SHL
Liiga
NLA
Extraliga
Allsvenskan
DEL

Ofcourse the pro leagues dont produce NHL players. Pro leagues are where NHL aged players play if they weren't quite good enough to make the NHL. A lot of NCAA and CHL players end up playing in the other pro leagues if they cant make the NHL.

 

[Snippit]

I see it as the quality of players the CHL and NCAA produce compared to other pro leagues. Most of the other pro leagues cant consistently produce talent like the CHL or NCAA does.
You said quality of the League. That depends on what you mean. If its quality as in competitiveness, then sure I'd rank those above the CHL or NCAA, but if it's as a whole I'd rate the CHL and as of recently the NCAA above those pro leagues.

Edit: If it's in competition then yea its probably not as good as those pro leagues
NHL
KHL
AHL
SHL
Liiga
NLA
Extraliga
Allsvenskan
DEL

Just meant overall quality of the players/teams, not necessarily development, entertainment, etc. As in, if the average team of X league played average team of X league, who would win?

 

[Eye of Ra]

AHL is not better league than SHL.

 

[Cotton]

AHL is not better league than SHL.

Disagree.

 

[Rebels57]

SHL vs AHL is an interesting debate

I lean towards SHL on this one.

 

[sandysan]

Nhl then if you are not first, you are last.

Picking the khl as #2 belies the HUGE difference between the two leagues.

 

[VanIslander]

10. EBEL (Austria)

The ECHL would eat them up!

Guys like this have played in the ECHL:

Alex Burrows
Cory Conacher
Michael Ryder
Rich Peverley
David Desharnais
Derek Boogaard
Ruslan Fedotenko
Andrew Brunette
Dan Girardi
Mark Streit
Francois Beauchemin
Deryk Engelland
Joe Corvo
Jonathan Quick
Braden Holtby
Jaroslav Halak
Tim Thomas
Tomas Vokoun
Manny Legace
Martin Biron

 

[canucks4ever]

1. Nhl
2. KHL
3. SHL
4. AHL
5. SM Liiga
6. Czech extraliga
7. NLA
8. DEL
9. NCAA
10. Tie between ECHL and Allsvenskan

 

[iginlafan77]

NHL
KHL
SHL
AHL
SM-Liiga
Czech Extraliga
NLA
DEL
EBEL
ECHL
EIHL
Allsvenskan

A little more than 10 in that list.

 

[Zenos]

1. NHL
2. KHL
3. AHL
4. SHL (Sweden)
5. Liiga (Finland)
6. NLA (Switzerland)
7. VHL (Russia, tier 2)
8. ECHL
9. Extraliga (Germany)
10. Allsvenskan (Sweden, tier 2)

This one actually looks pretty good! Although your 9th spot is fishy (Extraliga is Czech not Germany, and I'd actually put it behind the DEL).

And for all those posters mentioning American college hockey:
The NCAA isn't really even a league in the traditional sense, but rather an association of various leagues (conferences, and divisions), who's level of play varies substantially.
The top programs of strong conferences are very, very good hockey teams, but on average, I'd say the CHL (itself also not really a league!), are easily better (that despite having younger players).