Atlantic Canada

Atlantic Canada is the portion of Eastern Canada closest to the Atlantic Ocean. It is comprised of four provinces:

The area is slightly different than the area known as the Maritimes. The Maritimes are New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Due to Newfoundland (now known as Newfoundland and Labrador) having been a seperate dominion within the British Empire until joining Canada in 1949 as the tenth province, Newfoundland was traditionally excluded from this group.
 * Newfoundland and Labrador
 * New Brunswick
 * Nova Scotia
 * Prince Edward Island

The area due to its small size and population is/has been often grouped together in many of the national playdowns at the various levels of Canadian hockey. Several region wide leagues have developed that include teams from all three Maritime provinces, such as the


 * Maritime Junior A Hockey League (1968–1971)


 * Maritime Junior A Hockey League
 * Maritime Senior Hockey League
 * Atlantic Cup

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League started to expand into the region in the mid 1990's to offset the loss of the region's American Hockey League teams.