Senior hockey refers to
amateurAn amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
or semi-professional
ice hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
competition for players too old to play
junior ice hockeyJunior hockey is a catch-all term used to describe various levels of ice hockey competition for players generally between 16 and 20 years of age...
. The top senior amateur teams in
CanadianCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
leagues compete annually for the
Allan CupThe Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men’s ice hockey champions of Canada. It has been competed for since 1909. The current champion is the Clarenville Caribous hockey club of Newfoundland and Labrador.-History:...
.
Senior hockey leagues are operated independently of professional hockey leagues such as the
National Hockey LeagueThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
or its farm system leagues such as the
American Hockey LeagueThe American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
and the
ECHLThe ECHL is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey with teams scattered across the United States...
. Despite the lower level of competition, some former NHLers such as
Theoren FleuryTheoren Wallace "Theo" Fleury is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers, and Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League , Tappara of Finland's SM-liiga, and the Belfast Giants of the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League...
,
Pat FalloonPatrick J. Falloon is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey right winger who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League between 1991 and 2000. He played with the San Jose Sharks, Philadelphia Flyers, Ottawa Senators, Edmonton Oilers, and Pittsburgh Penguins. He would also play a season...
,
Link GaetzLink Gaetz, aka "the Missing Link", is a former professional ice hockey player known for his battles when he was an up-and-coming enforcer in the National Hockey League and his troubles on and off the ice while in the minor leagues...
and
Éric FichaudÉric Fichaud is a professional ice hockey goaltender. He was selected in the first round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, 16th overall, by the Toronto Maple Leafs...
have played in senior hockey after an NHL career.