architect giant center
The National Hockey League ( NHL ) is a professional ice hockey league currently composed of 31 member clubs . Of the 30 clubs currently playing , 23 are in the United States and 7 in Canada . Headquartered in ___MASK36___ City , the NHL is considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world , and one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada . The Stanley Cup , the oldest professional sports trophy in North America , is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season . Springfield is a city in western New ___MASK80___ , and the seat of Hampden County , Massachusetts , United States . Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers : the western Westfield River , the eastern Chicopee River , and the eastern Mill River . As of the 2010 Census , the city ' s population was 153 , 060 . Metropolitan Springfield , as one of two metropolitan areas in Massachusetts ( the other being Greater Boston ), had an estimated population of 698 , 903 as of 2009 . Giant Center is a 10 , 500 - seat multi - purpose arena in Hershey , Pennsylvania , a census - designated place in the Harrisburg metropolitan area . It is home to the Hershey Bears ice hockey team , the longest - existing member of the American Hockey League since 1938 . Giant Center replaced the Hersheypark Arena as the Bears ' home venue in 2002 . Giant Center is owned by the Derry Township Industrial and Commercial Development Authority , as much of the money for its construction was provided by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania . It is operated by Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company , with the naming rights owned by the Giant - Carlisle grocery store chain based in Carlisle , Pennsylvania . A census - designated place ( CDP ) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only . CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places , such as cities , towns , and villages for the purposes of gathering and correlating statistical data . CDPs are populated areas that generally include one officially designated but currently unincorporated small community , for which the CDP is named , plus surrounding inhabited countryside of varying dimensions and , occasionally , other , smaller unincorporated communities as well . CDPs include small rural communities , colonias located along the U . S . border with Mexico , and unincorporated resort and retirement communities and their environs . Rome is a city and special " comune " ( named " Roma Capitale ") in Italy . Rome is the capital of Italy and of the Lazio region . With 2 , 870 , 336 residents in , it is also the country ' s largest and most populated " comune " and fourth - most ___MASK72___ city in the European Union by population within city limits . The Metropolitan City of Rome has a population of 4 . 3 million residents . The city is located in the central - western portion of the Italian Peninsula , within Lazio ( Latium ), along the shores of Tiber river . The Vatican City is an independent country geographically located within the city boundaries of Rome , the only existing example of a country within a city : for this reason Rome has been often defined as capital of two states . New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern United States and mid - Atlantic regions of the United States . It is bordered on the north and east by ___MASK36___ , on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean , on the west by Pennsylvania , and on the southwest by Delaware . New Jersey is the fourth - smallest state but the 11th - most ___MASK72___ and the most densely populated of the 50 United States . New Jersey lies entirely within the combined statistical areas of ___MASK36___ City and Philadelphia and is the third - wealthiest U . S . state by per capita income as of 2014 . Lake Erie is the fourth - largest lake ( by surface area ) of the five Great Lakes in North America , and the thirteenth - largest globally if measured in terms of surface area . It is the southernmost , shallowest , and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time . At its deepest point Lake Erie is deep . Lake Erie ' s northern shore is bounded by the Canadian province of Ontario , with the U . S . states of Ohio , Pennsylvania , and ___MASK36___ on its southern and easternmost shores and Michigan on the west . These jurisdictions divide the surface area of the lake by water boundaries . The lake was named by the Erie people , a Native Americans people who lived along its southern shore . That Iroquoian tribe called it "" Erige "" "(" cat ")" because of its unpredictable and sometimes violently dangerous nature . It is a matter of conjecture whether the lake was named after the tribe , or if the tribe was called "" Erie "" because of its proximity to the lake . West Virginia is a state located in the Appalachian region of the Southern United States . It is bordered by Virginia to the southeast , Kentucky to the southwest , Ohio to the northwest , Pennsylvania to the north ( and , slightly , east ), and Maryland to the northeast . West Virginia is the 41st largest by area , the 38th most ___MASK72___ , and has the second lowest household income of the 50 United States . The capital and largest city is Charleston . Mexico (, modern Nahuatl ), officially the United Mexican States , is a federal republic in the southern half of North America . It is bordered to the north by the United States ; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean ; to the southeast by Guatemala , Belize , and the Caribbean Sea ; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico . Covering almost two million square kilometers ( over 760 , 000 sq mi ), Mexico is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total area and the 13th largest independent nation in the world . With an estimated population of over 120 million , it is the eleventh most ___MASK72___ country and the most ___MASK72___ Spanish - speaking country in the world while being the second most ___MASK72___ country in Latin America . Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most ___MASK72___ city . Other metropolises include Guadalajara , Monterrey , Puebla , Toluca , Tijuana and León . The American Hockey League ( AHL ) is a 30 - team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League ( NHL ). Since the 2010  11 season , every team in the league has an affiliation agreement with an NHL team ; before then , one or two NHL teams would not have an AHL affiliate and so assigned players to AHL teams affiliated with other NHL teams . Twenty - seven AHL teams are located in the United States and the remaining three are in Canada . The league offices are located in Springfield , Massachusetts , and its current president is David Andrews . The Hershey Bears are an American professional ice hockey team based in Hershey , Pennsylvania . The current Bears club has played in the American Hockey League since the 1938 - 39 season making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still playing in its original city . The Bears currently serve as the primary development club for the NHL ' s Washington Capitals and have been since the 2005 - 06 season . Since the 2002  03 season the hockey club ' s home games have been played at Giant Center , located less than half a mile west of Hersheypark Arena , the AHL club ' s previous home from 1938 to 2002 . ( The Arena was also the home to the EAHL Hershey Bears from 1936 to 1938 .) The Bears have won 11 Calder Cups , more than any other AHL team . They won their most recent title in 2010 . Pennsylvania ( Pennsylvania German : " Pennsylvaani "), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , is a state located in the northeastern and Mid - Atlantic regions of the United States . The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle . The commonwealth borders Delaware to the southeast , Maryland to the south , West Virginia to the southwest , Ohio to the west , Lake Erie and the Canadian province of Ontario to the northwest , ___MASK36___ to the north , and New Jersey to the east . An arena is an enclosed area , often circular or oval - shaped , designed to showcase theater , musical performances , or sporting events . The word derives from Latin " harena ", a particularly fine / smooth sand used to absorb blood in ancient arenas such as the Colosseum in Rome . It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators . The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the lowest point , allowing for maximum visibility . Arenas are usually designed to accommodate a large number of spectators . The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the champions of the American Hockey League . It is the second oldest actively awarded professional ice hockey playoff trophy after the NHL ' s Stanley Cup . The Calder Cup was first presented in 1937 to the ___MASK24___ Stars . Ontario , one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada , is located in east - central Canada . It is Canada ' s most ___MASK72___ province by a large margin , accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians , and is the second - largest province in total area . Ontario is fourth - largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are included . It is home to the nation ' s capital city , Ottawa , and the nation ' s most ___MASK72___ city , Toronto . Maryland is a state located in the Mid - Atlantic region of the United States , bordering Virginia , West Virginia , and Washington , D . C . to its south and west ; Pennsylvania to its north ; and Delaware to its east . The state ' s largest city is Baltimore , and its capital is Annapolis . Among its occasional nicknames are " Old Line State ", the " Free State ", and the " Chesapeake Bay State ". The state is named after Henrietta Maria of ___MASK3___ , the wife of Charles I of ___MASK80___ . Ohio is an Eastern state in the Great Lakes region of the United States . Ohio is the 34th largest by area , the 7th most ___MASK72___ , and the 10th most densely populated of the 50 United States . The state ' s capital and largest city is Columbus .