St. John's IceCaps (Empire of Newfoundland)

The St. John's IceCaps are a professional ice hockey team based in St. John's, Newfoundland. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team was founded in 1979 by the government of Prime Minister Joey Smallwood as a means to generate revenue and to help liberalize the formerly state-run economy. In 1999, the team was sold to media tycoon Danny Williams.