Ice hockey

Ice hockey—often just called hockey in North America and parts of Europe—is a team sport played on ice skates, typically on a rink marked with lines specific to the game. It is part of the broader family of hockey sports. Two opposing teams use sticks to control and advance a vulcanized rubber puck, aiming to shoot it into the opponent’s net. Each goal scores one point. After three 20-minute periods (one hour of play), the team with the most points wins; ties are settled in overtime or a shootout. During normal play, each team has six skaters on the ice, including a goaltender, unless penalties reduce that number. The sport is full-contact and ranks among the most physically demanding team sports. The modern game developed in Canada, particularly in Montreal, where the first indoor match took place on March 3, 1875. It drew from Scotland’s shinty and England’s field hockey. Amateur leagues emerged in the 1880s, and professional hockey began around 1900. The Stanley Cup, originally commissioned in 1892 as the “Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup,” was first awarded in 1893 to Canada’s amateur champion and later became the trophy for the National Hockey League (NHL). In the early 1900s, Canadian rules were adopted by the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace in Paris, the forerunner of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Ice hockey debuted at the Olympics in the 1920 Summer Games and is now a Winter Olympics staple. In 1994, it was officially named Canada’s national winter sport. Women played the game early on, but it wasn’t until the mid-1980s, when organizers removed body checking from women’s hockey, that the sport gained wider popularity, spreading to Europe and beyond. The IIHF Women’s World Championship began in 1990, and women’s hockey entered the Olympics in 1998. **History**

Ice hockey likely evolved from stick-and-ball games played in the 18th and 19th centuries in Britain, Ireland, and elsewhere—mainly bandy, hurling, and shinty. The Native American-derived sport of lacrosse also influenced it. These games were brought to North America, where informal winter games like shinny and ice polo developed, later merging into the codified sport of ice hockey. **Game**

The general rules of ice hockey are consistent, but specific codes vary. The two most important are those of the IIHF and the NHL, both rooted in early 20th-century Canadian rules. Play occurs on a hockey rink. During normal play, each side has six skaters, including a goaltender. The goal is to shoot the puck into the opponent’s net using sticks to pass or shoot. Players may redirect the puck with any part of their body, but they cannot catch or hold it in their hand, and passing it with a hand is forbidden except in the defensive zone. They can knock the puck out of the air to themselves with a hand, but kicking it into the net is not allowed. Unintentional deflections off the body or equipment, including skates, are permitted; deliberately batting the puck into the goal with hands or other body parts is not. Hockey is an off-side game, allowing forward passes, unlike rugby. Before the 1930s, it was on-side, permitting only backward passes, which emphasized individual stick-handling. The introduction of off-side rules allowed forward passes, transforming hockey into a team sport where coordinated play across the entire ice surface became more important than individual skill. The six players per team are usually divided into three forwards, two defencemen, and one goaltender. “Skaters” refers to all players except goaltenders. Forwards include a centre and two wingers (left and right), often playing together as lines. Defencemen typically pair up as left and right, positioned based on which side they carry their stick. A substitution of an entire unit at once is a line change. Teams use different forward lines and defensive pairings when short-handed or on a power play. The goaltender stands in a blue semi-circle (the crease) in the defensive zone to block shots. Substitutions can happen anytime, though the home team gets the final change during stoppages; changing during play is called “changing on the fly.” An NHL rule added in the 2005–06 season prevents substitutions after a team ices the puck. The boards around the rink keep the puck in play and can be used to play it. Players are allowed to bodycheck opponents into the boards to stop their progress.