Ice Hockey is just hockey in the US and Canada. It is a team sport that takes place at an ice rink. Ice Hockey is most popular in the colder regions. In Canada, it is the national winter sport. It is the most popular sport in Finland as well.
It is believed that the word hockey comes either from the Old French hoquet meaning shepard’s crook, or from the Middle Dutch word for shack or doghouse hokkie.
Drawings of Egyptians playing hockey date back to 4000 years ago. People playing ice hockey have also been depicted in Dutch paintings from the 17th century.
Several different types of hockey came over with European immigrants. Hockey-like games such as hurling from the Irish, shinty from the Scottish and field hockey from England were adapted for icy conditions, thus ice hockey is born.
The structure for the modern game of hockey came from Montreal. The first club for ice hockey was founded in 1877, called McGill University Hockey Club. The sport fast became fashionable. The first “world championship” took place in Montreal in 1883.
The first professional hockey came from Houghton, Michigan and quickly spread to Canada, Switzerland, the Ukraine, Great Britain and Austria.