Another interesting question is: Where did the game of ice hockey originate? It is considered to be the fastest game in the world. Ice hockey is played by two teams of six men in action at one time. Extra players, or substitutes, sit on the sidelines. Each tries to do two things: put a small rubber disc, called a “puck,” into the opponent’s net, and prevent the opponent from scoring.
These days, ice hockey is one of many games played with a stick and a ball. Such games are believed to have originated in Persia. Where the game of polo began, we know that the ancient Greeks played a kind of hockey and even included it in their Olympic games.
There is a wall in Athens, Greece, that is about 2,400 years old and has carved pictures of young men playing a game that is much like field hockey today. Ice hockey originated in Canada more than 100 years ago. One claim is that English soldiers played an early form of ice hockey on the frozen surfaces of Lake Ontario at Kingston, Ontario, as early as 1867.
The first organized ice hockey leagues were claimed by both Kingston and Montreal. It is known that there was definitely an ice hockey league in Kingston in 1885. In 1890, the Ontario Hockey Association was organized with ten teams. However, in 1914, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association was formed with a few thousand players.
So the birthplace of amateur ice hockey was Canada. But the United States organized ice hockey on a professional basis for the first time. In the winter of 1904–1905, a professional ice hockey league was formed in Houghton, Michigan. The world’s only major professional league, the National Ice Hockey League, was started in 1910.
The NHA (National Hockey Association) defines the rules of three 20-minute halves, introducing three minor and major penalties. Later, ice hockey became popular in Europe by introducing multiple leagues across the continent.
