Ice hockey, an action-packed sport featured at EYOF, combines speed, strategy, and teamwork. Young athletes skate on ice, handling the puck with precision and skill, while striving to score goals against their opponents. Dive into the excitement and intensity of ice hockey, and be part of this dynamic winter sport!  

An ice hockey game lasts 60 minutes, divided into three periods of 20 minutes each. The game is won by the team that scores the most goals.

There are normally no ties in ice hockey. If the score is still tied at the end of a game, an overtime period is played, which ends immediately with a goal by one of the two teams. If neither team has scored at the end of overtime, the game is decided by a shootout.

Hockey teams consist of a maximum of 20 players. During the game, a maximum of 6 team members can be on the ice at one time. This typically consists of 5 skaters and one goaltender, but the goaltender can be replaced by a sixth skater in special situations.  

WHAT IS ICE HOCKEY ?

Ice hockey is a fast, fluid and exciting team sport featuring two teams of six players (a goaltender and five skaters) on ice. It draws big crowds at the Olympic Games thanks to the drama and tension of the matches.  

Ice hockey originated in Canada in the early 19th century, based on several similar sports played in Europe, although the word “hockey” comes from the old French word “hocquet”, meaning “stick”. Around 1860, a puck was substituted for a ball, and in 1879, two McGill University students, Robertson and Smith, devised the first rules.

The first recognized team, the McGill University Hockey Club, was formed in 1880 as hockey became the Canadian national sport and spread throughout the country. In 1892, the Governor General of Canada donated the Stanley Cup, which was first won by a team representing the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association.

The sport migrated south to the United States during the 1890s, and games are known to have taken place there between Johns Hopkins and Yale universities in 1895. Ice hockey spread to Europe around the turn of the century, and the first Olympic Games to include ice hockey for men were 1920 Antwerp Games (in summer, predating the first Olympic Winter Games).

HOW LONG IS AN ICE HOCKEY GAME ?

Ice hockey games are played over three periods of 20 minutes each, with the clock stopping on each pause of play. If the scores are tied, games are usually decided by overtime periods (of varying length, depending on the tournament or even the round within a tournament) or even by penalty-shot shootout.  

ICE HOCKEY AND THE OLYMPICS

Six-a-side men’s ice hockey has been on the program of every edition of the Winter Games since 1924 in Chamonix. Women’s ice hockey was accepted as an Olympic sport in 1992 and made its official debut in 1998 in Nagano.  

Unsurprisingly, Canada dominated the first tournaments. However, in 1956, and until its dissolution, the Soviet Union took over and became the number one team. It was interrupted only by USA victories in 1960 in Squaw Valley and in 1980 in Lake Placid.

Professional National Hockey League players competed in men’s tournaments from 1998 through 2014.

(source: https://olympics.com/en/sports/ice-hockey/).