Hockey, also called ice hockey, is a fast, exciting sport played by two teams on a sheet of ice called a rink. Each team has six players on the ice, and all the players wear skates. The players skate up and down the rink, maneuvering a hard rubber disk called a puck along the ice with long sticks. They try to score goals by shooting the puck into a goal cage, or net. In many countries, the term hockey refers to field hockey. For information on this sport, see Field hockey.
Hockey has swifter action than almost any other sport. As the players streak across the ice, their powerful shots occasionally send the puck traveling 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour. A goalkeeper on each team defends the team’s net. Goalkeepers must often make lightning slides across the front of the net on their knees, stomach, or back to block shots of the puck. A puck that enters the goal cage or crosses the goal line scores a goal (point) for the other side. The side that scores the most goals wins the game. To keep the action fast, hockey has an unusual rule. It is the only major sport that allows players to be substituted while play is in progress. The game sometimes includes fights among players, though fighting is against the rules.
Hockey began in Canada in the mid-1800’s. By the early 1900’s, it had become Canada’s national winter sport. Since then, hockey has become popular in many other countries, especially the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, and the United States. In Canada and the United States, thousands of amateur players take part in community, high school, junior, and college contests.
How to play hockey
Hockey rules differ somewhat between professional and amateur groups. This section deals primarily with the rules followed by professional leagues in Canada and the United States. There is one major league—the National Hockey League (NHL)—plus several minor leagues. Most Canadian and U.S. amateur teams have nearly the same rules that professional leagues have. However, U.S. high school and college teams follow a special set of amateur rules, as do most teams in international competition. This section notes the chief differences between the professional rules and various amateur rules.
The rink.
The standard hockey rink measures 200 feet (61 meters) by 85 feet (26 meters). The corners are rounded. A low, white, solid wooden wall—called the boards—surrounds the rink. This wall, which in most cases is covered with fiberglass, stands 40 to 48 inches (102 to 122 centimeters) high. Most indoor rinks consist of a sheet of ice that is first painted white, with blue and red markings, and then covered with more clear ice.
A red goal line extends across each end of the rink, 11 feet (3.4 meters) from the boards. A goal cage stands in the middle of each goal line. The cage consists mainly of heavy netting supported by two metal goal posts, which are joined across the top by a metal crossbar. Two short pegs hold each post in place. The opening at the front of the cage measures 4 feet (1.2 meters) high by 6 feet (1.8 meters) wide. Players aim the puck at this opening to score goals. An 8-foot (2.4-meter) wide area, known as a goal crease, is outlined in red in front of each cage.
Two blue lines divide the area between the goal lines into two 64-foot (19.5-meter) end zones and a center zone, which is 50 feet (15.2 meters) long in the NHL. The end zone that a team defends is that team’s defending zone. The opposite end zone is the team’s attacking zone. One team’s defending zone serves as the other team’s attacking zone. The center zone is called the neutral zone. In all hockey games, the rink also has a red centerline. It divides the neutral zone—and the rink—in half. Nearly all outdoor rinks have the zone boundaries marked on the boards.
Colored face-off spots mark the places on the ice where officials hold face-offs. In a face-off, an official drops the puck between the sticks of two opposing players, who try to hit it to a teammate or toward the opponents’ goal. Face-offs are used to begin each game and to resume play after it has been stopped. The neutral zone has five red face-off spots, and each end zone has two. A red circle surrounds each end zone face-off spot. Only an official and two opposing players may stand inside a circle during a face-off. A blue face-off spot and circle are at the center of the rink.
Most hockey rinks have a players’ bench for each team and a penalty bench, or penalty box, where players must stay temporarily if they break the rules. The benches are behind the sideboards. Every rink has two or more clocks to keep track of the playing time and the time players serve in the penalty box. Most indoor rinks also have a red light behind each goal that flashes on when a puck enters the goal cage and scores.
The starting lineup
consists of the goalkeeper, or goalie; three forwards; and two defensemen. The goalie has the most demanding job on the team. The goalie is the last defense against a score by the opposing team, and the least mistake on the goalie’s part may cost the team a goal. The goalie almost always remains in or near the goal crease, but will occasionally leave the area to play the puck. The goalie is the only player allowed to catch the puck or pick it up.
The main job of the forwards is to score goals. But they must also help defend their team’s goal. Each forward has an assigned position—center, left wing, or right wing—which together make up the forward line. The center usually leads the team’s attack and takes part in most face-offs. The center’s starting position is in the middle of the forward line. During play, the center follows the puck wherever it goes. The left wing generally patrols the left side of the rink. The right wing patrols the right side. But the wings skate into each other’s territory when the play requires.
The defensemen’s main job is to guard their team’s defending zone and to keep the opposing team from scoring. But defensemen also sometimes lead the attack and score goals. They normally cover the part of the rink between their team’s forward line and their goal. The left defenseman generally covers the left half of the rink, and the right defenseman covers the right half. But like the wings, they skate into each other’s territory when necessary. The sections on Offensive play and Defensive play describe the players’ duties in more detail.
Substitutions can be made while play continues or while there is a break in the action. Coaches usually change individual players, except the goalie, about every 45 seconds or less during professional games. The starting goalie usually plays the entire game. A team often has to play short-handed—that is, with fewer players on the ice than the opposing team has. This situation occurs when one or two players on a team are in the penalty box.
Equipment.
Hockey players need a puck, skates, and sticks. The puck is a hard, black rubber disk 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) thick and 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) in diameter. It weighs from 51/2 to 6 ounces (156 to 170 grams). Hockey skates have strong, light nylon and leather boots designed for both support and protection. The blades are made of hard steel and are rockered (curved) along the bottom. A player can turn and make other maneuvers more easily with rockered blades than with flat ones. Each player uses an L-shaped stick. The shaft (handle) is made of wood, metal, or, in many cases, technologically advanced composite materials. It may be no more than 63 inches (160 centimeters) long. Except on goalies’ sticks, the blade must be no more than 121/2 inches (32 centimeters) long and 3 inches (8 centimeters) wide. The blade of a goalie’s stick may be up to 151/2 inches (39 centimeters) long and 31/2 inches (9 centimeters) wide.
A player’s uniform consists mainly of knee-length pants, a sweater, and long socks. Under the uniform, each player wears shoulder pads, elbow pads, a garter belt, and shin guards. The pants of all players are padded to protect the kidneys and thighs. In addition, each player also wears heavily padded gloves with long cuffs to protect the wrists. Amateur players must wear a protective helmet. Players in the NHL also must wear a helmet. Many professional players’ helmets are equipped with a clear plastic shield that protects the upper part of the face. Amateur and youth players wear visors or metal cages to guard the face.
A goalie wears extra-thick padding under the uniform, including pads to protect the arms and the front of the body. A leather pad 11 inches (28 centimeters) wide shields the front of each leg from above the knee to below the ankle. These pads help the goalie block shots at the net. One of a goalie’s gloves, called a blocker, has a large pad on the back. The goalie uses this pad, along with the stick, to bat away shots of the puck. The other glove resembles a mitt used by a first baseman in baseball and has a long cuff. The goalie uses this glove to catch pucks and toss them away from the net. The goalie also wears a special protective face mask.
Hockey skills.
Hockey requires a variety of skills. They include (1) skating, (2) stickhandling, (3) passing, (4) shooting, and (5) checking. Hockey has few standard plays, and so players must also have the skill to develop plays as the action progresses.
Skating
is the most important hockey skill. Players must turn sharply, skate backwards, and perform many other maneuvers—all at top speed. Their skating must be so automatic that they can make any maneuver without taking their attention from the game.
Stickhandling
is the use of the stick to control the puck. In the most common form, a player moves the puck first with one side of the blade and then with the other while skating. The player makes some sweeps of the stick wide and some narrow. In this way, the player keeps the opponents guessing as to the next move and also makes it difficult for them to steal the puck.
Passing
is the means by which a player who has possession of the puck transfers it to a teammate. In most cases, players use their sticks to propel the puck toward a receiver. Such passes are either flat passes or flip passes. To make a flat pass, the passer sends the puck traveling along the surface of the ice. To make a flip pass, the player causes it to rise off the ice to avoid interception by an opponent. Sometimes, a passer simply leaves the puck behind so that a teammate can get it. Such a pass is called a drop pass.
Shooting
is the skill needed to drive the puck into the goal cage and so score goals. As in passing, a player propels the puck with the stick. Most shots are either wrist shots, snap shots, or slap shots. In a wrist shot, the blade does not leave the ice until the follow through at the end of the shot. The player uses strong wrist action to propel the puck. In a snap shot, the stick swings back to approximately knee level, and the player makes a quick snapping motion forward with the stick to propel the puck. For a slap shot, the player raises the stick in a backswing and brings it down against the puck with great force. Slap shots are more powerful but less accurate than snap shots and wrist shots.
Checking
is the chief means a player uses to get the puck away from an opponent. There are two main types of checks: stick checks and body checks. For a stick check, a player uses the stick to hook or poke the puck away from an opponent’s stick. In a body check, a player bumps against an opponent with a hip or shoulder to try to block the opponent’s progress or throw the opponent off balance. Both stick checking and body checking are allowed only against a player in control of the puck or against a player immediately after he or she no longer has possession. In professional and most amateur play, body checks may be made anywhere on the ice. Most leagues for female players do not permit body checks.
A goalie needs a special set of skills. To block shots at the net, the goalie must move nearly every part of the body and all the equipment quickly and surely.
Playing time.
Most professional hockey games are played in three 20-minute periods separated by two 15-minute intermissions. The periods last less than 20 minutes in some amateur games. Only actual playing time is counted. The clock stops when play stops. An official’s whistle stops play in most cases. In addition, each team is allowed one 30-second time out per game.
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In the NHL, if a regular-season game ends in a tie after three periods of play, the teams play a 5-minute sudden-death overtime. The first team to score in the overtime wins. If neither team scores, the game continues to a shootout in which three players from each side take unguarded shots against the opposition’s goalie. The team that wins the shootout is declared the winner. If an NHL play-off game ends in a tie, the teams play 20-minute overtime periods until one team scores.
Playing the game.
Each period begins with a face-off at the center face-off spot. A face-off also starts play again after it has been stopped for any reason. Face-offs are held at various face-off spots, depending on the reason for stopping play. The team that gains control of the puck as a result of the face-off tries to move it into scoring position. During play, the puck must normally be kept moving. If it is hit over the boards, held by the goalie, out of the referee’s sight, frozen between opposing players, or is otherwise temporarily out of play, an official blows a whistle for a face-off. The only exception to this rule occurs when the puck is stationed along the boards while players try to get possession of it.
A player may carry (move) the puck along the ice, pass it to a teammate, or shoot it at the goal. But the rules limit these plays in certain ways. One extremely important rule states that no player of an attacking team may be in the attacking zone ahead of the puck. One member of the team must carry or shoot the puck across the attacking blue line before any other player on the team crosses the line. For violations of this rule, an official signals the offending team offside and conducts a face-off in the neutral zone. If an attacking player has crossed into the opposing team’s defending zone ahead of the puck, that player can prevent an offside call by immediately returning to the center zone and then reentering the opposing team’s zone. This is called clearing the zone. But offside must be called if the puck shot by an attacking player has a chance to go into the net or if an attacking player touches the puck before the zone has been cleared.
A player may pass to a teammate anywhere in the same zone. A player may also pass from the defending zone to a teammate in the neutral zone. In games that are played without a centerline, a player may pass from the defending zone to a teammate anywhere in the neutral zone.
Offensive play
centers on the attack, or rush, against the opposing team’s goal. An attacking team moves the puck down the ice until one player is in position to carry or shoot it across the defending team’s blue line. If the player carries the puck across the blue line, teammates rush to an open area to receive a pass. If the player shoots the puck across the blue line, one or more teammates rush in to gain control of the puck. But a player remains back for defensive purposes in case the other team gets control of the puck.
Once the attackers control the puck in the opposing team’s end zone, the attacking defensemen station themselves as point men at opposite ends of their opponents’ blue line. Their main job is to keep the puck in the attacking zone. The center tries for shots at the goal or passes the puck to a wing in better scoring position. The center and one of the wings go after any shot that misses the goal or is batted away by the goalie and try to score it on the rebound—that is, after a shot has missed. If the opposing team gets the puck, the attackers quickly begin checking to regain control. Checking an opponent who controls the puck in the opponent’s defending zone is called forechecking. Throughout an attack, one wing typically plays far enough back to go after an opponent who breaks into the neutral zone with the puck.
One of the most exciting offensive plays is the power play. This play occurs when one team is short-handed. The other team pressures its opponent after gaining control of the puck in the attacking zone and setting up plays to develop good scoring chances.
Defensive play
is designed to break up attacks. At the start of an attack, both defensemen begin skating rapidly toward their defending zone. They skate backward to keep close watch on the attackers and use their sticks to prevent a pass or a shot at the goal. Each defending wing guards the attacking wing on the defending wing’s side of the ice. After the puck crosses the defending team’s blue line, one defenseman takes a position in front of the goalie. The other defenseman guards the puck carrier. The defending center goes after the puck. Each defending wing guards the attacking defenseman stationed on the wing’s side of the ice as a point man. All the defending players must check strongly. Their chief aim is to get control of the puck and carry or pass it out of their end zone. Checking by forwards to break up a rush is called back-checking. To defend themselves against power plays, teams may send in substitutes called penalty killers. These players are expert at defending and at regaining control of the puck.
An illegal defensive play called icing the puck, or icing, occurs when a defending player shoots the puck from the defending team’s half of the ice across the opponents’ goal line. But for icing to occur, a defensive player other than the goalie must be closest to the puck when it crosses the goal line. The penalty for icing is a face-off in the offending team’s end zone. There are two major exceptions to the icing rule. If an iced puck enters the net, it counts as a score. In addition, a short-handed team may ice the puck as a defensive play.
Violations and penalties.
Offside plays and icing account for most violations of the rules. For these violations, the offending team risks losing the puck in the resulting face-off. For more serious violations, players receive penalties ranging from 2 minutes in the penalty box to removal from the game. But a team must always have at least four players on the ice. If a third player is penalized while two teammates are in the penalty box, a substitute may replace the player on the ice. The third player’s penalty time does not begin until the first penalized player has served the penalty. But this player may not return to the ice until play is stopped. The substitute must then leave the ice. A teammate may serve a goalie’s penalties in most cases.
Hockey has five main kinds of penalties: (1) minor penalties, (2) major penalties, (3) misconduct penalties, (4) match penalties, and (5) penalty shots.
Minor penalties
are given for such violations as holding or tripping an opponent or hooking an opponent with a stick. They bring 2 minutes in the penalty box. The team must play short-handed until the penalty is served or until the other side scores a goal.
Major penalties
are given mainly for fighting. They bring 5 minutes in the penalty box. The penalized team must play short-handed, and the entire penalty must be served. But if a player on each team receives a major penalty at the same time, substitutes may replace both players on the ice.
Misconduct penalties
are given chiefly for improper behavior toward an official. A misconduct penalty brings 10 minutes in the penalty box, but a substitute may replace the penalized player. A game misconduct penalty is given chiefly for more serious offenses against officials. In the NHL, it is also awarded against the first player to join a fight between two other players.
Match penalties
are given for deliberately injuring or attempting to injure an opponent. The offending player is removed for the rest of the game. But a substitute may replace the player after 5 or 10 minutes, depending on the seriousness of the offense.
Penalty shots
are free shots at the opposing team’s goal defended only by the goalie. They are chiefly awarded against a defending team when an attacking player with a clear shot at the goal is pulled down from behind and so prevented from taking the shot.
The officials.
The chief officials are the referees and two linesmen. They wear skates and are stationed on the ice. The referees supervise the entire game and decide nearly all penalties. The NHL uses two referees. Other levels of competition use one. The linesmen call offside and icing violations and conduct most face-offs.
All other officials work off the ice. The game timekeeper keeps track of actual playing time. The game timekeeper stops the official clock when a penalty or face-off is called and starts it again when play resumes. The penalty timekeeper keeps track of the time a player serves in the penalty box. The official scorer records the goals scored, the names of the scorers, and the players who score assists—that is, passes or other plays that contribute to goals. Two goal judges, one behind each goal cage off the ice, carefully watch shots at the goal. They turn on the red goal light to show that a puck has entered the net and scored. The statistician records team and individual performances. In the NHL, a video goal judge uses video replay to help rule on disputed goals.
Organized hockey
Professional leagues.
There is one major men’s professional hockey league in the United States and Canada, the National Hockey League. There are also a number of minor professional leagues. They include the American Hockey League, the ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League), the Central Hockey League, and the Southern Professional Hockey League. Three junior leagues make up the Canadian Hockey League—the Ontario Hockey League, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and the Western Hockey League. Many minor league teams are associated with a particular NHL team to provide playing experience and training for that team’s developing players.
Each year, the NHL teams obtain new players through a system known as the draft. The players may come from high schools, junior leagues, or college teams; or from Europe. The order of the draft is based on regular season records the previous season. The teams with the worst records pick earliest in the draft. Teams that do not qualify for the playoffs are entered into a lottery, with the winners gaining the first three places. The lottery guards against teams intentionally doing poorly to get the first overall pick in the draft.
The regular hockey season lasts from October to April. In the NHL, the top eight teams in each conference qualify for post-season playoffs, which may last as late as June. The finalists play for the Stanley Cup. The NHL also awards a number of individual trophies annually, including the Art Ross Trophy to the leading scorer; the Hart Memorial Trophy to the player judged most valuable to his team; the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship; and the William M. Jennings Trophy to the goalie or goalies on the team that had the fewest goals scored against it.
From 2015 to 2021, the major professional women’s hockey league in North America was the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL). In 2021, the NWHL became the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). The NWHL and PHF consisted of teams from Canada and the United States. In June 2023, the PHF shut down and the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) was formed. The PWHL began play in 2024 with a total of six teams, three based in Canada and three based in the United States. 
Amateur organization.
There are four main types of amateur hockey competition: (1) U.S. and Canadian competition, excluding U.S. high school, college, and women’s play; (2) international competition; (3) U.S. high school and college competition; and (4) women’s play. Each type of competition has its own structure and set of rules.
USA Hockey regulates amateur play in the United States. In Canada, Hockey Canada is the controlling group. The rules of both these national organizations resemble the professional rules. USA Hockey and Hockey Canada govern local organizations, hold tournaments, and establish amateur classifications by age group. Teams in each age classification compete with one another.
International, or world amateur, hockey is regulated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which has its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. Amateur hockey clubs from many countries belong to the IIHF. They include USA Hockey and Hockey Canada. Players on teams registered with IIHF members are called registered players.
Each year, outstanding men’s and women’s teams from a number of countries compete for the world amateur championship. The competition is not held in a year when the Winter Olympic Games are held. The IIHF establishes the rules for these contests. Most IIHF members have adopted IIHF rules.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sets up the rules for U.S. college hockey and holds annual college championship matches. Most high school teams in the United States follow NCAA rules. Canadian high school and college teams follow Hockey Canada rules.
Beginning in the 1990’s, amateur hockey for women has gained increasing popularity in the United States and Canada. Women use the same rules that men use. But in most women’s games, no checking is allowed.
History of hockey
Beginnings.
Hockey developed in Canada. According to Hockey Canada, British soldiers in Kingston, Ontario, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, played the first games, about 1855. The idea for ice hockey probably came from the older game of field hockey. In field hockey, the players use curved sticks to hit a rubber ball through a goal at each end of a playing field (see Field hockey).
In the 1870’s, students at McGill University in Montreal drew up the first formal ice hockey rules. The rules substituted a puck for the rubber ball and set the number of players on a team at nine. The McGill rules were widely distributed during the 1880’s. Hockey teams sprang up in many parts of Canada. By 1893, the game was so popular that the governor general, Lord Stanley of Preston, donated a silver bowl to be awarded annually to Canada’s champion hockey team. In 1894, a Montreal team won the first Stanley Cup match. The first U.S. hockey games were probably played in about 1895 at Yale University and Johns Hopkins University.
Professional hockey.
The first professional hockey team was organized at Houghton, Michigan, in 1903. Most of the players were Canadians. Hockey’s first professional league, the International Pro Hockey League, was started in 1904. It included teams from both Canada and the United States. Several other professional leagues started soon after 1904.
The National Hockey League formed in Montreal in 1917 from an earlier professional league, the National Hockey Association. The four original NHL teams were the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, and Toronto Arenas. Six-man teams, which were first introduced in 1904, became the rule in the newly organized NHL.
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In 1924, the Boston Bruins became the first U.S. team to join the NHL. A team each from Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh and two teams from New York City joined in 1925 and 1926. The Pittsburgh team and one New York City team later dropped out. By 1942, the NHL consisted of the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs. This membership, known as the Original Six, remained unchanged until 1967, when the NHL doubled to 12 teams.
Famous players and All-Star teams.
The early hockey stars were almost all Canadians. They included such colorful players as Newsy Lalonde, Joe Malone, Lester Patrick, and Cyclone Taylor. Hockey began to grow in popularity after U.S. teams joined the NHL. Fans of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s flocked to see such stars as forwards Bill Cook and Howie Morenz; defensemen King Clancy, Lionel Conacher, Ching Johnson, and Eddie Shore; and goalies Chuck Gardiner and George Hainsworth. Clancy, Cook, Gardiner, Johnson, Morenz, and Shore were among the players named to the first annual NHL All-Star teams. Hockey writers and broadcasters began the tradition of naming players to a first and second All-Star team just after the 1930-1931 season.
The NHL held its first annual All-Star Game in 1947. The All-Star team for this game was selected from the first and second All-Star teams of the preceding season. It included such players as forwards Doug Bentley and his brother Max, Ted Lindsay, Maurice Richard, and Milt Schmidt; defensemen Ken Reardon and Jack Stewart; and goalies Frank Brimsek and Bill Durnan. The All-Star team met the Toronto Maple Leafs, the 1947 Stanley Cup winners. The All-Stars won the game.
The All-Star game has undergone several format changes over the years. Today, teams representing the four divisions play 3-on-3 instead of 5-on-5 (plus the goalie) in a tournament that pits the Eastern Conference divisions against each other and the Western Conference divisions against each other. The winners meet in the final game. Since 1947, the games have featured such forwards as Jean Beliveau, Bobby Clarke, Sidney Crosby, Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito, Bernie Geoffrion, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Jaromir Jagr, Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier, Stan Mikita, Teemu Selanne, and Mats Sundin. Defensemen have included Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey, Doug Harvey, Guy Lapointe, Nicklas Lidstrom, Al MacInnis, Bobby Orr, Pierre Pilote, and Denis Potvin. Among the All-Star team goalies have been Martin Brodeur, Ken Dryden, Tony Esposito, Ed Giacomin, Glenn Hall, Dominik Hasek, Bernie Parent, Jacques Plante, Patrick Roy, and Terry Sawchuk. Since the 1985-1986 season, hockey fans have chosen the All-Star teams. 
The Hockey Hall of Fame opened in Toronto in 1961. The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame (now the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum) was established in Eveleth, Minnesota, in 1973. Both institutions honor former players, coaches, referees, and other people who helped develop and promote the sport of hockey.
Amateur development.
The IIHF was founded in 1908. The first amateur world championship was held in 1920 as part of the Olympic Games and marked the beginning of Olympic hockey competition. Canadian teams won most world and Olympic championships until the 1950’s, when teams from the Soviet Union began a string of victories. The United States has won gold medals in the 1960 and 1980 Winter Olympics. The United States also won the women’s competition in the 1998 Olympics, the first that included the women’s game.
The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (now the Canadian Hockey Association) was founded in 1914 and began organizing Canadian amateur hockey on a national basis. The Amateur Hockey Association of the United States (now USA Hockey) was founded in 1937. By the early 1950’s, it had organized United States amateur hockey nationally. The NCAA started its annual tournaments in 1948.
The Ice Hockey World Championships.
Since 1920, various national teams have competed in the Ice Hockey World Championships. These championships take place annually. Professional hockey players may compete in the championships. But many of the best NHL players have been unable to play in them, because the championships take place while NHL teams are playing for the Stanley Cup.
The late 1900’s and early 2000’s.
In 1972, a national team from the Soviet Union met a team of Canada’s top professionals in an eight-game tournament known as the Summit Series. Canada won four games, lost three, and tied one.
In 1976, competition began in the Canada Cup tournament. The Canada Cup, played every three or four years, matched national teams from European countries with teams representing the United States and Canada. The last Canada Cup took place in 1991. It was replaced by a similar tournament, the World Cup of Hockey, first held in 1996.
The World Hockey Association (WHA) was organized in 1971 and began its first season in 1972. After the 1978-1979 season, the WHA disbanded, and four of its teams joined the NHL. These teams were the Edmonton Oilers, the New England Whalers, the Quebec Nordiques, and the Winnipeg Jets.
The NHL began an expansion program in 1967, adding new divisions and enlarging the playoff structure to allow more teams to compete. By 2000, the league had expanded to 30 teams. In 2016, the NHL Board of Governors approved the addition of a new team in Las Vegas. The team, the Vegas Golden Knights, began play in the 2017-2018 season. In 2018, the Board of Governors approved the addition of the league’s 32nd team, the Seattle Kraken, which began play in the 2021-2022 season.
In 2007, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League was established. It ceased operations in 2019 due to financial problems. The National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) was founded in 2015. In 2021, the league became known as the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). The NWHL and PHF consisted of teams from Canada and the United States. In 2023, the PHF shut down and the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) was formed. The PWHL began play in 2024.
In April 1992, the NHL players went on strike, the first strike in league history. The strike lasted 10 days before the players’ union and the team owners reached a settlement. Another labor dispute led to the cancellation of almost half the 1994-1995 regular season before the players and owners agreed on a new contract.
The third dispute between the players and team owners led to the cancellation of the 2004-2005 NHL season and marked the first time since 1919 that the Stanley Cup had not been awarded. It was the first time a major professional sports league in North America had canceled an entire season because of a labor dispute. Another dispute between the players and owners delayed the opening of the 2012-2013 regular season until January 2013, when an agreement was reached on a new contract.
In 2020, a pandemic of the contagious respiratory disease COVID-19 affected hockey competition around the world. The NHL’s regular season was shortened, and its Stanley Cup playoffs were only completed in September. The men’s and women’s 2020 Ice Hockey World Championships were canceled. The NWHL completed its regular season, but canceled the championship game.
The pandemic continued to affect the sport in 2021. For the 2020-2021 season, the NHL played a shortened, 56-game regular season that began in January 2021. The NWHL’s 2020-2021 season was also shortened. Due to a rise in COVID-19 cases, two NWHL teams withdrew from the season before the playoffs began.
