Claim: Ice hockey is popular.

Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice , usually in a rink , in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponent 's net to score points . The sport is known to be fast-paced and physical , with teams usually consisting of six players each : one goaltender , and five players who skate up and down the ice trying to take the puck and score a goal against the opposing team .   Ice hockey is most popular in Canada , central and eastern Europe , Scandinavia , and the northern regions of the United States . Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada , where the modern version of the sport was created , and enjoys immense popularity ; alongside Canada , hockey is the most popular winter sport in Finland , Latvia , the Czech Republic , Sweden , Slovakia , Belarus and Switzerland . In North America , the National Hockey League -LRB- NHL -RRB- is the highest level for men 's hockey and the most popular . The Kontinental Hockey League -LRB- KHL -RRB- is the highest league in Russia and much of Eastern Europe . The International Ice Hockey Federation -LRB- IIHF -RRB- is the formal governing body for international ice hockey , with the IIHF managing international tournaments and maintaining the IIHF World Ranking . Worldwide , there are ice hockey federations in 74 countries .   Ice hockey is believed to have evolved from simple stick and ball games played in the 18th and 19th century United Kingdom and elsewhere . These games were brought to North America and several similar winter games using informal rules were developed , such as `` shinny '' and `` ice polo '' . The contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada , most notably in Montreal , where the first indoor hockey game was played on March 3 , 1875 . Some characteristics of that game , such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck , have been retained to this day . Amateur ice hockey leagues began in the 1880s , and professional ice hockey originated around 1900 . The Stanley Cup , emblematic of ice hockey club supremacy , was first awarded in 1893 to recognize the Canadian amateur champion and later became the championship trophy of the NHL . In the early 1900s , the Canadian rules were adopted by the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace , the precursor of the IIHF and the sport was played for the first time in the Olympics in the Olympic Games of 1920 .   In international competitions , the national teams of six countries -LRB- the `` Big Six '' -RRB- predominate : Canada , Czech Republic , Finland , Russia , Sweden and the United States . Of the 69 medals awarded all-time in men 's competition at the Olympics , only six medals were not awarded to one of those countries . In the annual Ice Hockey World Championships , 177 of 201 medals have been awarded to the six nations . Teams outside the `` Big Six '' have won only five medals in either competition since 1953 : All 12 Women 's Olympic and 36 IIHF World Women 's Championships medals have been awarded to one of these six countries , and every gold medal in both competitions has been won by either the Canadian national team or the United States national team .   In Canada , the United States , and some European countries it is known simply as hockey ; the name `` ice hockey '' is used in places where `` hockey '' more often refers to field hockey , such as South America , Asia , Africa , Australasia , and some European countries . In Russia and Ukraine , where `` hockey '' can also refer to bandy , ice hockey is often called `` hockey with puck '' .