Table of Contents

What Is Hockey?

Hockey is a team sport where players use curved sticks to drive a puck or ball into the opposing team’s goal. The two major forms — ice hockey and field hockey — are played in over 80 countries combined. Ice hockey dominates in North America and Northern Europe. Field hockey is more popular globally, with strong traditions in India, Pakistan, the Netherlands, Australia, and much of Europe.

Ice Hockey — Speed on Blades

Ice hockey is played on a rink roughly 200 feet long and 85 feet wide, with six players per team on the ice at any time: a goaltender, two defensemen, and three forwards (center, left wing, right wing). Games consist of three 20-minute periods.

What makes ice hockey unique among major team sports is its speed. Players skate at 20 to 30 mph during play. The puck — a one-inch-thick, six-ounce vulcanized rubber disc — moves even faster, regularly exceeding 100 mph on slap shots. The combination of speed, physical contact, and a small playing surface creates a game that is chaotic, violent, and thrilling in equal measure.

Body checking — using your body to legally separate an opponent from the puck — is a defining feature. Players wear extensive protective equipment: helmets with visors or cages, shoulder pads, elbow pads, gloves, shin guards, and padded pants. Goalies wear even more armor. Despite all this protection, injuries are common. Concussions, broken bones, and lost teeth are occupational hazards.

The NHL (National Hockey League), founded in 1917, is the top professional league. It has 32 teams across the U.S. and Canada. The Stanley Cup, awarded to the playoff champion, is arguably the most grueling trophy to win in professional sports — teams must win 16 playoff games across four best-of-seven series, often playing through injuries that would sideline athletes in other sports.

Field Hockey — The Global Game

Field hockey is actually the older and more widely played version. It is contested at the Olympics, the Hockey World Cup, and in professional leagues across Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Over 130 national federations belong to the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

Eleven players per side play on a field 100 yards long. The ball is hard, slightly larger than a baseball. Players use flat-sided sticks — you can only use the flat side to hit the ball, which is a rule that constantly confuses newcomers. There is no body checking, and aerial balls above shoulder height are penalized.

India and Pakistan dominated Olympic field hockey for decades. India won eight Olympic gold medals between 1928 and 1980. The Netherlands, Australia, Germany, and Argentina are the current powerhouses.

Origins and History

Stick-and-ball games appear in nearly every ancient culture. Egyptian tomb carvings from 4,000 years ago show figures with curved sticks and a ball. The Greeks, Romans, Aztecs, and Indigenous peoples of North America all played variations.

Modern field hockey was formalized in England in the mid-1800s. The first official rules were written in 1876. Ice hockey’s origins are disputed — Montreal, Halifax, and Windsor, Nova Scotia all claim the first organized game. What is clear is that ice hockey evolved in eastern Canada in the 1870s and 1880s, initially using a ball before switching to a flat puck (which stayed on the ice better and did not bounce over the boards as often).

The NHL was founded in Montreal in 1917 with four teams. It expanded slowly for decades, then rapidly from the 1990s onward, adding teams across the American Sun Belt — places like Phoenix, Tampa, Nashville, and Las Vegas where natural ice does not exist but air conditioning does.

How Ice Hockey Actually Works

The basic rules are straightforward, but the strategy is layered.

Offside — a player cannot enter the offensive zone (past the blue line) before the puck does. This prevents cherry-picking.

Icing — shooting the puck from behind the center line past the opposing goal line without anyone touching it results in a face-off back in the shooting team’s defensive zone. This discourages just dumping the puck down the ice.

Power plays occur when a team commits a penalty (tripping, hooking, slashing, etc.) and must play short-handed for two minutes. The penalized player sits in the penalty box. Five-on-four advantages produce many of the game’s goals.

Overtime and shootouts settle tied games. Regular season NHL games use a five-minute three-on-three overtime, then a shootout if still tied. Playoff games use twenty-minute sudden-death overtime periods — no shootouts, play until someone scores. Some playoff games have gone to quadruple overtime, running past midnight.

The Culture of Hockey

Hockey culture is distinct and, frankly, a little weird compared to other sports. Some traditions:

Playoff beards — players stop shaving during the playoffs. Teams that make deep runs sport increasingly wild facial hair.

The handshake line — after a playoff series, both teams line up and shake hands. Win or lose, you acknowledge your opponent. It is one of the most respected traditions in professional sports.

Dropping the gloves — while fighting is penalized, the NHL has historically tolerated it as self-regulation. “Enforcers” — players whose primary role was fighting — were common through the 1990s and 2000s. The role has nearly disappeared as the sport has shifted toward speed and skill.

Hat tricks — when a player scores three goals, fans throw their hats onto the ice. Nobody knows exactly when this started, but it is delightfully chaotic.

Getting Into Hockey

If you want to play, most cities with rinks offer adult beginner leagues. “Learn to skate” programs are available for people who have never been on ice. Equipment is expensive (full gear costs $500 to $1,500), but many programs offer rental equipment for beginners.

If you just want to watch, hockey is easiest to appreciate in person — television struggles to capture the speed and physicality. But even on screen, once you learn to follow the puck and understand the flow, it is one of the most exciting spectator sports around.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between ice hockey and field hockey?

Ice hockey is played on an ice rink with a rubber puck, six players per side, and allows body checking. Field hockey is played on grass or turf with a hard ball, eleven players per side, and prohibits body contact. Ice hockey uses fully enclosed goals; field hockey goals are larger. The sports share the basic concept of using sticks to score but differ significantly in rules, equipment, and pace.

Why does hockey allow fighting?

The NHL tolerates fighting more than other sports, though it is technically penalized with a five-minute major. The traditional justification is that fighting serves as self-policing — players protect teammates from dirty play. However, fighting has declined sharply since the 2000s as the league has emphasized speed and skill over physical intimidation. Many hockey leagues outside North America ban fighting entirely.

How fast does a hockey puck travel?

Professional hockey players regularly shoot pucks at 80 to 100 mph. The hardest recorded NHL shot, by Zdeno Chara, was clocked at 108.8 mph. Slap shots are the fastest, while wrist shots are more accurate. For comparison, a baseball fastball averages about 95 mph.

Further Reading

• NHL Official Site
• International Ice Hockey Federation
• FIH – International Hockey Federation (Field Hockey)