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Ice Hockey
Ice hockey is played, as the name implies, on ice rinks and is popular in Canada , Russia , USA and Scandinavia . It is played using hockey sticks and a rubber disk called a puck instead of a ball. Ice hockey games are very physical and it is not uncommon for hockey fans to go wild when watching tournaments. Although very much alike, field hockey and ice hockey have different origins. Ice hockey originated from the games bandy, shinty and hurley. Bandy, shinty and hurley are all ball and stick games although bandy is the closest to ice hockey with it being played on ice using sticks and a ball. Bandy's origin is still unclear although Halifax and Windsor , Nova Scotia , on Ontario all claim that Bandy started there. Bandy was then introduced to Scandinavia , Switzerland and Germany in the early 1890s. Early hockey games used frozen stones as goals and allowed as many as 30 players on each team. It also wasn't until 1860 that the puck was used instead of the traditional ball. In 1879 students from McGill University in Montreal , Canada drafted the first set of official rules and by the late 1880s several hockey clubs were established in Canada . Ice hockey was first played in USA in 1893 and became an Olympic sport in 1920. Ice hockey's most prestigious league today is the National Hockey League, which at present is comprised of teams from Canada and USA . |
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