Ice Hockey | Live Scores

Ice hockey is Canada's national winter sport and a passion that defines the culture of Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, and the northern United States. Played on ice rinks by six-player teams using sticks and a rubber puck, ice hockey is one of the fastest team sports in the world — players skate at speeds exceeding 48 km/h while shooting pucks at 160 km/h. The National Hockey League (NHL) is the premier professional league and one of the "Big Four" major North American sports leagues.

The first organised indoor ice hockey game on record was played on March 3, 1875, at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal, Canada. The game was organised by James Creighton and involved students from McGill University. This indoor version adapted existing outdoor "shinny" games and established the fundamental format of modern ice hockey: two teams of players on an ice surface using sticks to hit a puck into a net. Montreal would remain the centre of hockey's early development.

The Amateur Hockey Association of Canada was founded in 1886. Lord Stanley of Preston, Canada's Governor General, donated the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup in 1892 — which became the Stanley Cup, the oldest trophy in North American professional sports still competed for today. The National Hockey Association (NHA), a professional league, was founded in 1909, followed by the NHL itself on November 22, 1917, in Montreal. The NHL has operated continuously since that founding year.

The NHL's Original Six era (1942-1967) — when only the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, and Chicago Blackhawks competed — is remembered as a golden age of concentrated talent. The Montreal Canadiens won 10 Stanley Cups in just 14 seasons (1956-1969). Gordie Howe played 26 NHL seasons. Bobby Orr revolutionised the defenceman position. Wayne Gretzky — universally called "The Great One" — scored more goals than any player in NHL history and is widely considered the greatest hockey player who ever lived.

International ice hockey developed significantly through Soviet dominance. The Soviet national team, drawing on a systematic state programme, produced technically sophisticated players who dominated world championships from the 1950s through the 1980s. The 1972 Summit Series — Canada versus the USSR in an eight-game showdown — is one of the most dramatic series in sports history, with Paul Henderson scoring the series-winning goal with 34 seconds remaining in Game 8. The "Miracle on Ice" at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics — when an amateur US team defeated the heavily favoured Soviet professional team — is considered one of the greatest sporting upsets ever.

As of June 8, 2026, ice hockey is 151 years old since that first organised indoor game in Montreal. The NHL playoffs — the most dramatic post-season in North American sport, featuring seven-game series that can produce extraordinary tension — are approaching their conclusion with the Stanley Cup Finals underway in June 2026. European leagues including Sweden's SHL and Finland's Liiga produce world-class talent. ZakGT covers the NHL and major international hockey competitions.