Hockey - a thrilling winter sport

One of the most popular sports in North America thanks to the NHL, hockey has also continued to grow in stature across Europe and remains one of the biggest events in the Winter Games. Check out the range of hockey tickets available on StubHub.

A brief history

The sport also known in some countries as ice hockey was pioneered by Canada in the late 19th Century. An extremely physical and fast-paced game, hockey sees two ice-skating teams of six players (one goaltender, five outfield) take to the ice rink where they try to score points by hitting a puck into their opposing side's net. The legendary Stanley Cup was first staged way back in 1893, with the first professional hockey league taking place seven years later. The European Championships and World Championships also originated in the early 1900s, while the sport made its Winter Games debut in 1920. Hockey's biggest domestic league, the NHL, was founded in 1917 and consists of professional teams from both the USA and Canada. Hockey is also widely-played across many Eastern European countries, particularly Russia, while the Elite Ice Hockey League has helped to increase the sport's popularity in the United Kingdom. You can both buy and sell hockey tickets for a wide range of leagues and competitions on StubHub.

The big six

International men's hockey has been dominated by the Big Six, the United States, Canada, Russia, Czech Republic, Finland and Sweden, ever since the sport's inception. And it's the same story in the professional women's game with the same six nations winning every single medal in the history of the IHF World Championships and Winter Games. In the NHL, the Montreal Canadiens are the most successful team having won more than two dozen titles, while the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings' tallies are also in the double figures. The atmosphere at a hockey game, whichever part of the world it's taking place in, can often be the most intense, exciting and thrilling in the sporting world. Fans are just as vocal jeering the opposition as they are cheering on their own team, ensuring that the arena remains loud and proud throughout the entire game. In fact, with their foam fingers, replica jerseys and vocal support, the crowd is just as pivotal to the hockey experience as the thrills, spills and skills on the ice rink. Looking for a sport that guarantees non-stop action? Then discover the various hockey tickets available on StubHub.