Ice hockey

In ice hockey two teams of six (including a goalkeeper) skate and use sticks to shoot a rubber puck into the opponents' goal. A game has three 20-minute periods, and its speed, power and body checks make it one of the most dynamic games in the world.

History

Modern ice hockey began with the first indoor game in Montreal, Canada, in 1875. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) was founded in 1908. Hockey was played at the 1920 Summer Olympics and has been part of the Winter Olympics since 1924; women have competed since 1998.

Major competitions

The Olympic Games, the IIHF World Championship, North America's NHL and the Stanley Cup, and Eurasia's KHL and the Gagarin Cup.

Ice hockey in the Turkic world

Kazakhstan's national team played at the 1998 and 2006 Olympics and has appeared many times in the top division of the World Championship, and Astana's Barys has played in the KHL since 2008. Ak Bars of Kazan, capital of Tatarstan, have won the Gagarin Cup three times (2009, 2010, 2018), and Salavat Yulaev of Ufa, capital of Bashkortostan, won it in 2011. Türkiye also has an ice hockey league with teams in Erzurum, Ankara and Istanbul.