Ice-hockey
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The Toronto Maple Leafs (white) defend their goal against the Washington Capitals (red) during the 2016–17 NHL season.
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| Highest governing body | International Ice Hockey Federation |
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| First played | 19th century Canada |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | Full contact |
| Team members | 6 per side (including goaltender) |
| Type | Team sport, stick sport, puck sport, winter sport |
| Equipment | Hockey pucks, sticks, skates, shin pads, shoulder pads, gloves, helmets (with visor or cage, depending on age of player and league), elbow pads, jock or jill, socks, shorts, neck guard (depends on league), mouthguard (depends on league) |
| Venue | Hockey rink or arena, and is sometimes played on a frozen lake or pond for recreation |
| Presence | |
| Olympic | |
Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponent's net to score points. The sport is known to be fast-paced and physical, with teams usually consisting of six players each: one goaltender, and five players who skate up and down the ice trying to take the puck and score a goal against the opposing team.
Ice hockey is most popular in Canada, central and eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and the northern regions of the United States. Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada, where the modern version of the sports was created, and enjoys immense popularity; alongside Canada, hockey is the most popular winter sport in Finland, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Slovakia, Belarus and Switzerland. In North America, the National Hockey League (NHL) is the highest level for men's hockey and the most popular. The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) is the highest league in Russia and much of Eastern Europe. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) is the formal governing body for international ice hockey, with the IIHF managing international tournaments and maintaining the IIHF World Ranking. Worldwide, there are ice hockey federations in 74 countries.
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Wikipedia