NCAA & College Ice Hockey

College hockey, NCAA hockey & collegiate ice hockey. Ice hockey is a popular wintertime spectator sport played by both amateurs and professionals in such countries as Canada, the United States, and the former Soviet Union. The game is played by two teams of six players that use sticks to hit a rubber puck into the other team's goal at the opposite end of an ice rink. Hockey was first played in the United States in1893 and the Boston Bruins became the first U.S. National Hockey League (NHL) team in 1924. Today, the Stanley Cup is awarded annually to the NHL champion. This section focuses on NCAA ice hockey.