Ice hockey is the most popular indoor sport in Scotland, with a fairly established presence in each of the population centres and a spectator attendance lower only than football and rugby union.[1][2][3] The term "hockey" is usually reserved for field hockey in Scotland, and "ice hockey" is normally referred to by its full form.[4]
As with curling (a sport of Scottish origin), the game tends to be more commonly played indoors these days, due to milder winters in the past few decades.[5] Ice hockey is thus played on indoor rinks in Scotland, with the possible exception of street hockey, which is played at an informal level within the country.[6][7]
Shinty and the possible Scottish origins of ice hockey
Despite the official introduction of ice hockey into Scotland in the twentieth century, its roots in Scotland go far deeper.[9] To this day, ice hockey is often referred to as "shinny" and "hurtling" in Canada, suggesting a tie up with shinty and Ireland's hurling. Shinty is the national stick game of Scotland, and Phil Dracket who favours an English origin for the game, in the Fens of Cambridgeshire admits:
"in the formative years of the game the dividing line between hockey, bandy and shinty was always a fine one."[10]
"THE game of bandy, otherwise known as hockey or shinney, or shinty, is doubtless one of the earliest pastimes of the kind ever known."[11]
However, the similarities between the two sports, post-codification are still notable:
"[in shinty] as in ice hockey, both sides of the hook [of the stick] are used to strike the ball, but there is no restriction on the height to which the stick may be raised."[12]
20th century
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Domestic structure
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