Ice hockey is a contact winter team sport played on ice skates, usually on a rink. Two opposing teams, typically fielding six skaters each, use sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into the other team's goal; the winner is the team to score most goals. In Canada, the United States, and some European countries the sport is known simply as hockey in everyday language; in virtually all other countries, "hockey" usually refers to field hockey.
The contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, where the first indoor game was played on March 3, 1875. Some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained to this day. Amateur ice hockey leagues began in the 1880s, and professional ice hockey originated around 1900. The Stanley Cup, emblematic of ice hockey club supremacy, was first awarded in 1893 to recognize the Canadian amateur champion and later became the championship trophy of the NHL.