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. The term "hockey" is usually reserved for field hockey in Scotland, and "ice hockey" is normally referred to by its full form.
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. 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.
The national governing body is Scottish Ice Hockey.
Despite the official introduction of ice hockey into Scotland in the twentieth century, its roots in Scotland go far deeper. 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 fact, Charles Goodman Tebbutt, who wrote down the first English bandy rules, claimed the words were interchangeable:
However, the similarities between the two sports, post-codification are still notable:
Scotland is home to multiple teams in the Elite Ice Hockey League, Great BritainâÂÂs first division for professional ice hockey. Below the EIHL sits the Scottish National League, which includes 7 professional hockey teams in Scotland.