The history of ice hockey or hockey as known to most fans or people involved with the game comes from simple ball and stick games played back in the 18th and 19th century United Kingdom. Those games were then brought to North America. From there ice hockey was actually developed in Canada, mostly Montreal where the first ever indoor ice hockey game was played on March 3rd 1875.
Amateur ice hockey leagues started in the 1880’s and professional leagues started in around the 1900’s. The Stanley Cup which is the most famous trophy within ice hockey was first awarded in 1893 to the first amateur champion of Canada. The Stanley Cup was then to become the trophy of the champions of the NHL
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