Winter Olympic Disciplines: Ice Hockey

The first official men’s international ice hockey tournament at the Olympic Games was held in 1920. Women's ice hockey has been included in the Olympic Games program since 1998.

In the Olympic Winter Games program, there are separate ice hockey competitions for men and women. Two sets of medals are contested.

Ice hockey games take place on an ice rink. A puck made of vulcanized rubber is used. Before top level matches, the puck is frozen in order to reduce friction on the ice surface, therefore increasing its speed.

The game is a competition between two teams attempting to hit the puck into their opponent's goal using sticks, while preventing the puck from entering their own goal. The winning team is the one that hits more pucks into their opponent's goal.

There must be six players on the ice from each team: two defenders, three forwards (left, right and center) and one goalkeeper. A player committing a penalty is removed from the pitch for a period of time. The goalkeeper may be replaced with a sixth outfield player.

A match consists of three 20-minute periods with a 15-minute break after the first and second period. During the breaks in play, the coach may change the players' positions.

The players’ kit includes: a stick, skates, a helmet, a chest pad to protect the hockey player's chest, spine, and shoulders, elbow pads, a jockstrap or athletic cup to protect the groin from injury, hockey shorts with special padding to prevent injury from falls, collisions and puck impacts, protective gloves, shin guards that cover the hockey player's knees and shins, and a jersey worn over the chest pad.

The goalkeeper's kit consists of all of the above, plus a special goalkeeper's mask and gloves especially designed for catching pucks, as well as special shin guards to repel shots.

The Olympic ice hockey events will be held at the Shayba arena designed to accommodate 7,000 spectators.