There are many conflicting theories on when and where the game of hockey started, but for all accounts the game evolved. Hockey was previously called "Hurley." This game was played year-round in Ireland on a field with a ball and stick. The game of Hurley was played regularly in the fields of Nova Scotia back in the early 1800's. But when winter came around, Hurley was too difficult to play because of the rough ground caused by snow, so the game was eventually moved onto the ice. This new game was thus called "Hurley on Ice". It basically started at King's College in Windsor, Nova Scotia, just outside of Halifax and became very popular on the East coast for the first half of the 1800's. This Hurley on Ice was also called "Rickets" or "Shinny" but soon became "hockey."

There is a story that a Royal Canadian Rifles officer in Nova Scotia had one of his players named "Hockey," and that's how the name of Hurley and Shinny changed to Hockey. In 1870 an engineer named James Creighton taught his friends at McGill University how to play this new game of hockey that he learned while living in Nova Scotia. The stage was set in Montreal in the mid 1870's for the first organized hockey game that was played on an inside a rink. Eventually James Creighton wrote up new rules, called the "Halifax Rules", which had 9 players on each team.

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In Canada, hockey became very popular in Montreal at that time, and James Creighton, who had a law degree, decided to move on to Ottawa and eventually became the Law Clerk of the Senate. He started Ottawa's first organized hockey team, called the Rideau Hall Rebels in the late 1880's. By the end of the 1800's hockey was becoming the national sport of Canada because almost all regions of the country were playing this new sport. The number of players allowed was from 9 to 7 (3 forwards, 2 defenseman, 1 rover and 1 goalie).

From the turn of the century to 1917 many professional leagues formed like the International Pro Hockey League, National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The National Hockey League started out with 5 franchises: Montreal Canadians, Montreal Wanderers, Toronto , Arenas, Quebec Bulldogs and Ottawa Senators. The NHL added six new teams in 1967 expansion. They were the Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, California (Oakland) Seals, St. Louis Blues and the Los Angeles Kings.

In 1970 two more teams appeared; Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres. In 1974 another two teams more were added to the NHL (Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts). In 1979 the NHL absorbed the remaining WHA teams (Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques).

The 1990's 9 more new teams were added to the National Hockey League and which now has 30 teams, 2 conferences and 6 divisions for the start of the 2000-01 season.

Here’s what some of our students said:

"Canada is Hockey, Hockey is Canada, so hockey is also a part of Vancouver. It's an absolute must, to go to a Vancouver Canucks game.Being in the Garage (General Motors Place) is a great experience! So don't miss your chance, go and cheer: GO CANUCKS GO ! "

Lars Wyss, Ex-President of the EF student councils, Switzerland

You can’t miss a Hockey game. If you are here in Canada you should go. In our school we have a good price for student; Go talk with the Activities coordinator, Sharlene and book your prefered date. It is a very good experience!!! " It was the first time that I went to a hockey game therefore everything was new for me. At the beginning, I couldn't understand anything; ‘Why do they change every 5 minutes?’ ‘Why do they hit each other?’... But after, I got it and now I really like it!. I am another fan of the Vancouver Canucks!"

Carolina Mafla, Colombia