Storymap: Hockey’s 10 Most Popular Countries

26 May 2016 | Christyne Kavanagh, Tucker Hockey

Did you know that hockey is played competitively in every continent in the world, with more than 70 countries and two million players registered with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)? While some might think of the sport as exclusively a European and North American code, the IIHF’s 2015 Survey of Players proves that this is certainly not the case.

One debate that surfaces time and again is which countries can claim the greatest popularity for the sport. Using the IIHF Survey of Players to justify the answer, Tucker Hockey has taken on this question and responded to it in the form of this interactive Storymap. At the risk of giving away spoilers, we can say that three continents are featured, while Europe has a sizeable presence in the top 10.

Click through the Storymap to see which 10 nations boast the most prominent hockey playing populations, and indeed in which order.

Tucker Hockey

Current events

External links

Hockey Results

Tweets by @eurohockey

Leagues

Czech Rep.: Tipsport extraliga | 1.liga | 2.liga

Finland: Liiga | Mestis

Germany: DEL | DEL2

Russia: KHL | VHL

Slovakia: Tipsport Extraliga | 1.liga

Sweden: SHL | HockeyAllsvenskan

Switzerland: NLA | NLB

More league pages»

League standings

Game fixtures

League leaders

IIHF launches European Cup of Nations: a new era for European ice hockey

New IIHF tournament aims to bring purpose and prestige to European national team breaks Read more»

This week in SHL

Växjö, Frölunda, and Timrå are setting the pace at the top of the early SHL standings with nine points each. At the other end, HV71 and Linköping are still searching for their first victory after four games. ... Read more»