Editing Ice hockey (section)

==International status==
[[File:Nokia Arenan avajaiset 14.jpg|thumb|The match between [[Ilves]] (yellow and green) and [[Tappara]] (blue and orange) on December 3, 2021, at [[Nokia Arena (Tampere)|Nokia Arena]] in [[Tampere]], Finland.]]

Ice hockey is most popular in [[Ice hockey in Canada|Canada]], [[Ice hockey in Germany|Germany]], [[Ice hockey in Austria|Austria]], [[Ice hockey in Switzerland|Switzerland]], Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, and the [[Ice hockey in the United States|United States]]. Ice hockey is the official [[National sport|national winter sport]] of Canada.<ref>[[s:National Sports of Canada Act|National Sports of Canada Act]]</ref> 

In addition, ice hockey is the most popular winter sport in [[Sport in Austria|Austria]], [[Sport in Belarus|Belarus]], the [[Sport in the Czech Republic|Czech Republic]], [[Sport in Finland|Finland]], [[Sport in Germany|Germany]], [[Sport in Latvia|Latvia]], [[Sport in Norway|Norway]], [[Sport in Russia|Russia]], [[Sport in Slovakia|Slovakia]], [[Sport in Sweden|Sweden]], and [[Sport in Switzerland|Switzerland]]. [[North America]]'s [[National Hockey League]] (NHL) is the highest level for men's ice hockey and the strongest professional ice hockey league in the world. The [[Kontinental Hockey League]] (KHL) is the highest league in Russia and much of Eastern Europe. 

The [[International Ice Hockey Federation]] (IIHF) is the formal governing body for international ice hockey, with the IIHF managing international tournaments and maintaining the [[IIHF World Ranking]]. Worldwide, the International Ice Hockey Federation has 83 member national associations, comprising 60 full members, 22 associate members, and one affiliate member.<ref>{{cite web |date= |title=Member National Associations |url=https://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/the-iihf/ |url-status=live |access-date=November 18, 2022 |website=International Ice Hockey Federation |publisher=IIHF |archive-date=September 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921152900/http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/the-iihf/ }}</ref>

In international competitions, the national teams of six countries (the [[Big Six (ice hockey)|Big Six]]) predominate: [[Canada men's national ice hockey team|Canada]], [[Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team|Czechia]], [[Finland men's national ice hockey team|Finland]], [[Russia men's national ice hockey team|Russia]], [[Sweden men's national ice hockey team|Sweden]], and [[United States men's national ice hockey team|the United States]]. Of the 69 medals awarded all-time in men's competition at the Olympics, only seven medals were not awarded to one of those countries (or two of their precursors: the Soviet Union for Russia, and Czechoslovakia for Czechia). In the annual [[Ice Hockey World Championships]], 177 of 201 medals have been awarded to the six nations; Canada has won the most gold medals. Teams outside the Big Six have won only nine medals in either competition since 1953.<ref>Including former incarnations of them, such as [[Czechoslovakia]] or the Soviet Union.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/history/all-medallists/men.html|title=IIHF World Championships: All Medalists: Men|publisher=Iihf.com|access-date=February 24, 2011|archive-date=November 26, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091126014556/http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/history/all-medallists/men.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 

The [[World Cup of Hockey]] is organized by the National Hockey League and the [[National Hockey League Players' Association]] (NHLPA), unlike the annual World Championships and quadrennial Olympic tournament, both run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. World Cup games are played under NHL rules and not those of the IIHF, and the tournament occurs prior to the NHL pre-season, allowing for all NHL players to be available, unlike the World Championships, which overlaps with the NHL's [[Stanley Cup playoffs]]. Furthermore, all twelve Women's Olympic and 36 [[IIHF Women's World Championship]] medals were awarded to one of the Big Six. The [[Canada women's national ice hockey team|Canadian national team]] or the [[United States women's national ice hockey team|United States national team]] have between them won every gold medal of either series.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/history/all-medallists/women.html|title=IIHF World Championships: All Medalists: Women|publisher=Iihf.com|access-date=February 24, 2011|archive-date=October 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015001653/http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/history/all-medallists/women.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/history/all-medallists/olympics/women.html|title=Olympic Ice Hockey Tournaments: All Medalists:Women|publisher=Iihf.com|access-date=February 24, 2011|archive-date=May 26, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526162230/http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/history/all-medallists/olympics/women.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Number of registered players by country===
Number of registered hockey players, including male, female and junior, provided by the respective countries' federations. This list only includes the 39 of 84 IIHF member countries with more than 1,000 registered players as of March 2025.<ref>{{cite web|title=Member National Associations|url=https://www.iihf.com/en/associations|publisher=[[International Ice Hockey Federation|IIHF]]|access-date=February 10, 2024|archive-date=December 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225211346/https://www.iihf.com/en/associations|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Countries in the world by population (2024)|url=https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/|publisher=[[Worldometer]]|access-date=February 10, 2024|archive-date=November 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115131411/https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/|url-status=live}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Country
!Players
!% of population
|-
|{{Flagu|Canada}}||587,680||1.479%
|-
|{{Flagu|United States}}||566,477||0.164%
|-
|{{Flagu|Russia}}||90,160||0.062%
|-
|{{Flagu|Sweden}}||76,841||0.724%
|-
|{{Flagu|Finland}}||66,078||1.176%
|-
|{{Flagu|Switzerland}}||31,273||0.351%
|-
|{{Flagu|Czechia}}||27,141||0.253%
|-
|{{Flagu|Germany}}||26,517||0.031%
|-
|{{Flagu|France}}||23,560||0.035%
|-
|{{Flagu|Japan}}||13,842||0.011%
|-
|{{Flagu|Norway}}||12,415||0.223%
|-
|{{Flagu|Great Britain}}||12,236||0.018%
|-
|{{Flagu|Slovakia}}||11,728||0.213%
|-
|{{Flagu|China}}||10,786||0.001%
|-
|{{Flagu|Belarus}}||10,335||0.114%
|-
|{{Flagu|Hungary}}||8,569||0.089%
|-
|{{Flagu|Latvia}}||7,864||0.420%
|-
|{{Flagu|Austria}}||7,576||0.083%
|-
|{{Flagu|Denmark}}||6,110||0.102%
|-
|{{Flagu|Ukraine}}||5,341||0.014%
|-
|{{Flagu|Australia}}||5,270||0.020%
|-
|{{Flagu|Kazakhstan}}||4,931||0.024%
|-
|{{Flagu|Italy}}||4,901||0.008%
|-
|{{Flagu|Poland}}||4,003||0.010%
|-
|{{Flagu|South Korea}}||3,587||0.007%
|-
|{{Flagu|Netherlands}}||3,088||0.017%
|-
|{{Flagu|Belgium}}||2,947||0.025%
|-
|{{Flagu|India}}||2,554||0.000%
|-
|{{Flagu|New Zealand}}||2,446||0.047%
|-
|{{Flagu|Kyrgyzstan}}||2,134||0.030%
|-
|{{Flagu|Romania}}||1,719||0.009%
|-
|{{Flagu|Turkey}}||1,642||0.002%
|-
|{{Flagu|Lithuania}}||1,576||0.055%
|-
|{{Flagu|North Korea}}||1,510||0.006%
|-
|{{Flagu|Mexico}}||1,391||0.001%
|-
|{{Flagu|Slovenia}}||1,243||0.059%
|-
|{{Flagu|Argentina}}||1,137||0.002%
|-
|{{Flagu|Bulgaria}}||1,054||0.016%
|-
|{{Flagu|Estonia}}||1,024||0.075%
|}