The origins of ice hockey are vague, but it appears that the British brought an early version of the game to Canada in the late 1800s. Two students at Montreals McGill University combined the rules of rugby and field hockey to create the game we know today. The sport made its Olympic debut in the 1920 Summer Games at Antwerp, and was included in the first Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924. Womens hockey entered Olympic competition in 1998 in Nagano. In Olympic ice hockey, women compete in an eightteam tournament; men in a 12team tournament. A team may have no more than six players on the ice while play is in progress, but substitutions may be made on the fly without interruption in play. Typically, a team consists of one goalkeeper, two defenders, two wings and a center Fewer players may be on the ice at any given time as a result of penalties A regular game is comprised of three 20minute periods, with 15 minute intermissions after the first and second periods.If a tie occurs in a medalround game a fiveminute sudden death overtime is played. In the gold medal game the overtime period increases to 20 minutes, also sudden death If a game remains tied after the overtime period a penalty shot competition determines the outcome.

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