How Well Do You Know Hockey?

Hockey is one of the most intense and fast-paced sports out there. Whether you’re watching a game on TV or seeing it happen right in front of you, there’s constant excitement. While any game is likely to keep you interested from beginning to end, there are many things about the sport that you might not know that might surprise you.

If you want to learn something new about your favorite sport and want a fun fact to impress your friends with, here are some great hockey fun facts to know.

Hockey Facts We Bet You Didn’t Know

1. The First Indoor Hockey Game Happened in 1875

It’s easy to picture early hockey players playing a game on a winter day out in the cold on a frozen pond. While hockey and similar versions of the sport have been played on frozen lakes and ponds for possibly hundreds of years, indoor hockey goes back further than you might realize. The first recorded indoor hockey game dates back to 1875 at Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal, Quebec. However, at the time of this game, the rink was still made of naturally frozen ice, not mechanically frozen.

2. Hockey Pucks Are Frozen

The ice isn’t the only thing that’s frozen during NHL and AHL games. Pucks are kept frozen before games to keep them from bouncing. Warmer pucks would risk going airborne and injuring players and fans. Additionally, there are about 12 pucks used in each hockey game, as they are replaced as they thaw.

3. NHL Teams Can Use Emergency Goalies

While it’s extremely rare, you might see someone not on an NHL team step in to play. Because of the NHL’s emergency goalie rule, when a team has no goalies available from their roster, they may call in a backup goalie from a list of emergency goalies in the area. Often, these emergency goalies just get the chance to get dressed up and sit on the bench, but there have been a few occasions where emergency goalies got the chance to say they played in an NHL game.

4. The Montreal Canadiens Have the Most Stanley Cup Wins

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are among the most thrilling moments in sports. Of course, this time is always the most exciting when your favorite team is a strong contender.

While some teams have won more than others, the team with the most Stanley Cup wins by far is the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup 24 times, with their first win occurring in 1916 before the NHL was even founded. In the AHL, the Hershey Bears hold the record for the most Calder Cup wins with 11 total.

5. Wayne Gretzky is the NHL’s Top Scorer of All Time

Many consider Wayne Gretzky to be the greatest hockey player in history, and for many good reasons. During his NHL career, Gretzky has scored the most points by nearly 1,000. While he achieved the first-place spot with 2,857 points, Jaromir Jagr is in second place with 1,921 points. Additionally, Gretzky set the record for the most goals and assists.

As of the end of the 2024-2025 NHL regular season, Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning is the league’s current top scorer with 121 points (37 goals, 84 assists). He edged out Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, who finished with 116 points.

6. The Miracle on Ice is Considered One of the Top Sports Moments

The Olympic Games garner billions of views from around the world. During the Winter and Summer Olympic Games, you’re likely to see many exciting moments and some that may go down in history.

However, one of the most famous events in the Olympics involved hockey. The game where the U.S. beat the Soviet Union during the 1980 Winter Olympics, known as the Miracle on Ice, is considered one of the top sports moments of the 20th century. The International Ice Hockey Federation also named it the best international ice hockey story of the past 100 years at the organization’s centennial celebration in 2008.

7. Players Can Lose Up to 5 to 8 Pounds in a Game

Even the most casual fans know how much work players put into a game. Not only are hockey players constantly on the move, but they’re playing under a lot of heavy padding and equipment. Needless to say, hockey can be quite the workout, and you can heat up fast.

Hockey is such an intense workout that some players can lose up to five to eight pounds in just one game. Of course, this is all water weight, which shows how important it is to stay hydrated when you’re on the ice.

8. The “Original Six” of the NHL

From 1942 to 1967, the NHL consisted of only six teams: the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs. This is less than the NBA, which started with eight teams, and the NFL, which started with fourteen teams.

9. The Fictional Player Who Never Existed

Taro Tsujimoto is a fictitious Japanese ice hockey player who was selected in the 1974 National Hockey League Amateur Draft as the 183rd overall pick by the Buffalo Sabres. You heard that right; he was fictitious, meaning he was never real.

The Sabres’ general manager, Punch Imlach, reportedly decided to draft a player who did not exist. He was frustrated by how long the draft was, so in the late rounds, he wanted to have fun and pick someone unusual. Paul Wieland, the Sabres’ director of communications, helped create Taro Tsujimoto.

Taro is a twenty-year-old Japanese forward. He played for the made-up Tokyo Katanas in the Japan Ice Hockey League. The name was inspired by Japanese American Joshua Tsujimoto, who owned a grocery store that Wieland would regularly drive by. Taro Tsujimoto quickly became an inside joke for Sabres fans and is a beloved figure in team history.

Follow Along for the Start of the 2025-26 AHL Season

The 2025-2026 AHL season is quickly approaching. Looking forward to the many games ahead in the 2025 hockey season?

The regular season begins on Friday, October 10, with a full slate of matchups. Be on the lookout for our game schedule by checking out our blog and news sources regularly, and follow along with the WBS Penguins for the exciting start of our upcoming season.