Ice Hockey is often referred to as simply hockey in Canada and the United States. It is a team sport played on ice and is a speedy and physical sport. Hockey is extremely popular in Alaska.

The game of hockey, or similar game of hitting an object with curved sticks, has been played throughout history. A 4000 year old drawing at the Beni-Hasen tombs in Egypt depicts a s sport resembling field hockey and in Ireland, the 1527 Galway Statutes made reference to "the horlinge of the litill balle with hockie stickes or staves".

European immigrants brought various versions of hockey-like games to North America, such as the Scottish sport of shinty, the closely-related Irish sport of hurling and versions of field hockey played in England.

The foundation of the modern game centers on Montreal. On March 3, 1875 the first organized indoor game was played at Montreal's Victoria Skating Rink by James Creighton and several McGill University students. In 1877, several McGill students, including Creighton, Henry Joseph, Richard F. Smith, W.F. Robertson, and W.L. Murray codified seven ice hockey rules. The first ice hockey club, McGill University Hockey Club, was founded in 1877. The game became so popular that the first "world championship" of ice hockey was featured in Montreal's annual Winter Carnival in 1883 and the McGill team captured the "Carnival Cup". Although undocumented, it is believed that during the same year, the Oxford University Ice Hockey Club was formed to play the first Ice Hockey Varsity Match against traditional rival Cambridge in St. Moritz, Switzerland. This match was won by the Oxford Dark Blues. This continues to be the oldest hockey rivalry in history.

Today, the main venues for hockey games in Alaska are the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage and the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.