Ice hockey in the United Kingdom
[2] The Great Britain men's national ice hockey team enjoyed worldwide success through the 1920s and 1930s, achieving bronze at the 1924 Olympics, and gold twelve years later.
Bandy in all its forms disappeared from North America by the early 1900s after it had been absorbed into the new organized sport of ice hockey, but continued to develop in Russia and Scandinavia.
The sport of ice hockey was originally played with a stick and ball, largely influenced by the British import of bandy, but in 1860 a group of English veterans from the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment played a game in Kingston, Ontario, utilising a sliced, flattened ball, a precursor to the modern puck, for what is believed to be the first time.
[8] The sport enjoyed an increase in interest in the 1980s, primarily in North East England and Scotland, where local clubs were at the forefront of the British Hockey League.
Formerly called the English National Ice Hockey League (ENIHL), it was renamed in 2012 to recognise the inclusion of several teams from Scotland and Wales.
The league is split into two regions, North and South, meaning teams do not have to travel long distances for away games.
The team's performances have increased in recent years, and in 2018, it managed to be promoted to the top division of the Ice Hockey World Championship for the first time since 1994.
The Under 18 and Under 20 British teams also enjoyed success in 2018 with the former gaining promotion to group B of division I in the IIHF World U18 Championship whilst the latter finished third in their respective age category.
The British women's national ice hockey team was founded in 1989 and competed in the IIHF European Championships until 1996.
Some national newspapers list results and provide short summaries of the league's news but more extensive coverage remains minimal.
The coverage, which is available via Freeview (ch95), Sky (ch422), Virgin (ch553) FreeSat (ch252), TalkTalk (ch95), BT Vision (ch95) and online via the TVPlayer, will be fronted by Aaron Murphy who previously commentated on the league for Premier Sports.
Radio Sheffield also provides a weekly ice hockey programme Iceline while Radio Nottingham has broadcast a similar programme, Powerplay since the later stages of the 2005–06 season, and has a 15-minute weekly preview of games on a Saturday evening during the ice hockey season after the station's coverage of the local football teams is completed.
