Women's ice hockey became a Olympic medal sport for the first time at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The Stanley Cup is the game's leading play-off tournament, contested in North America after the season-long National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup was first contested in 1916. Ice hockey is also considered to be one of the fastest growing women's sports in the world. The main difference between men's and  women's ice hockey is that body checking is against the rules in women's ice hockey, because women in many countries do not have the body mass or size seen in North American players. EQUIPMENT AND RULES OF ICE HOCKEY

Games are played on ice between 2 teams of 6, developed in Canada from field hockey or bandy. Players, who wear skates and protective clothing, use a curved stick to move the puck and shoot it at the opponents' goal, a netted cage, guarded by the goaltender, or goalie. The other positions are the right and  left defensemen and the left wing, centre, and right wing. The last 3 are offensive players. The team with the most goals scored at the end of the 3 twenty-minute periods wins; an overtime period may be played if a game ends is tied.