<P> Beginning in the 2014--15 season, the Champions Hockey League was launched, a league consisting of first - tier teams from several European countries, running parallel to the teams' domestic leagues . The competition is meant to serve as a Europe - wide ice hockey club championship . The competition is a direct successor to the European Trophy and is related to the 2008--09 tournament of the same name . </P> <P> There are also several annual tournaments for clubs, held outside of league play . Pre-season tournaments include the European Trophy, Tampere Cup and the Pajulahti Cup . One of the oldest international ice hockey competition for clubs is the Spengler Cup, held every year in Davos, Switzerland, between Christmas and New Year's Day . It was first awarded in 1923 to the Oxford University Ice Hockey Club . The Memorial Cup, a competition for junior - level (age 20 and under) clubs is held annually from a pool of junior championship teams in Canada and the United States . </P> <P> International club competitions organized by the IIHF include the Continental Cup, the Victoria Cup and the European Women's Champions Cup . The World Junior Club Cup is an annual tournament of junior ice hockey clubs representing each of the top junior leagues . </P> <P> Ice hockey has been played at the Winter Olympics since 1924 (and was played at the summer games in 1920). Hockey is Canada's national winter sport, and Canadians are extremely passionate about the game . The nation has traditionally done very well at the Olympic games, winning 6 of the first 7 gold medals . However, by 1956 its amateur club teams and national teams could not compete with the teams of government - supported players from the Soviet Union . The USSR won all but two gold medals from 1956 to 1988 . The United States won their first gold medal in 1960 . On the way to winning the gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics amateur US college players defeated the heavily favoured Soviet squad--an event known as the "Miracle on Ice" in the United States . Restrictions on professional players were fully dropped at the 1988 games in Calgary . NHL agreed to participate ten years later . 1998 Games saw the full participation of players from the NHL, which suspended operations during the Games and has done so in subsequent Games . The 2010 games in Vancouver were the first played in an NHL city since the inclusion of NHL players . The 2010 games were the first played on NHL - sized ice rinks, which are narrower than the IIHF standard . </P>

When was the first game of ice hockey played