The first organized indoor ice hockey game took place in 1875. On March 3, two nine-player teams met at Montreal’s Victoria Skating Rink in a match organized by James Creighton.
The game was notable because it had features recognizable in modern hockey: fixed teams, a referee, recorded rules, goal posts, and a predetermined playing time. Players used sticks and skates from Nova Scotia, while a flat wooden puck replaced a ball to reduce the risk of spectators being struck or windows being broken.
Earlier forms of hockey and shinny had been played outdoors on ponds and rivers, often with informal rules and changing numbers of participants. Moving the game indoors forced organizers to use a smaller playing surface and more structured team sizes. The original format used nine players per side; later tournaments reduced that number.
The Victoria Skating Rink opened in 1862 and became an important center for early organized hockey. Although the sport developed from several older stick-and-ball traditions, the 1875 Montreal match is widely recognized as the first organized indoor game linked to modern ice hockey.