Canadian Ice Hockey

Hockey in Canada is less a sport than an organising principle: the game runs from five in the morning in cold community arenas through junior leagues that move teenagers across the country to the professional teams that stop conversation on a Saturday night. The Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto holds the Stanley Cup, a trophy passed since 1893 with every winning player's name engraved on it, bands added and removed as it fills. But the more characteristic version is outdoors: the Rideau Canal in Ottawa freezes into the longest skateway in the world, city rinks are flooded by volunteers each December, and on prairie sloughs and Quebec ponds the game is still played in boots and toques.

What you actually see

• The Hockey Hall of Fame - the Stanley Cup and the game's records in Toronto.
• A junior game - fast, cheap and closer to the crowd than the professional league.
• The Rideau Canal Skateway - Ottawa's frozen canal, when the ice holds.
• Neighbourhood rinks - volunteer-flooded outdoor ice in almost every town.

When to go

The season runs October to April. Outdoor rinks are reliable in January and February in most of the country; the Rideau Canal Skateway depends entirely on a sustained deep freeze and in some recent winters has barely opened at all. Junior and university games are the affordable way in.

Honest expectations

Professional tickets in the big markets are expensive and frequently sold out, and resale prices are worse; junior, university and women's games give more hockey for far less money. The Rideau Skateway has failed to open in some recent winters, so do not plan a trip around it. Arenas are cold, which visitors underestimate.

Nearby

Toronto has the Hall of Fame; Ottawa has the canal; every town has a rink.