In the USA we play Unihockey and in the rest of the world we play Floorball. But you just have to go a little further north to discover that it is related to a sport that is not exactly for everyone
Let's discover together the differences between Hockey and Bandy, the Swedish grandfather of Floorball!
Unless the person reading this article is Swede or Russian, few will know that Bandy (not to be confused with "brandy" :P ed.) is the second most popular winter team sport in the world.
It shares many aspects with ice hockey, starting with the equipment of the 22 players: divided into two teams, they face each other on an ice surface the size of a football field for two 45-minute halves and are equipped with helmets, skates and bat.
It is played outdoors and due to the size of the pitch it is often referred to as ice football. But what does Floorball have to do with this extra-large version of hockey?
No puck and hands-free goalie
Unlike hockey, Bandy is played by hitting a generally red ball with the stick and the goalkeeper plays without a stick, being able to block the ball with his hands. If we then add the prefix Inne (Indoor) we have finally discovered why Floorball is also called Innebandy. Over the years, changes in the climate have increasingly limited the possibility of playing outdoors and therefore the "Indoors" variant which shares its origins between Sweden and the USA has increasingly spread in these countries.
The ice floorball
Although it is also played in other countries around the world such as Japan, China, Germany and even Somalia, the world championships have always been a four-way affair.
Since 1961 the tournament has been held every two years, but since 2003 it has become annual. For several years only four countries were involved: the Soviet Union, Sweden, Finland and Norway.
In the entire history of the World Championships only three countries have achieved success. The most successful team is the Soviet Union / Russia, which won the trophy 26 times. Sweden have won 12 times and Finland once. The 38 Championships held so far have been held in seven countries (Russia, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Hungary, Kazakhstan and the United States).
More at: Wikipedia/Bandy
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