Origins of Bandy and Ice Hockey in Europe
This page features the dates of the first organized ice hockey and bandy games in Europe:
List
| Country | First Bandy Game | First Hockey Game |
| Armenia | 1949 | ~1962 |
| Austria | 1899 | 1909 (1922)* |
| Belarus | ~1932 | ~1932 |
| Belgium | — | 1900 |
| Bohemia | 1895 | 1909 |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | — | 1953 |
| Bulgaria | — | 1932 |
| Croatia | 1917 | 1924 |
| Denmark | 1895 | 1929 |
| England | ~1813/14 | 1879 |
| Estonia | 1913 | 1934 |
| Finland | 1899 | 1927 |
| France | 1891 | 1894 |
| Georgia | — | ~1962 |
| Germany | 1897 | 1908 |
| Hungary | 1899 | 1924 |
| Iceland | — | 1941 |
| Ireland | — | 1982 |
| Italy | — | 1908 |
| Latvia | 1911 | 1909 (1930)** |
| Liechtenstein | — | 1996 |
| Lithuania | — | 1923 |
| Luxembourg | — | 1969 |
| Moldova | — | 1935 |
| Netherlands | 1891 | 1929 |
| North Macedonia | — | ~1959 |
| Norway | 1903 | 1933 |
| Poland | 1901 | 1912 |
| Portugal | — | 1996 |
| Romania | — | 1925 |
| Russia | 1898 | 1932 (1946)*** |
| Scotland | 1895 | 1909 |
| Serbia | — | 1940 |
| Slovakia | 1902 | 1921 |
| Slovenia | — | 1932 |
| Spain | — | 1922 |
| Sweden | 1901 | 1920 |
| Switzerland | 1894 | 1902 |
| Ukraine | 1905 | 1925 |
Note: The dates on this list denote when the first formal game was played in each respective country. Informal activities, practices, and club formations that predated any games are not included.
* One ice hockey game was played in Austria in 1909, but hockey was not played there regularly until 1922.
** One ice hockey game was played in Latvia in 1909, but the sport was not played there regularly until 1930.
*** A German team visited Moscow and played three games against local teams in 1932. Hockey was not formally introduced in Russia until 1946.
By examining the chart, it can be seen that hockey with a puck had become the preferred style of play throughout western Europe by around 1910. Bandy remained at the forefront in the Baltics, Nordics, Austria, Hungary, and Russia until the 1920s and, in some cases, beyond. Russia was the last country to embrace ice hockey, only picking up the sport they soon came to dominate in 1946.