The Challenging Game of Hockey Considering the country's love affair with the game most people would be surprised to learn that hockey is not the national sport of Canada. Many people in Canada eat, sleep, and breathe hockey. The roots of hockey are in Ireland, back when it was called Hurley, but hockey is defiantly a Canadian sport. Due to its infectious nature, hockey has caught on all over the world. It became very popular throughout Canada, especially the East coast in the 1800s.