Hockey country

Hockey country is a term used to describe a geographic region of Canada and the United States where ice hockey has the strongest following.

Hockey Country is commonly accepted to include the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, as well as the U.S. states of Alaska, Illinois, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

In this region, hockey is generally considered to be a "major sport" with its fans giving the game equal standing with baseball, basketball and American (or gridiron) football. Americans from other regions often dispute the assertion that hockey is a "major" sport - with many refusing to give hockey equal standing with the other three sports at the very least.

"Hockey country" is also a marketing term used by the National Hockey League's Ottawa Senators and the Canadian Hockey League's Ottawa 67's to describe the geographic region of Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec.