Both bandy and ice hockey were played in Europe during the 20th century, especially in Sweden, Finland, and Norway.Nordisk Familjebok 2 Asura-Bidz, Förlagshuset Norden AB, Malmö 1951, "Bandy", columns 324–326 Ice hockey became more popular than bandy in most of Europe mostly because it had become an Olympic sport, while bandy had not. Athletes in Europe who had played bandy switched to ice hockey in the 1920s to compete in the Olympics.E.g. in the Netherlands, see The smaller ice fields needed for ice hockey also made its rinks easier to maintain, especially in countries with short winters. On the other hand, ice hockey was not played in the Soviet Union until the 1950s when the USSR wanted to compete internationally. The typical European style of ice hockey, with flowing, less physical play, represents a heritage of bandy.
