Why does Hockey have 3 periods when most sports have 2 or 4?

College basketball has 2, football has 4, and NBA has 4. So why does hockey have 3?

Why does Hockey have 3 periods when most sports have 2 or 4?nba live 2006

My guess is that, compared to other sports that hockey is very similar to (like field hockey and soccer) which use only two periods, hockey required more upkeep of the playing surface. Two periods of thirty minutes would have the ice surface pretty unplayable by the end of the period.

Why does Hockey have 3 periods when most sports have 2 or 4?nba gear ,nba teams

because in hockey you need to play a full 60 minutes. of course if you have a tied game after three periods then you g ointo ovcertime.
Simple: BEACUSE.