New Zealand made its Olympic hockey debut in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Before 1956, the only hockey team apart from Australia that played against New Zealand was India. There were four tours by India to New Zealand before the latter's Olympic hockey debut in 1956.
| Year | Tour Sponsor | Result |
| 1926 | Indian Army | India 1, NZ 1, 1 Draw |
| 1935 | IHF | India win series 3-0 |
| 1938 | Prince of Manavdar | ? |
| 1955 | Delhi Hockey Association | ? |
New Zealand hockey is best known for the 'Montreal Miracle'. In the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Australia was in devastating form, having conquered both India and Pakistan. However, in the Olympic hockey final, Kiwi goalkeeper Trevor Manning put up a sterling display, thwarting Australia's every move. He saved scorching penalty corner drives from Australia's James Irvine and Ian Cooke. In the dying moments of the fnal, Cooke's shot cracked Manning's kneecap, but the gallant goalkeeper stood his ground, and New Zealand triumphed by a solitary goal.
It is either the gold medal or nothing at all, as far the performance of the New Zealand men's hockey team is concerned. Except for the 1976 Montreal Miracle, New Zealand have never made it to the semi-finals of any Olympic, World Cup or Champions Trophy men's hockey tournament.
Indian hockey and New Zealand hockey share a special bond. The first ever foreign tour by any Indian sports team was the 1926 tour of New Zealand by the Indian Army hockey team. The successful tour set the stage for India's participation in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. This 1926 Indian Army tour also started the legendary story of Dhyan Chand. Lance Naik Dhyan Chand burst onto the world hockey scene that year by scoring over 100 goals on India's debut tour. In a follow-up tour of New Zealand in 1935, Dhyan Chand scored a massive 201 goals in just 43 matches, a possible world record.
Decades later, when Dhyan Chand's son Ashok Kumar toured New Zealand, an old goalkeeper on a wheelchair met him. He told Ashok, "Your father was a marvel. I saved his first shot at goal by diving full length to my right. The second shot at goal was far to my left. I dived and saved yet again. Then Dhyan Chand said - if you save my next shot, I will stop playing hockey. True to his word, on his next possession, Dhyan Chand hit a scorcher right over my head to the centre of the net. The gap between my head and the bar was very little but the ball went through into the goal."
New Zealand has the unique distinction of gifting the national hockey championship trophy of both India and Pakistan. During India's 1935 tour of New Zealand, the Maoris - the original inhabitants of that land - presented the Indian team with a shield in appreciation of India's hockey wizardry. This Maori shield became the official trophy of India's national hockey championship.
It so happened that undivided Punjab won the national hockey championship in 1946 and 1947. However, in 1947, Pakistan was created out of India and West Punjab was created out of undivided Punjab. The newly-formed West Punjab hockey authorities refused to return the shield to India. Thus, the Maori shield is now the symbol of hockey supremacy in Pakistan.