ICE HOCKEY

ICE HOCKEY 
MCGILL UNIVERSITY 
MONTREAL 1901

The history of ice hockey has several claims for its invention. However, it definitely started in Canada and it is still the national sport. In 1880 British Officers supposed to have played wit icy pieces and shot them about with their butts of their rifles.

The other claimant was student at Montreal McGill University and their documents show that they wrote down some ice hockey rules in 1879. They used some square 'balls' which gave an unpredictable bounce.

In 1908 an International Ice Hockey Federation was established and the game was played in the 1920 Summer Olympic (would you believe it). From the 1924 onwards it was played in the Winter Olympic

OTTOWA HOCKEY CLUB (SILVER SEVEN) THE ORIGINAL OTTOWA SENATORS - CHAMPION OF THE STANLEY CUP 1905

IN EUROPE -- OXFORD UNIVERSITY VS SWITZERLAND 1922 -- FUTURE CANADA'S PM LESTER PEARSON  -- RIGHT FRONT

THE ORIGINAL STANLEY CUP

Many nations produced professional leagues but the most prestigious is North America's National Hockey League (NHL) The people don't call it ice hockey; they call it frozen hockey. In 1917 the NHL was formed in Montreal and all of its four teams were Canadians. Then the games spread into the US and sixteen of the 24 sides are from US cities. They draw bigger crowds there. The NHL consists of four Divisions. The champions of each division have play-off, each year. The two winners contest a best-of-seven match to win the Stanley Cup.

When it spread to Europe, the USSR was very strong in amateur ice hockey. They won gold medals in the Olympic many times. They also were dominant in the World Championships.

In 1970 the NHL hired stars from Russia and Czech Republic. You will find 60% Canadian; 20% European, and 20% Americans. Canada, Sweden, Russia Finland, USA, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are the top ice hockey nations.

An ice hockey team has six players. The time of the play is one hour split into three equal parts. The team is only allowed to hit the rubber disc (puck) with the stick into the opposite goal. Otherwise, they can kick the puck or pat it with their hands during the game. The players are protected with high ankle supports and protective padding. The goalkeeper is protected with thick gloves, leg guards and a very strong visor.

Ice hockey is now played indoors and it is called an ice rink. It is divided by blue lines into three. The middle part is called a neutral zone and with a circle marked in red which is called the centre spot. The other parts are for each team as an offensive or defensive zone. All around of the rink is a high fence made of wood and plastic to protect the public from flying pucks.

Matches begin with a face-off at the centre spot. The referee drops the puck and two ferocious players facing each other from the two teams battle for it. The moment the puck is dropped and the referee is satisfied that there is no foul; he skates off in high speed to get out off the way.

Players skate with the puck, pass it, or shoot at the goal. Various strokes are called 'hard slap shots', gentle 'push passes', lofted 'flip shots' and flicked 'snap passes'. It is forbidden to shoot the puck from within the team own half into the opponent goal and also being off-side. Off-side means to skate into the opponent side ahead of the puck.

It is the fastest of team games and can reach a speed of 160km/h. Even the referee, two linesmen and two goal judges have a job to keep track. The play is stopped, by the linesmen if they see an offence, and restarted with a face-off inside the offending team's defensive zone. Goal judges are behind the goal and allow a goal or disallow it.