Inside the World of Ice Hockey

Most sports we know today involve a ball that’s either thrown, hit, or kicked. However, there is one sport in the catalog that features a circular object – a puck. This famous sport hails from Canada (Fischler). Thanks to its instant success, it swiftly became a major contender in professional sports alongside basketball, baseball, and football. Another significant difference is that it’s played on an “ice rink”, rather than a field or court (Fischler). Piecing these clues together, ice hockey emerges as a fast-paced team sport that requires its players to use skates and a puck, aiming for goals to win the game.

The origins of ice hockey can be traced back to the 1800s. Its name, interestingly, comes from the French term ‘hoquet’, meaning shepherd’s crook or bent stick (Fischler). The allure of this sport stems not just from its unique name but also from the fact that it combines elements of English field hockey and Indian lacrosse. It was popularized in Canada by soldiers from Britain in the mid-1800s (Fischler). After the first recorded use of a puck instead of a ball in Ontario, Canada, in 1860, the inaugural indoor ice hockey game took place at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal, Canada, in 1875 (Fischler). These momentous events paved the way for the establishment of numerous professional leagues around the world, making ice hockey a household name.

Next, the rules of ice hockey are easy to understand. Each team comprises about twenty players who get divided into shifts for three periods of a sixty-minute game. Along with the goalie, there are five active players who pass the puck at high speeds on the ice. These five positions include “three forwards – the center, left wing, and right wing, and two defensemen, one on left and one on right” (Fischler). As mentioned earlier, the team that scores the most goals after the game’s completion is declared the winner. It is possible to score with a “backhander, a wrist shot, or a slapshot”. However, penalties are sometimes assessed for excessive use of the body or equipment to impede the opposition (Fischler). In some ways, ice hockey’s rules may seem similar to those of other sports.

Lacrosse contrasts with ice hockey in appearance, but the action and spirit of the game make it easy to compare. According to an online blog called The European Lacrosse Blog, “Basically, lacrosse and ice hockey… [sic] …share three common characteristics: it requires many sporting skills, countless hours to master, and the great similarity of the games is the task to be handled.” Other similarities include “physical contact with other players”, the “face-off”, and the overall concept to “snatch the ball from the opponents” (“Lacrosse and Ice Hockey – What Connects Both Sports?”). Despite the similarities, some skills learned in ice hockey can be applied to lacrosse such as “core strength and endurance”, “hand-eye coordination”, and “shoot and aim/accuracy” (“Lacrosse and Ice Hockey – What Connects Both Sports?”). Lacrosse players have their own set of expertise, but juxtaposing it with the world of ice hockey can be fun.

Ice hockey has paved the way not only for the success of certain famous athletes, but also for a variety of phenomena, even in America. For example, in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, Team USA Hockey declared “a 4 to 3 victory over the Soviet Union” and a “4 to 2 gold medal win over Finland” (Peters). One of the team players, Mark Johnson, was quoted in the article, “Before 1980, there were not many Americans in the league. A lot of people got an opportunity to watch us expose many younger players…”

Another event that sparked ice hockey’s success in America was athlete Wayne Gretzky being traded to the Los Angeles Kings, a National Hockey League team. As far as I know, he previously played for the Edmonton Oilers. “The league had gained popularity, Gretzky was its greatest celebrity, and there was finally infrastructure… to capitalize on that… spawning the growth of the game in California as rinks started being built to make the Golden State a hockey state” (Peters).

In addition to iconic events, safety equipment became a standard, such as helmets and facemasks for goalies, “to protect themselves from potentially dangerous flailing sticks and flying pucks” (“History of Ice Hockey”). However, the most exciting part about hockey is winning a championship like the Stanley Cup, “the oldest prize that North American Athletes vie for, which has been awarded… since 1893” (Peters). Overall, both momentous events and innovations show that ice hockey has a strong influence in the world of sports.

In conclusion, “Ice hockey” is a term that defines a sport full of action and unpredictability. Originating from “Canada by British soldiers in the mid-1800s, it became one of the most popular international sports due to its speed and frequent physical contact” (Fischler). I’ve played hockey once in my life, and my brother Noah still plays. In fact, my entire family enjoys watching the sport. Between scoring goals and the hard physical hits, attending an ice hockey game is well worth the ticket price.

Works Cited

1. Fischler, Shirley W., Gerald Eskenazi and Stanley I. Fischler. Ice hockey. Encyclop?¦dia Britannica. 28 Sep. 2018. https://www.britannica.com/sports/ice-hockey. Accessed 29 Oct. 2018
2. History of Ice Hockey. n.d. SportsKnowHow.com. n.d. https://www.sportsknowhow.com/hockey/history/hockey-history.shtml. Accessed 31 Oct. 2018
3. Lacrosse and Ice Hockey – What Connects Both Sports?. n.d. The European Lacrosse Blog. 30 October 2018.
4. Peters, Chris. American Hockey Has Come a Long Way since 1980’s Miraculous Gold. . 24 Feb 2015. CBSSports.com. 2018 Oct 31.

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