The history of hockey is almost as messy as some of the fights on the ice of pro hockey rinks. Some historians trace the game back to hurley, an Irish field game that was played year round with a ball and a stick. Other historians say the game derived from Lacrosse and other field games played by the Micmac Indians in Nova Scotia. Yet another school of thought says hockey developed in Northern Europe were field hockey was played on frozen lakes in the winter. This eventually developed into the English game of bandy.
Did you get all of that? Before we argue about who is correct and send the others to the penalty box, let’s just agree that hockey was probably influenced by several earlier stick and ball games. We’ll then pick up the history of the sport in the mid 19th Century.
O Canada
Canada is without argument the homeland of modern hockey. British soldiers stationed at Hallifax and Kingston played the first recorded hockey games in the mid 1850s. In the early 1870s students at Montreal’s McGill University drew up the first known set of ice hockey rules. These rules established the use of the puck rather than a ball and set the number of players per side at nine. The puck used by these early McGill players was square rather than round.
The first amateur hockey league was organized in Kingston, Ontario in 1880. During the next decade ice hockey quickly became popular in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and other Canadian cities. By the end of 1893, there were more than 100 hockey clubs in Montreal alone. About that same time, the first hockey games in the United States were played at Yale and John Hopkins Universities.
The Oldest Trophy in North American Sports
Ice hockey had become such a phenomenon in Canada that in 1893, the Governor General of Canada donated a permanent trophy to be presented to the best hockey team. The Governor General’s name was Lord Stanley of Preston and the silver bowl inlaid with gold that he donated became known as the Stanley Cup. The original cup cost $48.57 and is now mounted on a large base to allow room to inscribe the names of winning teams. Today, the trophy is insured for $75,000.
The Stanley Cup is the oldest prize that North American Athletes vie for. It has been awarded each year since 1893 with the exception of 1919 when the competition was stopped by an influenza outbreak among the Seattle Metropolitan. The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association team won the first two Stanley Cup competitions.
From Amateur Game to Professional Sport
The beginning of the 20th Century brought a new dimension to ice hockey—the professional player. The first professional league formed in 1904 in the United States. The Pro Hockey League was started in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and lasted three years. In 1909, the National Hockey Association was founded in Montreal. Beginning in 1912, professional teams were allowed to compete for the Stanley Cup.
Other pro leagues came in went in the years prior to World War I. The war disrupted hockey organizations and in 1917, a new professional league was formed with five Canadian teams:
The Montreal Wanderers
The Montreal Canadiens
The Ottawa Senators
The Quebec Bulldogs
The Toronto Arenas
The new league was christened the National Hockey League. The first US team to become part of the league was the Boston Bruins who joined in 1924. Today, the NHL has 30 teams from Canada and the United States.
Changes in the Game
Modern ice hockey has changed little from the original rules established in the 1870s. The biggest changes have been in the number of players and the development of equipment.
By the mid 1890s, the number of players on the ice for each team had dropped from nine to seven. This changed reportedly happened by accident. A team showed up two men short for a game at the Montreal Winter Carnival. The other team agreed to play with just seven men. The players found they preferred the smaller squads and the change soon became standard. When the NHA formed in 1909, it used six-man sides. The NHL adopted this number at its inception.
Netting was first added to hockey goals in the early 1900s to stop the puck and show that the puck had actually passed between the goal posts.
What’s the Well-Equipped Hockey Player Wearing this Season?
Today’s hockey players from the junior leagues to the NHL wear layers of protective padding from their shin guards to their helmets. Early hockey players wore very little padding. Goalies were, not surprisingly, the first players to wear pads. Goalies originally used cricket pads to protect their shins and knees. Other players began to wear shin pads and gloves to protect themselves from flailing sticks and flying pucks. Many players stuffed newspapers under their pads for extra protection.
Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens was the first goalie to wear anything to guard his face. In 1959, he wore a mask to cover a cheek that had been struck by a puck. The following season, Plante began wearing a facemask full time when he was in the net. Other goalies began wearing masks but it would be 14 years before all NFL goals protected their faces.
Helmets were not part of hockey gear until the 1970s. Before that time, only players with head injuries wore headgear. In 1979, the NHL began requiring that all players new to the league wear helmets. Players who were already in the league were allowed to play bare headed. The last NHL pro to play without a helmet was Craig MacTavish of the Edmonton Oilers who retired in 1997.
Not Just a North American Game
Ice Hockey is not just a North American Sport. In the early 1900s, leagues were playing hockey in Britain and parts of Europe. In 1910, Britain won the first European Ice Hockey Championships.
The 1920 Olympics in Antwerp Belgium became the first to include and ice hockey competition. Canada won the first four Olympic gold medals in the sport. In 1930, the first ice hockey world championships were played. The championships are now played every year except when the Olympics are held.
After World War II hockey took hold in the Soviet Union and the Russians became a force to reckon with on the ice. The Russians won their first Olympic ice hockey gold in 1956, just a decade after the game became an organized sport in their country.
Women in Ice Hockey
Women have been playing ice hockey nearly as long as men. The first recorded women’s hockey game was played in 1889 in Ottawa. Women’s hockey leagues thrived in Canada through the 1930s. After World War II, interest in the women’s game declined until the 1960s. In the 1980s, women’s hockey experienced a growth spurt.
The first women’s world championships were played in 1990. The National Collegiate Athletic Association added women’s hockey as a sanctioned sport in 1993 and women’s ice hockey made its Olympic debut in 1998. The US team won the first gold medal.
O Canada
Canada is without argument the homeland of modern hockey. British soldiers stationed at Hallifax and Kingston played the first recorded hockey games in the mid 1850s. In the early 1870s students at Montreal’s McGill University drew up the first known set of ice hockey rules. These rules established the use of the puck rather than a ball and set the number of players per side at nine. The puck used by these early McGill players was square rather than round.
The first amateur hockey league was organized in Kingston, Ontario in 1880. During the next decade ice hockey quickly became popular in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and other Canadian cities. By the end of 1893, there were more than 100 hockey clubs in Montreal alone. About that same time, the first hockey games in the United States were played at Yale and John Hopkins Universities.
The Oldest Trophy in North American Sports
Ice hockey had become such a phenomenon in Canada that in 1893, the Governor General of Canada donated a permanent trophy to be presented to the best hockey team. The Governor General’s name was Lord Stanley of Preston and the silver bowl inlaid with gold that he donated became known as the Stanley Cup. The original cup cost $48.57 and is now mounted on a large base to allow room to inscribe the names of winning teams. Today, the trophy is insured for $75,000.
The Stanley Cup is the oldest prize that North American Athletes vie for. It has been awarded each year since 1893 with the exception of 1919 when the competition was stopped by an influenza outbreak among the Seattle Metropolitan. The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association team won the first two Stanley Cup competitions.
From Amateur Game to Professional Sport
The beginning of the 20th Century brought a new dimension to ice hockey—the professional player. The first professional league formed in 1904 in the United States. The Pro Hockey League was started in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and lasted three years. In 1909, the National Hockey Association was founded in Montreal. Beginning in 1912, professional teams were allowed to compete for the Stanley Cup.
Other pro leagues came in went in the years prior to World War I. The war disrupted hockey organizations and in 1917, a new professional league was formed with five Canadian teams:
The Montreal Wanderers
The Montreal Canadiens
The Ottawa Senators
The Quebec Bulldogs
The Toronto Arenas
The new league was christened the National Hockey League. The first US team to become part of the league was the Boston Bruins who joined in 1924. Today, the NHL has 30 teams from Canada and the United States.
Changes in the Game
Modern ice hockey has changed little from the original rules established in the 1870s. The biggest changes have been in the number of players and the development of equipment.
By the mid 1890s, the number of players on the ice for each team had dropped from nine to seven. This changed reportedly happened by accident. A team showed up two men short for a game at the Montreal Winter Carnival. The other team agreed to play with just seven men. The players found they preferred the smaller squads and the change soon became standard. When the NHA formed in 1909, it used six-man sides. The NHL adopted this number at its inception.
Netting was first added to hockey goals in the early 1900s to stop the puck and show that the puck had actually passed between the goal posts.
What’s the Well-Equipped Hockey Player Wearing this Season?
Today’s hockey players from the junior leagues to the NHL wear layers of protective padding from their shin guards to their helmets. Early hockey players wore very little padding. Goalies were, not surprisingly, the first players to wear pads. Goalies originally used cricket pads to protect their shins and knees. Other players began to wear shin pads and gloves to protect themselves from flailing sticks and flying pucks. Many players stuffed newspapers under their pads for extra protection.
Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens was the first goalie to wear anything to guard his face. In 1959, he wore a mask to cover a cheek that had been struck by a puck. The following season, Plante began wearing a facemask full time when he was in the net. Other goalies began wearing masks but it would be 14 years before all NFL goals protected their faces.
Helmets were not part of hockey gear until the 1970s. Before that time, only players with head injuries wore headgear. In 1979, the NHL began requiring that all players new to the league wear helmets. Players who were already in the league were allowed to play bare headed. The last NHL pro to play without a helmet was Craig MacTavish of the Edmonton Oilers who retired in 1997.
Not Just a North American Game
Ice Hockey is not just a North American Sport. In the early 1900s, leagues were playing hockey in Britain and parts of Europe. In 1910, Britain won the first European Ice Hockey Championships.
The 1920 Olympics in Antwerp Belgium became the first to include and ice hockey competition. Canada won the first four Olympic gold medals in the sport. In 1930, the first ice hockey world championships were played. The championships are now played every year except when the Olympics are held.
After World War II hockey took hold in the Soviet Union and the Russians became a force to reckon with on the ice. The Russians won their first Olympic ice hockey gold in 1956, just a decade after the game became an organized sport in their country.
Women in Ice Hockey
Women have been playing ice hockey nearly as long as men. The first recorded women’s hockey game was played in 1889 in Ottawa. Women’s hockey leagues thrived in Canada through the 1930s. After World War II, interest in the women’s game declined until the 1960s. In the 1980s, women’s hockey experienced a growth spurt.
The first women’s world championships were played in 1990. The National Collegiate Athletic Association added women’s hockey as a sanctioned sport in 1993 and women’s ice hockey made its Olympic debut in 1998. The US team won the first gold medal.
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