For more than a century, hockey historians have found that precisely tracing the sports origin is not only a difficult task but, a virtual impossibility. Therefore I can only try to deduce for myself, from the records, claims, and accounts, which are available to me, when, where, and by whom the first ice hockey was played. I’ll also discuss the early problems and obstacles that the NHL encountered. Plus I will also tell a little bit about early equipment, along with early game play and ice conditions that players encountered. Lastly, the Stanley Cup, which is the most prized and oldest sports award of the NHL. It has been won many times, by many different teams. Ice hockey is traceable to games played on fields as far back as nearly 2500 years ago. In 478 BC, a Greek soldier, Hemostocoles, built a wall in Athens which contained a sculpture scene portraying two athletes in a faceoff-like stance holding sticks similar to those later used in field hockey. (Hubbard & Fischler, page17) Perhaps native Americans were the first to play hockey like games. The Indians of Canada invented the field game lacrosse, which is known by the legislative act as Canada’s and national sport. The Alogonquins who inhabited the shores the St. Lawrence River played an ice game that was similar to lacrosse called "baggataway," played without skates and with an unlimited number of participants. French explorers who visited the St. Lawrence River area and northern areas of United States in the 1700’s witnessed these matches. (Hubbard & Fischler, page17) According to the dictionary of language of Micmacs Indians, published in 1888, the Micmacs of eastern Canada played an ice game called "oochamkunutk," which was played with a bat or stick. Another ice game played by the Micmacs was "alchamadijik," which was referred to in legends of the Micmacs, issued in 1894. (Hubbard & Fischler, page18-19) Early hockey-like games that came from across the Atlantic include the Field game Hurley from Ireland, field hockey from England, and the ice games English bandy and Kolven from Holland. Hurley is a ground game that is still popular in Ireland. It was originally played by an unlimited number of players representing one parish against another. A flat field hockey-like stick and a large ball were used. Irish immigrants, who came to work on the Shubenacadie C...
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... to an end. 1918-19, The NHL continues to suffer bad times in the second season. Crowds remained sparse, even though the league tried to elict interest by adopting new rules to make the game faster and more interesting. During this season an very unusual thing had happened, for a first time ever the Stanley cup was not awarded, the reason why it was not awarded is because Canada was in the midst of a lethal flu epidemic in the which touched the a Stanley cup teams. The flu sent many players to the hospital, tragically some of them died 6-8 weeks later. Therefore the competition was held off and a cup of was not awarded. Never again has the Stanley cup not been awarded after post season. (Hubbard & Fishler, page 55-68) Over the years the NHL suffered similar obstacles, financial problems, wars, and the lack of fans, to about the 1924-25 season. After that season times started to become easier. More profit was being made by the owners, and more fans were attending the games. Hockey was becoming one of the most popular sports in all of Canada, which quickly spread to the U.S. Nowadays hockey is one of the most profitable and enjoyable sports throughout North America and Europe.
... milestone game in 1980, hockey in the United States has grown significantly at the professional and amateur levels. (USA Hockey, N.d.)
Fortunately for the NHL, they had/ have the Chicago Blackhawks, the Franchise to bring hockey back. The Chicago Blackhawks started the 2012-2013 series with a 24 point streak, meaning that they went 24 games with at least 1 point gained in each game. As many people don’t pay attention until the season has hit 20 or so games, the Hawks, had come to break the lockout of that particular attention span causing more attention towards not only the NHL , but for the Blackhawks themselves. As fans joined the progressing bandwagon, the NHL was gratefully coming out of the “drought” with numourus sponsorships with companies, and gaining profit from their
The most memorable moment in hockey history came thirty-four years ago with the 1980 Miracle on Ice. The Americans defeating the dominant Soviet team at the Olympics was not only an important triumph for USA Hockey, but for the entire nation. Contrary to popular belief, the underdog win was not only the result of a miracle; it was also the result of a hard-working team led by Coach Herb Brooks. With increasingly negative views on the position of the United States in the Cold War, the Miracle on Ice and the gold medal win lifted the spirits of the nation and brought hockey into the American spotlight.
The sport of hockey has a long proud history of being one of the best sports in the
Morrow, D., Keyes, M., Simpson,W., Cosentino, F., & Lappage, R. (1989). A Concise History of Sport In Canada. Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press.
Thomas Raddall, a Canadian historical analyst, once said, “When the soldiers were transferred to military posts along the Saint Lawrence and Great Lakes, they took the game with them; and for some time afterwards continued to send to Dartmouth Indians for the necessary sticks.” This quote goes to show that the game’s reputation took off, even during undesirable times such as during a war. Up to this point in time, the sport was primarily played by masculine males and not women. Skip ahead 75 years from the birth of the sport, in 1875 James Creighton, a native Canadian, devised the modern rules of the game. He strategically thought of all possibilities the game could ensue, and devised a set of rules in Montreal. A group of nine players, including Creighton, tried out his guidelines at the Victoria Skating Rink located at McGill University. They all agreed upon the fairness and rationality of the principles he set forth for the game. Instead of using a ball like they formerly did, they switched the ball out for a wooden puck; similar to today’s rubber puck. As the game’s organization progressed, seven years later, the first club ice hockey team was formed: McGill University Hockey Club. By 1880, there were enough club teams to start a tournament division that each team played against one
If you ask any Canadian what they were doing on september 28 1972, there it a good chance they will say watching the Canadians and soviets battling it out for the title of the summit series. It was one of the largest rivalry games in Canadian history. Kids in school watched the games during class, People across the nation sat on the edge of their seats for the month of september and were thrilled when Canada pulled off the victory. All of the hype leading up to the event made people wonder if the summit series was the biggest event in Canadian sports history or even Canadian history in general.There is no doubt that the summit series was a huge milestone for Canada and brought the nation together for an exciting ride, even to this day we still see the effects of this great event, it sculpted the game of hockey that we know and love today.
Lacrosse is the oldest game in North America estimated between five hundred to one thousand years old. Many villages would play lacrosse together training for battle. Back then lacrosse balls were made mostly of clay. Sometimes they were made from wood and in rare
The 125 year history of the Stanley Cup is very rich and intricate. The Stanley Cup was donated in 1892 by Lord Stanley of Preston. He was the Governor General of Canada in 1892 and the son of the 14th Earl of Derby (Rourke). Lord Stanley donated the
Lacrosse is the oldest team sport in North America, having been played by Native American tribes long before any European had even set foot on the continent. A century after European missionaries discovered the game played by Native Americans, they began to play it themselves, starting in the 18th century. From there, it evolved and grew in popularity from a very savage game that resembled war, into what it is today, a recreational sport played widely in America and other countries. As U.S. Lacrosse literature aptly puts it, “Lacrosse is a game born of the North American Indian, christened by the French, adopted and raised by the Canadians, and later dominated by the Americans.” When the first people of America started playing lacrosse centuries ago, the game served many purposes.
It first originated from ball and stick games played in Greece in 400 BCE. With the spread of civilization came the spread of the ideas and characteristics as well. Although there is archaeological evidence of people playing some kind of field hockey it was not played in an organized setting until the 1800’s. In 1872, a man from Nova Scotia by the name of James Creighton moved to Montreal bringing the sport of hockey with him. He brought his sticks and skates and sparked interest from those around him. He first begin to play with others indoor but because the sport was first played with a ball they eventually moved outdoors due to the danger of the ball flying all over indoors. It wasn’t long until Creighton designed a “flat circular piece of wood” later known as the puck that made it possible to play indoors again. Montreal became the hearth or node of Ice
Participation in sports and games has long been a part of Native culture. The most significant example of a sport invented and played by Natives is lacrosse. Lacrosse is still designated as the official sport of Canada despite the overwhelming popularity of hockey (http://canada.gc.ca). Lacrosse was one of many varieties of indigenous stickball games being played by Native Americans and Canadians at the time of European contact. Almost exclusively a male team sport, it is distinguished from other stick and ball games, such as field hockey or shinny, by the use of a netted racquet with which to pick the ball off the ground, throw, catch and vault it into or past a goal to score a point.
Before beginning to play hockey you must know the rules of the game. A hockey
...know" (The Canadian Press, 2013). Hockey is one of the most difficult sports out there, and dropping the gloves and looking another fighter straight in the face is one of the most challenging parts of it. Getting rid of fighting will not necessarily make the game safer, and it could potentially cause a decrease in the number of fan viewership. The players and leagues understand what they are getting themselves into and they are aware of the culture of the sport, which is rich with fighting history. They respect that aspect of the game, and they respect their opponents as players and fighters. There will never be a time when everybody is happy about the state of fighting in hockey, but for now, the NHL is taking the right steps toward maintaining this historically important part of the game, while also making adjustments to keep the players as safe as possible.
Youth Hockey Growth in the United States is the main focus of this research. The sport of hockey has been around for nearly 200 years. The game was produced from a form of stick and ball games started by immigrants. These immigrants were British soldiers who brought their type of hockey to Canada. Paintings from the 1830’s depict the sport of ice-hockey taking off in Canada.(Garth, Vaughan) As the sport grew so did the age groups in which it was played. Many sports start their growth from the elders down to the youth. The same can be said for ice-hockey. Many gentlemen started to play the sport as a way to pass the time. This is when the children began to take a liking to the sport. Fathers began to teach their children the fundamentals and from there, the rest is history.