Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The history of hockey essay
Ice Hockey
I. History
Around 1820 the sport started to catch on among the visitors to the frozen lakes. People had played field hockey and another game in Europe for years, but this new version of the old sport required that it’s players put on skates. Using metal blades that could be strapped to their boots, the players would cut branches from trees to use as sticks; for pucks they would use round pieces of cork or wooden balls. In the 1870s, each team was made up of nine players skating at the same time, and body checking was not permitted. There were no substitutions, so players were expected to play the entire 60 minutes of the game.
By 1880, the game had begun to grow into the game we know today; teams were reduced to seven-man units. The puck replaced the ball, and sticks were flattened on both sides to allow players to handle the puck better. Pads and gloves that player used in cricket and baseball were used to protect the legs and hands of hockey players. Before this time, players had used anything they could get their hands on for protection.
The exact origin of formal hockey is unknown. Some historians report that the first formal game was played in Kingston, Ontario, in 1867.
II. The Object Of The Game
Hockey is a simple game. The offense tries to hit the puck into the net and the defense tries to stop them. Each player carries a stick, usually made of wood, and wears protective clothing. Goaltenders, or goalies, carry heavie...
... milestone game in 1980, hockey in the United States has grown significantly at the professional and amateur levels. (USA Hockey, N.d.)
As stated in my thesis statement, the sport of hockey has been forced to compete with the growing mass popularity with other sports such as basketball and football. There once was a point in time where hockey had just as much popularity as those sports but because people are finding more interest in those sports, the National Hockey League found itself in a “drought” of unimportance with other sports. With not televising the sport as “commonly” as other sports.
When the age arrived when fans became increasingly enthralled with hockey, these boards were no longer practical. This was where the conundrum started. Something was necessary to keep a hockey puck, hurdling at speeds
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
Fitzpatrick, Jamie. About.com , "Hockey History: The Time Line, 1917-1945." Last modified 2012. Accessed January 8, 2012. http://proicehockey.about.com/od/history/a/history_timelin.htm.
Hockey and its modern roots date back to the late nineteenth century. Interestingly, one of the considered fathers of hockey, Lord Stanley, came to Canada and showed great interest in the amazing sport. He then donated a steel mug of his to the sport which was to become The Stanley Cup. It is the oldest trophy in all of sports. Hockey is the sport of all sports and there is not a quality of another sport one will not find in hockey. If so, it would be a more boring version of something similar that hockey already has to offer. For example, in Golf there is the putt and in Hockey there is the slap shot.
Lacrosse has progressed over the years from when it started as a religious practice by the Native Americans to the Canadians to the east coast to all around the world. The equipment, shoes, rules, and fields have changed in many different ways. The different ways that people can set up their defense and their offense is so broad that it is hard to describe. The original team set up was when the Indians played over expanses of 500 yard up to a mile. Then William George Beers created a club called the Montreal Lacrosse Club in eighteen fifty-six. Then about a decade later William George Beers produced a whole set of rules that included reducing the number of players to ten adding hitting penalties while also introducing a rubber ball and a new innovative plastic design for the lacrosse stick.
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.
When I think of what it means to be Canadian, one of the first things that come to mind is hockey. This is true for many Canadian’s as hockey was and is an integral piece of the formation of the national identity. However, when people think of playing hockey their attention usually turns to the men in the National Hockey League or other top men’s leagues and tournaments. Even so, Canada has come a long way from its beginnings, when women were not even considered persons under the law until 1929. While it has taken many decades for women to receive more recognition in the world of sport, today shows great improvements from the past. A key reason that women are not treated the same way as men in regards to hockey is due to how the game began;
Men also had greater magnitudes of contact compared to their female counterparts. Unfortunately most injuries in ice hockey are from blunt force or direct contact. Concussions are the most common injury in men’s and women’s collegiate hockey. Interestingly enough is that women’s hockey showed a higher rate of concussions than men’s hockey. The study pointed out various options for head-impact mechanisms in ice hockey. The playing area is solid ice and the boards surrounding the area consist of rigid boards. Pucks, when shot, can go over the speed of 80mph. Players can possibly exceed speeds of 30mph. Lastly, because ice hockey is a full contact sport, players are purposefully trying to collide with one another. All of these issues are reasonable mechanisms of head-injuries. This article also references another article which classifies concussion mechanisms in ice hockey into seven categories. These seven categories are: contact with another player, contact with the ice, contact with the boards or glass, contact with a stick, contact with the puck, contact with the goal, and no apparent contact. In this article's study about half of recorded
Skates used to be more like skis. Players glided on the ice rather than actually skated. Artifacts also show the use of animal bones as skate blades as well. Currently, steal blades are used. There is a small arc groove on the blade that provides the friction needed to counteract the slipperiness of the ice (Haché 37). The boot of the skate is hard enough to protect the foot from puck impact but also flexible enough “to allow the calf muscle to push forward and to ease knee bending when the player crouches” (Haché 35).
What exactly is a leader? Is a leader the line by line definition presented to you in a dictionary? Is it just the person that leads and commands a group or organization? Or is it something more? Something beyond the obvious managing and directing. Personally I believe Ronald Reagan embodies the exact definition of what a leader should be. Reagan once stated “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things, he is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” Being a leader has nothing to do with being the best. In the end, it doesn’t matter whether or not you are the star quarterback or the leading soloist. It doesn’t matter if you are the fastest runner or how high you can throw your the rifle. What I truly think makes a person a leader is having the ability to do something more that far exceeds throwing a football or hitting a perfect tune. What makes a person a leader is having the ability for looking out for your team. It’s about putting the team above yourself. A leader has the ability to look out for each and every team member when they are struggling. They are always on call and ready to help despite the situation at hand. Leadership is just something that can’t be switched on and off. Leadership is something that remains with a person. It consumes the body in which it inhabits presenting it’s owner with the desire to look after the team not only on the field, but off. It allows the holder to truly care about their team because they want the best for it. It gives them the impulse to keep peace in the unity but still push them to amount to their greatest potential. As Ronald Reagan stated, leaders get the people to do the greatest things.
Games similar to soccer were played in China as early as 400 BC. In about 200 AD the Romans played a game in which two teams tried to score by advancing a ball across a line on the field. The Romans passed the ball to one another but they never kicked it. London children in about 1100 played a form of soccer in the streets. During the 1800’s the people of England played a game similar to soccer. Many rules changed and each person interpreted the rules differently. In 1848 a group of school representatives met at Trinity College in Cambridge and drew up the first of soccer rules. In 1863 English soccer clubs founded the Football Association. By the late 1800’s soccer began to spread to the rest of the world. The Canadian Soccer Association was established in 1912 while the United States Soccer Federation was set up in 1913.
Skkkt..skkkkt...your ice skate blade grits across the ice. But what are you doing, figure skating? No it’s hockey! Did you know that the first hockey team was formed in 1877 and that hockey was originated in Windsor, Nova Scotia? Would you like to play ice hockey? Well, a famous NFL (national hockey league) player by the name Shae Weber said, “I’m definitely hoping to stay, just like anyone would. That’s the ultimate goal, but I’m just taking things one step at a time.” Shea Weber is currently an alternate captain for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League, and he is an NHL All-Star and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. Most people say hockey is boring, but it’s very challenging, fun, and a exciting way to stay active.