A Brief history of Hockey
Hockey is a fast, high contact sport that is played around the world. But, a lot of people still don’t know that much about its history. This blog will tell you a little bit about the history of this incredible sport.
Let’s start where it all began in Montreal, Canada. According to the International Ice Hockey Federation, (IIHF), ”On March 3rd, 1875 the first ever organized game of hockey was played.” This game was played in the same format as today with ten skaters and two goalies. From there small hockey organizations were formed and eventually the National Hockey League (NHL) was founded in 1917. The NHL was first made up of six teams known as the “Original Six.” These six teams were the Montreal Canadians, the Boston Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the New York Rangers, the Chicago Black Hawks, and the Detroit Red WIngs. These six teams were the only that existed until 1967 when the 1967 NHL expansion occurred. When the number of teams went from six to twelve.
Let’s take a quick look at a couple of the best players to ever live. First of all the best player of all time is Wayne Gretzky. He has set dozens of records that he still holds today. He has also won four Stanley Cups. Gretzky played for a total of twenty seasons for which he played on 4 teams. He started out just like a normal kid, but his determination sent him all the way to the Hockey Hall of Fame. There have been many players who have come close to breaking his records, but none as close as Alex Ovechkin. Alex has been playing in the NHL for 16 years and scored his 700th goal in his sixteenth season. Just like these players, if you put your mind to something you can accomplish anything.
Hockey has evolved over time with all the new technology and training programs and now the game has never been at such a high level. The NHL rink is 200 feet long and fastest skaters can even skate around it in under 15 seconds! That’s as fast as a car driving at 20 miles per hour! The overall technology in today's sticks is unreal. Older sticks were literally pieces of wood. Today people have combined composite and different thicknesses and lengths to calculate a flex, which is how much the stick bends. With the best stick some players have even shot the puck over 100 miles per hour! The technology of today has made the game faster and more fun to watch than ever.
Hockey has been around for so long and the sport is still growing. We’ll see where it goes.
Thank you for your thoughtful post about hockey, its basic information and history. Your post has brought back fond memories of my Dad taking me to Boston Garden to see Bobby Orr and Bruins play.
ReplyDeleteIt's cool that the Boston Bruins were among the first six teams to every play in the NHL. I wonder if there will every be more teams in the NHL?
ReplyDeleteI think that it's cool that you added that the Boston Bruins were some of the original teams that played. You mentioned that some skaters can skate around it in 15 seconds. I wonder how fast the fastest skater in the world can skate?
ReplyDeleteI also think that it's cool that the Bruins are in the original six teems.
DeleteIt is very cool how some people can hit the puck 100 miles per hour. I also think it is nice when you mentioned how there was only six teams at first. It would sure hurt if you got hit by a puck at 100 miles per hour.
ReplyDeleteOne more cool fact is that the puck is actually made out of rubber that is compacted down into the hard object.
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