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European immigrants brought various versions of hockey-like games to North America, such as the Scottish sport of shinty, the closely-related Irish sport of hurling, and versions of field hockey played in England. Where necessary these seem to have been adapted for icy conditions; for example, a colonial Williamsburg newspaper records hockey being played in a snow storm in Virginia. Both English- and French-speaking Canadians played hockey on frozen rivers, lakes, and ponds using cheese-cutter style skates strapped to their boots [citation needed], and early paintings show "shinney", an early form of hockey with no standard rules, being played in Nova Scotia. Author Thomas Chandler Haliburton wrote in a book of fiction, about boys from King's College School in Windsor, Nova Scotia, playing "hurley on the ice" when he was a student there around 1800 (Ed. Note: Haliburton was born in 1796).[4] To this day, "Shinny" (derived from Shinty) is a popular Canadian term for an informal type of hockey, either on ice or as street hockey. These early games may have also absorbed the physically aggressive aspects of what the Mi'kmaq Aboriginal First Nation in Nova Scotia called dehuntshigwa'es (lacrosse).
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Based on Haliburton's writings, there have been claims that modern ice hockey originated in Windsor, Nova Scotia, and was named after an individual, as in 'Colonel Hockey's game'.[6] Proponents of this theory claim that the surname Hockey exists in the district surrounding Windsor. In 1943, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association declared Kingston the birthplace of hockey, based on a recorded 1886 game played between students of Queen's University and the Royal Military College of Canada.
The Society for International Hockey Research has had an "origins of hockey" committee studying this debate since 2001 and they defined hockey as: "a game played on an ice rink in which two opposing teams of skaters, using curved sticks, try to drive a small disc, ball or block into or through the opposite goals."
The committee found evidence of stick and ball games played on ice on skates in Europe in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries, and viewed these activities as being more indicative of a hockey-like game than Haliburton’s reference.
They found no evidence in the Windsor position of a connection from whatever form of hockey might have been played at Long Pond to the game played elsewhere and to modern hockey. The committee viewed as conjecture the assertion that King’s schoolboys introduced the game to Halifax. They noted that the assertion that hockey was not played outside Nova Scotia until 1865 overlooks diary evidence of shinny and hockey being played at Kingston in the 1840s.
The committee concluded that Dr. Vaughan and the Windsor Hockey Heritage Society had not offered credible evidence that Windsor, Nova Scotia, is the birthplace of hockey.
The committee offered no opinion on the birth date or birthplace of hockey, but took note of a game at Montreal’s Victoria Skating Rink on March 3, 1875. This is the earliest eyewitness account known to the committee of a specific game of hockey in a specific place at a specific time, and with a recorded score, between two identified teams.
The word hockey is believed to have several derivations, the most common one being from an old French word "hoquet", which means curved stick, or more specifically "shepherd s crook". In Germanic languages, there is a very old root word "hok" or "hak". The meaning -- a bent or curved piece of wood or metal.
According to the Society for International Hockey Research, the word puck is derived from the Scottish and Gaelic word "puc" or the Irish word "poc", meaning to poke, punch or deliver a blow. This definition is explained in a book published in 1910 entitled "English as we Speak it in Ireland" by P.W. Joyce. It defines the word puck as "... The blow given by a hurler to the ball with his caman or hurley is always called a puck".
Foundation of the modern game
Ice hockey at McGill University, Montreal, 1901.The
foundation of the modern game centers on Montreal. On March 3, 1875 the
first organized indoor game was played at Montreal's Victoria Skating Rink
by James Creighton and several McGill University students. In 1877, several
McGill students, including Creighton, Henry Joseph, Richard F. Smith, W.F.
Robertson, and W.L. Murray codified seven ice hockey rules. The first ice
hockey club, McGill University Hockey Club, was founded in 1877.[7]
The game became so popular that the first "world championship" of ice hockey was featured in Montreal's annual Winter Carnival in 1883 and the McGill team captured the "Carnival Cup". Although undocumented, it is believed that during the same year, the Oxford University Ice Hockey Club was formed to play the first Ice Hockey Varsity Match against traditional rival Cambridge in St. Moritz, Switzerland. This match was won by the Oxford Dark Blues, 6-0.[8][9] The first photographs and team lists date from 1895.[10] This continues to be the oldest hockey rivalry in history.
The original Stanley Cup, in the Hockey Hall
of Fame vault.In 1888, the new Governor General of Canada, Lord Stanley
of Preston, whose sons and daughter became hockey enthusiasts, attended
the Montreal Winter Carnival tournament and was impressed with the hockey
spectacle. In 1892, recognizing that there was no recognition for the best
team, he purchased a decorative bowl for use as a trophy. The Dominion
Hockey Challenge Cup, which later became more famously known as the Stanley
Cup, was first awarded in 1893 to the champion amateur team in Canada,
Montreal HC. It continues to be awarded today to the National Hockey League's
championship team.[11]
By 1893, there were almost a hundred teams in Montreal alone, and leagues throughout Canada. Winnipeg hockey players had incorporated cricket pads to better protect the goaltender's legs. They also introduced the "scoop" shot, later known as the wrist shot.
Ottawa Hockey Club "Silver Seven", the Champion
of the Stanley Cup in 19051893 also saw the first ice hockey matches in
the U.S., at Yale University and Johns Hopkins University.[12] The U.S.
Amateur Hockey League was founded in New York City in 1896, and the first
professional team, the Portage Lakers was formed in 1903 in Houghton, Michigan
(although there had been individual professionals in Canada before this).
The five sons of Lord Stanley were instrumental
in bringing ice hockey to Europe, beating a court team (which included
both the future Edward VII and George V) at Buckingham Palace in 1895.
By 1903 a five-team league had been founded. The Ligue Internationale de
Hockey sur Glace was founded in 1908 to govern international competitions,
and the first European championships were won by Great Britain in 1910.
In the mid-20th century, the Ligue became the International Ice Hockey
Federation.[13]
[edit] The professional era
Ice hockey in Europe; Oxford University vs. Switzerland,
1922. Future Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson is at right front.Main
article: Professional ice hockey
Professional ice hockey has existed since after
World War I. From the first professional ice hockey league based out of
Michigan in the United States, it quickly grew into Canada and in many
other countries, including Switzerland, Ukraine, Great Britain and Austria.
[edit] Equipment
Main article: Ice hockey equipment
Since hockey is a full contact sport and body
checks are allowed, ice hockey tends to be a dangerous game. Protective
equipment is highly recommended and is enforced in all competitive situations.
This usually includes a helmet, shoulder pads, elbow pads, mouth guard,
protective gloves, heavily padded shorts, a 'jock' athletic protector,
shin pads/chest protector and a neck guard.
[edit] Game
While the general characteristics of the game
are the same wherever it is played, the exact rules depend on the particular
code of play being used. The two most important codes are those of the
International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)[14] and of the North American
National Hockey League (NHL).[15] North American amateur hockey codes,
such as those of Hockey Canada and USA Hockey, tend to be a hybrid of the
NHL and IIHF codes, while professional rules generally follow those of
the NHL.[citation needed]
Typical layout of an ice hockey rink surfaceIce
hockey is played on a hockey rink. During normal play, there are six players
per side on the ice at any time, each of whom is on ice skates. There are
five players and one goaltender per side. The objective of the game is
to score goals by shooting a hard vulcanized rubber disc, the puck, into
the opponent's goal net, which is placed at the opposite end of the rink.
The players may control the puck using a long stick with a blade that is
commonly curved at one end. Players may also redirect the puck with any
part of their bodies, subject to certain restrictions. Players can angle
their feet so the puck can redirect into the net, but there can be no kicking
motion. Players may not intentionally bat the puck into the net with their
hands.
Hockey is an "offside" game, meaning that forward passes are allowed, unlike in rugby. Before the 1930s hockey was an onside game, meaning that only backward passes were allowed. The period of the onside game was the golden age of stick-handling, which was of prime importance in moving the game forward. With the arrival of offside rules, the forward pass transformed hockey into a truly team sport, where individual heroics diminished in importance relative to team play, which could now be coordinated over the entire surface of the ice as opposed to merely rearward players.[16]
The other five players are typically divided into three forwards and two defencemen. The forward positions consist of a center and two wingers: a left wing and a right wing. Forwards often play together as units or lines, with the same three forwards always playing together. The defencemen usually stay together as a pair, but may change less frequently than the forwards. A substitution of an entire unit at once is called a line change. Teams typically employ alternate sets of forward lines and defensive pairings when shorthanded or on a power play. Substitutions are permitted at any time during the course of the game, although during a stoppage of play the home team is permitted the final change. When players are substituted during play, it is called changing on the fly. A new NHL rule added in the 2005-2006 season prevents a team from changing their line after they ice the puck.
The boards surrounding the ice help keep the puck in play (they can also be used as tools to play the puck), and play often proceeds for minutes without interruption. When play is stopped, it is restarted with a faceoff. There are two major rules of play in ice hockey that limit the movement of the puck: offsides and icing.
Under IIHF rules, each team may carry a maximum
of 20 players and two goaltenders on their roster. NHL rules restrict the
total number of players per game to 18 plus two goaltenders.