History Of Hockey Essay Example

game called "oochamkunutk" played by the Micmacs in eastern Canada, involving a bat or stick. The Micmacs also played another ice game called "alchamadijik," which was mentioned in legends of the Micmacs from 1894. (Hubbard & Fischler, page18-19) Early versions of hockey-like games found in Europe include the Irish ground game Hurley, English field hockey, and the Dutch ice games English bandy and Kolven. Hurley, still popular in Ireland today, originally involved an unlimited number of players representing different parishes.

Irish immigrants introduced Hurley, a flat stick and a large ball, to Canada when they arrived to work on the Shubenacadie Canal near Dartmouth, Nova Scotia in 1831. Some believe that oochamkunutk is Hurley played on ice (Dolan page 21-26). Field hockey was already being played in England, Egypt, and India by 1870. The rules of field hockey had a significant influence on the early development of ice hockey in Canada. However, many experts of the sport question whether field hockey was actually the precursor to ice hockey since both sports emerged at around the same time.

Field hockey, primarily a woman's sport in North America, was introduced to the United States in 1901 by Miss Constance Applebee of England. While in Harvard summer school, she organized a game with a group of students and teachers (Dolan page 29-31). The English had been playing a hockey-like game called Bandy since the late 18th century. Bandy is still played today in Russia, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the United States (Minnesota). Many of the early Soviet hockey team's top players had backgrounds in Bandy. The sport is played on a large sheet of ice with short sticks, a ball,

and large goals.

The Dutch have been known for their ice skating prowess for centuries and have been playing a game called Kolven since the 1600's. This game involves the use of a stick similar to a golf club, a ball, and ice posts for goals. Evidence of this game can be found in 17th century Dutch paintings. Dutch emigrants who settled in New York City also continued to play Kolven in their new surroundings. Another similar game played on both sides of the Atlantic was shinny, which was played on the frozen ponds of North America and northern Europe, with Scotland being a notable location.

A block of wood or a ball served as a puck and a couple of large rocks and chunks of wood were used to mark-off the goals. For the faceoff, players had to "shinny on their own side," which meant they had to take it right-handed. Since the advent of organized ice hockey, the name shinny has been used to describe unorganized or sandlot (if you will) hockey. There is an ongoing debate among hockey historians regarding whether some of the claims of "first hockey ever played" were actually ice hockey or instead one of hockey-like games like shinny.

According to the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, it was determined by a committee that the initial game of hockey took place in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1855. The participants were the Royal Canadian Rifles, an army unit stationed at Kingston. There are suggestions that the game they played was likely shinny. Another theory proposed by an English historian suggests that the royal family originated the game in the early 1850s, played on the

lake behind Windsor Castle. However, it is more probable that the British royalty engaged in either shinny or a game resembling bandy.

Ice polo, a sport similar to ice hockey, was popular in the United States before the rise of ice hockey. According to Hubbard ; Fischler's research (pages 22-37), it was inspired by roller polo and originated in New England, Minnesota, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula during the early to mid-1880s. The earliest known game of ice polo is said to have occurred at St. Paul's school in Concord, New Hampshire in the early 1880s.

The ice polo league was established in 1883 in St. Paul, Minnesota, featuring four teams. This led to the annual ice polo tournament taking place during the prestigious St. Paul winter carnival.

Fischler (page 47) observed that by the early 1900s, ice hockey had gained more popularity in the United States compared to ice polo. The inaugural official indoor ice hockey game took place on March 30, 1875 at Montreal's Victoria Skating Rink in Canada. James Creighton, an ice Hurley player from Halifax, arranged this game following a lack of public interest in a local exhibition of ice lacrosse.

Sticks were ordered by Creighton to be shipped from Halifax to Montreal for an ice hockey event. The game was played on a surface measuring 80 ft by 204 ft with nine-man sides. Creighton's team emerged victorious with a score of 2-1, and surprisingly, a fight broke out during the game. According to a wire dispatch from Montreal's Kingstons Daily British Whig, "Shins and heads were battered, benches smashed, and the lady spectators fled in confusion." Despite being a terrible incident, it demonstrates that fighting

in hockey has been present since its first indoor game. While the exact origins of outdoor ice hockey are uncertain, it is widely recognized as primarily a Canadian creation. Throughout history, humans have created various recreational games to cater to their need for exercise and amusement.

Games have been enjoyed outdoors in various settings such as meadows, fields, parks, and back yards throughout time. Ice-related activities also take place on frozen ponds, lakes, rivers, or even puddles. Canadians played a significant role in shaping and improving these new sports after the introduction of the first indoor game. In 1876, the object struck with sticks was officially given the name "puck" for the first time. Furthermore, in 1877, a set of ice hockey rules was publicly announced which directly borrowed all seven rules from field hockey. Subsequent ideas and decisions regarding rules were then made by students from McGill University including W.F.

Ice hockey's popularity increased in Canada, making it the preferred sport. NHL forward Brendan Shananhan stated in 1996 that "lacrosse is our national sport, but hockey is our beloved national sport" (Gretzky page 9 34). In Montreal and Quebec City, there were three teams and one team respectively by 1883. The first ice hockey championship series occurred at the Montreal winter carnival in 1883, with the McGill University team becoming the champions.

The tournament regulations necessitate seven players on both teams, and the match consists of two 30-minute periods separated by a 10-minute pause. The yearly carnival continues to highlight this distinctive sport while permitting creative modifications in rules. In the year 1886, stick width was restricted to 3 inches, whereas pucks were standardized at a thickness

of 1 inch and length of 3 inches.

The game in the United States utilizes tennis balls made of vulcanized rubber that measure approximately 2.7 inches in diameter. These revised equipment standards were introduced by Charles E. Courtney, an expert at St. Pauls School.

Established in Toronto in 1890, the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) was an early amateur league in Canada. It included three divisions: junior, intermediate, and senior. During its early years, the OHA produced talented players who were among the best in the country.

In 1892, Lord Stanley of Preston, the sixth Governor General of Canada and a devoted hockey enthusiast, sent his aide Captain Charles Colvill to England with a mission to obtain a trophy that would honor Canada's annual amateur champions. Captain Colvill successfully acquired North America's oldest and most prestigious sports trophy for only 50 pounds. This action by Governor Stanley demonstrated how popular hockey had become throughout Canada.

The Stanley Cup, a prestigious trophy, quickly gained the nickname "The Stanley Cup". It remains today as the ultimate prize in professional hockey. Not only men participated in this thrilling ice sport. In 1890, Ottawa, Ontario saw the first officially recorded all-female ice hockey game. Later on, women regularly competed in "Baker's leagues" across major cities in Canada. Ice hockey's popularity continued to grow throughout Canada from the early to mid-1890s and slowly spread into the United States. The American origins of hockey have been a prominent subject of study and debate among scholars.

The origins of ice hockey in the United States are somewhat unclear due to its transition from ice polo. In 1894, a tournament was held at Niagara Falls, New York involving

American and Canadian tennis players. During a social event, they discovered that they were playing similar but different games on ice. It was determined that the Americans were participating in ice polo rather than ice hockey. Consequently, the Canadians opted to develop their own rendition of the sport and invited their American counterparts to Canada for exhibition matches in both sports during the following winter.

George Wright, the founder of Wright & Ditson, organized a series of double headers in Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston, and Toronto. The events featured both polo and hockey matches with two periods for each sport. In the polo matches, each team consisted of five players, whereas in hockey, each team had seven players. The Maple Leafs emerged victorious in all four hockey games while the Yanks won two polo matches and tied two. These exciting matches drew large crowds and introduced America to the exceptional ice game.

Shortly thereafter, this revolutionary sport began to spread rapidly. Hockey was gaining increasing popularity in both Canada and the northern United States over time. The sport's rising fame led to the development of fresh concepts for establishing a professional league, which ultimately became known as the NHL.

The NHL was formed expeditiously and effectively in one meeting on November 22, 1917 at the Montreal Windsor Hotel. The attendees comprised owners of NHA teams such as the Canadiens, Wanderers, Quebec Bulldogs, and Ottawa Senators. These teams and owners came up with a creative resolution to address the challenges encountered by the NHA: creating a new league. Before the NHL, the NHA functioned as an amateur league that bestowed Lord Stanley's Cup upon its victor.

The NHL, or National Hockey

League, ultimately became the top professional hockey league in the world. It included teams from Canada and the U.S. Throughout its history, the NHL went through three distinct periods: a difficult beginning, a mix of achievements and challenges in its early years, and its current fully developed state. Let's now focus on the initial period when it all started. Initially, there were five teams in the NHL but only four began their first season due to financial issues faced by the Quebec Bulldogs. Consequently, their owners decided to temporarily suspend operations and redistribute players among other teams.

(Official Guide & Record Book page 136 137) The NHL's early seasons spanned from 1917-18 to 1924-25 and were characterized by financial struggles, exceptional gameplay, and significant moments in Stanley Cup play. The inaugural season, 1917-18, began on December 19, 1917, with a match between Montreal and Toronto at Toronto's Home facility, the only artificial-ice rink in the league at the time. Montreal emerged victorious with a score of 10-9, although only 700 fans attended the game, despite free admission for men in uniform.

The small turnout clearly indicated that professional hockey, even with a new name, was still impacted by the army scandal as many of the top players were fighting in the war. Adding to the unfortunate events, the Westmount Arena burned down in early 1918. Montreal had not attracted large crowds throughout the season and with the loss of the arena, the owners decided to cease operations. Thus, one of Canada's most esteemed amateur teams transformed into a professional team.

In the 1918-19 season, the NHL faced tough times once again. Despite implementing new rules to make the

game more exciting, attendance remained low. However, something unprecedented occurred during this season - the Stanley Cup was not awarded. This unusual decision was made due to a deadly flu epidemic that had struck Canada and affected the teams competing for the Stanley Cup. Many players fell ill and were hospitalized, and sadly, some of them passed away six to eight weeks later.

The competition was postponed and no cup was given, marking the only time the Stanley Cup was not awarded after the post season (Hubbard & Fishler, page 55-68). The NHL faced various challenges, including financial difficulties, wars, and limited fan support, until around the 1924-25 season. From then on, the situation improved as owners began making more profit and attendance at games increased.

Hockey has gained immense popularity in Canada and the United States, making it one of the most enjoyable and lucrative sports in North America and Europe.