Hockey, the history of the origin and development of which is described in more detail below, is a game team sport, where opponents with a stick must score the puck into the opponent’s goal. The main feature of the competition is that players must move around the ice rink on skates. The first memories of a club and ball game date back to the Middle Ages. Along with this, as a separate type of competition, it formed much later.
Occurrence versions
For a sport such as hockey, the history of occurrence has become one of the most contested. According to the official version, the place of his birth is the Canadian city of Montreal. Not all modern researchers agree with this. The fact is that the images of people participating in a similar game on a frozen pond are present in some paintings by Dutch masters that date back to the sixteenth century. Be that as it may, the British soldiers, after having recaptured Canada from France in 1763, brought ball hockey to the country. Due to the fact that severe and long winters are characteristic of North America , the game needed to be adapted to local conditions. As a result, people began to compete on frozen lakes and rivers. So that the legs would not slip on their surface, cheese cutters were tied to the boots.
Debut match
A very important role in the development of this sport was played by Montreal. It was in this city, at the Victoria rink, on March 3, 1875, that the first officially registered hockey game was played. The story of the fight was even displayed in an article in a local newspaper called Montreal Gazette. Each of the competing teams included nine players. A wooden disk became the projectile, and ordinary stones served as a gate. The participants' protective gear was borrowed from baseball.
First rules
Two years after the debut hockey match took place, a group of students from McGill University of Montreal invented the first rules of the game. They consisted of seven points. In 1879, a rubber washer was created. The game quickly gained popularity, so in 1883 it was presented as part of the annual Winter Carnival in Montreal. Two years later, Canadians here founded an amateur association in this sport.
In 1886, the rules for playing hockey were streamlined, improved, and printed. The story says that the first who recorded them was R. Smith. It should be noted that they did not differ much from the modern version. From now on, seven players were to compete in each of the teams. They were the goalkeeper, the back and front defenders, three forwards, and also one rover (the strongest hockey player who scores goals best of all). The composition throughout the match did not change. The only time that a substitution was allowed was a player injury. A prerequisite for its implementation was the consent of the opposing team.
Stanley Cup
The popularity of this sport continued to grow. In 1893, Canadian Governor-General Lord Frederick Arthur Stanley bought a goblet that resembled an inverted pyramid that consists of silver rings. It was supposed to be awarded to the country's champion in a sport such as hockey. The history of this game does not know a more prestigious trophy. Initially, even amateurs could fight for him. Since 1927, the right to own the Stanley Cup has been contested by representatives of the National Hockey League.
Revolutionary innovations
The history of ice hockey at the beginning of the twentieth century was characterized by constant innovations. In particular, in 1900 they began to install a net on the goal, due to which the number of disputes about a goal scored was practically reduced to zero. Since the metal whistle stuck to the lips of the judge, he was first exchanged for a bell, and even later for a plastic analog. At that time, the face-off also appeared. In order to increase speed and entertainment, in 1910 it was decided to allow replacements during the game. At the initiative of the three Patrick brothers, hockey players began to be assigned numbers, goalkeepers were allowed to tear skates from the ice, and players were allowed to pass forward. Moreover, it was they who proposed limiting the duration of the match to three periods of twenty minutes.
The International Hockey Federation officially approved the rules of the game in 1911. The Canadian sample was taken as the basis. In 1929, Clint Benedict, the goalkeeper of the Montreal Maroons team, first used the mask. Five years after that, the rule of bulit was officially introduced. Multi-colored lanterns with a siren for accurate accounting of goals scored began to be used in 1945. At the same time, the rules on triple refereeing were amended.
First arenas
The history of hockey development is simply unthinkable without the construction of appropriate infrastructure. Initially, the competition arenas were ice rinks with natural ice. To prevent it from melting, cracks were made in the walls of the buildings, thanks to which cold air entered. In 1899, the first artificial ice rink was built in Montreal. In the thirties of the twentieth century, quite large arenas began to be erected in Canada and the USA. One of the most remarkable of them at that time was the "Sports Palace", erected in Chicago in 1938. The arena totaled 15 thousand seats.
First professional teams and leagues
In 1904, Canada created the world's first professional hockey team. It should be noted that at that time a decision was made to switch to a new game system, according to which each of the participants in the match included six players. Moreover, the standard for the size of the site is 56x26 meters. Four years after this, the professionals were finally separated from the lovers.
In the early twentieth century and in Europe, a sport such as hockey became very popular. The history of its development in the Old World officially originates in 1908. It was then that at the congress in Paris the International Federation for this sport was founded. It initially included four states - the UK, Belgium, Switzerland and France. The Canadian Hockey Association appeared four years later.
National Hockey League (NHL) was founded in 1917. Very quickly she became the leader on the planet. This is not surprising, since the strongest players are here. Moreover, the best goals in the history of hockey, as a rule, were scored precisely in the NHL.
Competitions
The first international match between the representatives of North America and Europe in the framework of the official tournament was held in 1920. Then the Canadian team defeated the team from the UK. It should be noted that the history of world hockey championships originates from the Olympic Games, the winner of which bore the title of the strongest on the planet. The tournaments were separated from one another and became independent only in 1992. Then the International Federation decided to liquidate the European Championship.
The history of the world hockey championships itself knows several forms of holding a tournament. Initially, the competition was held according to the cup system, and later - in a circle (in one or several stages). Over time, there were also games for relegation - the “playoffs”. The number of participants in the group ranged from eight to sixteen.
Russian hockey
Now it is officially accepted that the history of hockey in Russia began on December 22, 1946. It was on this day that the first matches of the country's championship were held in a number of Soviet cities. In 1954, a team from the USSR made its triumphant debut in the world championship, defeating Canadians in the final match. In the nineties of the last century, due to the lack of stability in the country, many athletes went to speak abroad.
The history of the Russian hockey team knows many failures and achievements. The team won the title of the strongest on the planet back in 1993. However, the fans had to wait for the next such title for fifteen years. Now the Russian team is deservedly considered one of the strongest in the world and is steadily demonstrating good results.
Interesting Facts
So that the puck does not spring during the game, it is frozen before the start of the match.
The overwhelming majority of hockey players lost at least one tooth during their appearances.
The first washers were square.
Hockey projectile flight speed can reach 193 km / h.
Now the washers are made of vulcanized rubber.
Hockey with a ball
The history of ball hockey dates back to the middle of the last century. In a modern interpretation, this sport is a team game on ice, in which you need to put a ball into the opponent’s goal with a club. A rectangular platform is used for it, the maximum size of which is 110x65 meters. The match consists of two periods of 45 minutes. Each of the teams includes eleven players (including 4 substitutes and 1 goalkeeper). It should be noted that the number of replacements is not limited here. One of the most interesting rules in this game is that a player who is in the opponent’s half of the field himself (excluding the goalkeeper) has no right to take the ball. Be that as it may, this kind of hockey does not have the same popularity as its kind with the puck.