The name hockey comes from the French word hocquet, which means stick. It is not clear how the game began, but history goes that British soldiers stationed in Nova Scotia, Canada, played hockey games of one kind or another. It was certainly before that when children played in open ponds with sticks and some kind of puck.

Olympic hockey has come a long way since it was included in the Antwerp games in 1920.

In 1879 the rules of an organized game were established at McGill University in Montreal. It began to spread through the area and by the 1890s it had been picked up by American interests. The first known organized hockey game took place between Johns Hopkins and Yale Universities in the winter of 1895.

The first Olympic winter hockey games took place at the 1924 games in Chamonix, France. The first women’s games were held in Nagano, Japan in 1998. Women compete in an eight-team tournament, while men compete in a twelve-team series.

The rules are quite simple for the game. A team may not have more than six players on the ice at a time, but may have fewer while the players are in the penalty area. The team on ice consists of a goalkeeper, two defenders, two full-backs and a center. The goalkeeper may be replaced by a skater during a delayed penalty (when the referee or the linesman detects an offense, he raises his arm to indicate that a penalty is approaching. As soon as the offending team touches the puck, the whistle blows and The penalty is sanctioned.) for the offending team will not be allowed to score during the delay.

A regular Olympic hockey game consists of three 20-minute periods with a 15-minute break in between. In the event of a tie at the end of the third period, a five-minute intermission will take place and then a sudden death period of overtime will be played. If the game is still tied after that period, a shootout is conducted to determine a winner. The shootout will feature the best 3 of 5 shots on the net.

Roller skates

Players must wear solidly constructed ice skates. Boots are made of many layers of padding material in the right places. They should cushion the foot but not allow it to move inward. Ankle support is extremely important as players who can weigh more than 200 pounds must instantly change direction by throwing their weight into turns, putting tremendous strain on the skates and ankles.

The blades must be kept very sharp for good control. Certainly before each game, and sometimes within the game itself, if a player is unhappy with their performance.

Sticks

Until recently, Olympic hockey sticks were made by combining a wooden blade on a wooden handle and gluing the joints together. The player wrapped the sheet in tape to keep it solid and help fire the puck. This was the way most sticks were made for many years. The blade had a slight bevel on one side or the other for players to shoot high or with the left hand.

In the 1960s, Bobby’s helmet from the Chicago Black Hawks was one of the first to put a curve in the blade of the club that not only made the puck faster, but also created a wobble in the flight of the club. disk. The National Hockey League considered it necessary to regulate the arc of the curve to standardize it.

Composite sticks began to appear in the 1990s. They are made of different man-made materials such as Kevlar, plastics, and fiberglass. The club shown here has holes in the handle for even more shooting speed.

The disc is made of solid rubber. Before the game begins, the discs are frozen so that they are more crisp when shot with the sticks.

Both professional and Olympic hockey players are very well padded. The helmets are made of hard plastic. They have face shields or shields. Underneath those colorful sweaters, the player has shoulder protection for the upper body. Elbow pads. Hockey gloves with a lot of padding. His hockey pants are padded and the knee pads cover the section from above the knee to the skates.

When a player shoots the puck, the speed can reach over 100 miles per hour, so all that padding is required. Still, injuries will occur.

The goalkeeper must be very padded but must have great flexibility. In this photo you can see the wide cheek pads he wears, as well as the huge catch glove.

The Olympic hockey goalie wears a special protective mask. Very colorful. This protects the goalkeeper from being hit not only by the puck, but also by sticks and skates which can inflict heavy damage during scramble around the net.

Hall of Fame great star Johnny Bower was a great goalkeeper for the Toronto Maple Leafs, playing fearlessly without a mask until the ripe old age of 46.

Jacque Plant of the Montreal Canadians was the first goalkeeper to wear a mask in the National Hockey League.