ICE-HOCKEY
Ice hockey is one of the most popular sport games in the world. The best national teams in the history
are in Russia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland, Slovakia and the USA and ice hockey is
very popular in these countries.
Ice hockey is played with two opposing teams wearing ice-skates. Each team has six players on the ice
rink. The aim of the game is to score the goal into the opposing team's goal. The goal is guarded by the
goalie (goalkeeper).
HISTORY
Modern hockey has evolved from outdoor stick-and-ball games adapted to the icy conditions of
Canada during the 19th century.
The games of British soldiers and immigrants to Canada (influenced by First Nations stick-and-ball
games) influenced the game played on ice skates (often with a puck) with sticks made by the people of
Nova Scotia (Canada).
In the North America, the National Hockey League (NHL) is the highest level for men, and the most
popular. It is also the official national winter sport of Canada, where the game is very popular. The
first organized game was played on March 3, 1875, in Montreal, Canada.
Stanley Cup Champions 1905
Lord Stanley:
At the Montreal Winter Carnival in 1889, at a match between the Montreal Victorias and the Amateur
Athletic Association, Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, Governor General of Canada, with his wife and two
children stopped to watch the game. Stanley was taken with the game, and helped to form a team - the
Rideau Rebels and a league, the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) which formed in 1890.
Two years after the formation of the OHA, Stanley created the concept of a regional competition and
gave a cup for the victor, the Dominion Challenge Trophy. In 1893, it was decided that the cup would
never become the property of any team and was renamed the Stanley Hockey Championship Cup.
The Stanley Cup is still awarded to the champion of the National Hockey League today.
EQUIPMENT - Equipment
Ice-hockey players' equipment
Gloves (rukavice)
Helmet (helma)
Puck (puk)
Shin guard (holenní chrániče)
Shoulder pad (chrániče ramen a hrudníku)
Elbow pads (náloketníky)
Stick (hokejka)
Skates (brusle)
Visor (hledí, plexisklo helmy)
Goalkeeper's equipment (vybavení brankáře)
Goalkeeper's equipment includes a goalkeeper stick, goalkeeper skates, a blocking glove,
a catching glove, a helmet with a full face mask and leg guards.
AN ICE-HOCKEY RINK
size – width – 26m (NA) – 30m (Intl.)
- length – 56m (NA) - 61 m (Intl.)
POSITIONS
An ice hockey team is made up of six players, each with a specific position and job. The
job of offence is to score goals, and the defense is there to protect the goal. The following
list describes each of the hockey positions:
Goalie:
Perhaps the toughest position in all of sports, the goalie is the one player who can control a
team’s confidence. His job is to keep the puck out of the net, and if he’s good, he can take his
team a long way. Good goalies win championships.
Defensemen:
A team at full strength has two — one on the left side and another on the right. Nowadays,
there are three primary kinds of defensemen. One is creative and offensive-minded, another is
defensive-minded, a stay-at-home bruiser who plays a physical game and doesn’t often
venture out of his zone with the puck. And there are those rare athletes who are a combination
of the two.
Right wing:
He works the right side of the ice for the most part. He needs to be a physical player who is
good along the boards and in the corner. He is responsible for the opposition’s left
defenseman in the defensive zone.
Left wing:
Traditionally a left-handed shot, but the NHL is seeing more right-handers playing this
position now, a practice picked up from the Europeans. A right-hander has a better angle to
shoot from when he’s coming in on his wing. Like the right wing, he needs to be able to dig
out the puck from the corners and battle in front of the net.
Center:
He quarterbacks his club at both ends of the ice. Must be good at face-offs and passing, and it
doesn’t hurt if he's a good shot as well. Coaches want a lot of creativity in this position —
and a lot of hockey smarts.
BASIC RULES
Each match is played in three 20 minute periods, with a 15 minute break between periods.
Each team can have a maximum of 20 players, including two goalkeepers.
Although only six players from each team can be on the ice at any one time, substitutions can
be made at any point (even during active play).
The puck is frozen before the game to reduce its bounce and to slide across the ice easier and
faster.
Goals are scored by striking the puck into the opposing team's net. However if an attacking
player deliberately kicks or strikes the puck with any part of the body (other than the stick)
into the net, the goal is disallowed.
There are only two principal rules in ice hockey – offside and icing.
Offside
Offside is a relatively simple concept. An attacking player isn't allowed to enter the
opposition's defending zone ahead of the puck - so keep an eye on the defence's blue line.
Icing
'Icing' is when a player strikes the puck from his own half across the opposition's goal line
(red) without it deflecting off another player (including a goalkeeper).
Face-off
Face-offs are used to start periods of play and to restart play (for example after a goal or after
an offside ruling).
Contact and Fighting
The rules are explicit when it comes to contact during play (although the speed of the game
can make it tough to apply).
Contact from the side and front is generally OK, though deliberate checking from behind
will usually result in a penalty.
Tripping and 'boarding' (causing another player to violently hit the rink's walls) are also
banned, as is the high use of the stick. Elbowing, charging and using the shaft of the stick to
check an opponent ('cross-checking') will also result in a penalty. Fighting (or 'roughing') is
subject to the most severe penalties, depending on who started the fight - a player who starts
'fisticuffs' is often dealt with more harshly than someone retaliating to another player's
punches.
Officials
The referees (red armband), linesmen (on the ice) and goal judges (behind each goal) are
concerned with offside and goal rulings. The main referee is in charge of the match and has
final decision on any matter.
Penalties range in severity from a minor penalty, which often results in as little as two minutes
off the ice for the offending player... up to being sent off for the balance of play (in the case of
Game Misconduct and Match penalties - e.g. for fighting).