Where did ice hockey come from. The Origins and Evolution of Ice Hockey: From Ancient Games to Modern Sport

Where did ice hockey originate. How did the modern game of ice hockey develop. What role did Canada play in shaping ice hockey. When was the first organized ice hockey game played. How did ice hockey spread globally.

The Ancient Roots of Ice Hockey

The exact origins of ice hockey remain shrouded in mystery, with various theories tracing its ancestry back to ancient civilizations. Some historians point to stick-and-ball games played in ancient Greece and Egypt as possible precursors. Others suggest a connection to the Irish game of hurling. However, the earliest concrete evidence of a hockey-like game comes from a 16th-century painting depicting people playing with sticks on ice.

Phil Pritchard, curator at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, notes, “There’s a painting in the 1500s of people playing something on ice that looks like hockey. They even had sticks.” This tantalizing glimpse into the past suggests that the basic concept of ice hockey may have existed for centuries before its modern incarnation.

Early European Predecessors

Several European games from the 17th and 18th centuries bear similarities to modern ice hockey:

• “Chamiare” or shinty: A stick-and-ball game played on ice in early 1600s Scotland
• Bandy: Played on ice in mid-1700s England, particularly on the eastern plains

Bandy spread to London and eventually made its way to eastern Canada in the 1850s, brought by British soldiers. Concurrently, Native Americans in Canada were playing a similar game, further contributing to the melting pot of influences that would shape ice hockey.

The Etymology of “Hockey”

The term “hockey” has an interesting linguistic history. According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, the earliest known written reference to the word appears in a 1773 English book titled “Juvenile Sports and Pastimes.” However, it’s possible that the term was in use even earlier.

By the 1840s, British newspapers were already referring to hockey played on ice. An 1842 Scottish newspaper report even describes a tragic incident during a hockey game on a frozen canal, highlighting the sport’s growing popularity and the risks associated with playing on natural ice.

Royal Endorsement

The game’s status was further elevated when, in 1864, the Prince of Wales participated in a hockey match on a lake with a London skating club. A contemporary newspaper account describes the event: “The game was kept up with great animation until 2 o’clock, when the prince and the players repaired to the Fishing Temple, where they partook of a sumptuous luncheon.” This royal engagement undoubtedly helped to boost the sport’s profile in British society.

The Birth of Organized Ice Hockey

While informal games of ice hockey had been played for decades, the sport’s official birth is often traced to a specific event. According to the International Ice Hockey Federation, the first organized ice hockey game took place on March 3, 1875, in Montreal, Canada. This match featured two nine-man teams from the Victoria Skating Club.

However, Phil Pritchard of the Hockey Hall of Fame suggests that organized games may have been played earlier in the century in both Canada and the United States. This underscores the difficulty in pinpointing a single “birth” moment for a sport that evolved gradually over time.

Early Equipment and Rules

The 1875 Montreal game introduced some key innovations that would shape the future of ice hockey:

• Use of a flat, wooden block instead of a ball
• Goalposts (referred to as “flags”) placed 8 feet apart

The Montreal Star’s report on the game noted its similarity to lacrosse in terms of scoring, but also compared it to the “old country game of shinty.” This blend of influences would continue to shape ice hockey as it developed into a distinct sport.

Canada’s Crucial Role in Shaping Modern Ice Hockey

While ice hockey did not originate in Canada, the country played a pivotal role in developing and popularizing the modern version of the sport. In the late 19th century, Canada became the epicenter of ice hockey’s evolution, with organized leagues forming and rules being standardized.

Canadian innovations that became global standards include:

1. The size of the net
2. The number of players on ice (six per team, including a goaltender)
3. The use of a rubber puck instead of a wooden block or ball

These Canadian rules were eventually adopted worldwide, cementing the country’s influence on the sport. Canada’s dominance in ice hockey was further demonstrated when its team won the first hockey world championship at the 1920 Winter Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.

The Rise of Professional Ice Hockey

The formation of the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1917 marked a significant milestone in ice hockey’s history. Initially comprised of four Canadian teams, the NHL expanded to include American teams, starting with the Boston Bruins in 1924.

Over the past century, the NHL has established itself as the world’s premier professional hockey league, attracting top talent from around the globe and helping to spread the popularity of ice hockey far beyond its Canadian and American heartlands.

Why did the NHL become so successful?

The NHL’s success can be attributed to several factors:

• High level of play, attracting the world’s best players
• Strong fan base in hockey-loving regions of North America
• Effective marketing and promotion of the sport
• Expansion into new markets, both within North America and internationally
• Adaptation to changing times, including rule modifications to enhance the game’s appeal

Global Spread and Olympic Recognition

As ice hockey gained popularity in North America, it also began to spread to other parts of the world. The sport’s inclusion in the Olympic Games played a crucial role in its global expansion. Ice hockey made its Olympic debut at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, before becoming a staple of the Winter Olympics from 1924 onwards.

The international growth of ice hockey led to the formation of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in 1908. This body has been instrumental in promoting the sport worldwide and organizing international competitions.

Key Milestones in Ice Hockey’s Global Expansion

• 1908: Formation of the IIHF
• 1920: First Olympic ice hockey tournament (Summer Olympics)
• 1924: Ice hockey becomes part of the inaugural Winter Olympics
• 1954: First IIHF World Championship held separately from the Olympics
• 1972: Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union, showcasing the sport’s global competitiveness

Controversies and Competing Claims

While Canada is widely recognized as the birthplace of modern ice hockey, other countries have made claims to the sport’s invention. In 1949, a Soviet magazine asserted that ice hockey was invented and perfected in Russia in the mid-19th century. However, these claims are generally regarded as dubious by hockey historians.

The debate over ice hockey’s origins highlights the complex nature of sport evolution. Like many popular games, ice hockey likely developed through a combination of influences from various stick-and-ball games played across different cultures and regions.

Why is it difficult to determine the exact origins of ice hockey?

Several factors contribute to the challenge of pinpointing ice hockey’s precise origins:

• Lack of comprehensive historical records
• Similarity to other stick-and-ball games
• Gradual evolution of rules and equipment
• Simultaneous development in multiple regions
• National pride leading to competing claims

The Legacy of Ice Hockey

Today, ice hockey stands as one of the world’s most popular winter sports, with a rich history and a bright future. From its murky origins in ancient stick-and-ball games to its current status as a global phenomenon, ice hockey has undergone a remarkable evolution.

The sport’s legacy is evident in its passionate fan base, the skill and athleticism of its players, and its cultural significance in countries like Canada, where it holds the status of a national sport. As ice hockey continues to grow and adapt in the 21st century, it remains true to its roots as an exciting, fast-paced game that captures the imagination of millions around the world.

How has ice hockey impacted culture beyond the rink?

Ice hockey’s influence extends far beyond the confines of the rink:

• Cultural icon status in countries like Canada and Russia
• Inspiration for literature, film, and other forms of art
• Development of youth programs promoting physical fitness and teamwork
• Economic impact through professional leagues, merchandise, and tourism
• Diplomatic tool, as seen in events like the Summit Series

As we look to the future, ice hockey continues to evolve, embracing new technologies, adapting to changing social norms, and expanding into new markets. The sport’s rich history and enduring appeal ensure that it will remain a beloved pastime for generations to come, while its origins serve as a fascinating study in the development of modern sports.

Who Invented Hockey? | HISTORY

Its true origins are murky. But Canada, beginning in the 19th century, gets credit for modernizing—and popularizing—the game we know today.

By: John Banks

Published: April 22, 2022

A very early Greek depiction of a stick-and-ball game that might have been a precursor to hockey. (DEA/G. Nimatallah/De Agostini/Getty Images)

The origins of ice hockey may date to stick-and-ball games played during the Middle Ages or even ancient Greece and Egypt. Some believe the game evolved from the ancient Irish game of hurling. But ice hockey’s beginnings—like those of many other sports—remain murky.

“There’s a painting in the 1500s of people playing something on ice that looks like hockey,” says Phil Pritchard, curator at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. “They even had sticks.”

The modern sport’s closest ancestor may be “chamiare,” or shinty—a stick-and-ball game played on ice in the early 1600s in Scotland.  In the mid-1700s, a game called bandy was played on ice on the eastern plains of England. In the winter, players competed with iron skates on ice that formed on the flooded meadows and elsewhere. That game spread to London and then in the 1850s to eastern Canada, where it was played by British soldiers. In the 19^th century, Native Americans in Canada played a similar game.

Where Did the Name ‘Hockey’ Come From?

Universal History Archive/Getty Images

Winter river scene&nbsp;<em>with skaters, horse-drawn sled and people playing a version of ice hockey</em>, c. 1660.

The term “hockey,” according to The Canadian Encyclopedia, can be traced to a 1773 book published in England called Juvenile Sports and Pastimes. But the name may pre-date this earliest known reference. A version of the game played on ground—field hockey—evolved during the period, too.

In Great Britain, newspapers as early as the 1840s referenced hockey played on ice. A Scottish newspaper reported in 1842 about a fatality during a hockey game involving about 20 participants skating on a canal: “[T]he ice suddenly broke in, and several were immersed, but rescued, except [an] unfortunate lad.”

In 1864, the Prince of Wales played hockey on a lake with a London skating club. “The game was kept up with great animation until 2 o’clock,” a London newspaper reported, “when the prince and the players repaired to the Fishing Temple, where they partook of a sumptuous luncheon.”

In 1949, a magazine in the Soviet Union claimed the sport was invented and perfected in Russia in the mid-19^th century. But those claims may be dubious.

The First Organized Hockey Game

The first organized ice hockey game, according to the International Ice Hockey Federation, was played on March 3, 1875, between two teams of nine men each from Montreal’s Victoria Skating Club. But there’s evidence organized games were played earlier in the century in Canada and the United States, Pritchard says.

In the 1875 game, the teams played using a flat, wooden block—a cousin of the modern puck made of vulcanized rubber—“so that it should slide along the ice without rising, and thus going among spectators to their discomfort,” the Montreal Star reported. Previously, the game often was played with a wooden or rubber ball.

Added The Star about the first game: “The game is like Lacrosse in one sense—the block having to go through flags placed about 8 feet apart in the same manner as the rubber ball—but in the main the old country game of shinty gives the best idea of hockey.”

By 1899, ice hockey had become popular in northeastern United States. “[W]ith no special attempt to reach the sport-loving element, it has advanced steadily, numbering its enthusiasts by thousands last winter, where two seasons ago they could hardly have been counted by hundreds,” the Montreal Gazette reported about the interest in the New York City area.

Canada Becomes Epicenter of Ice Hockey

Allsport/Hulton Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The Canadian ice hockey team scoring during the final game in which they beat the United States 6-1 to take the gold medal during the 1924 Olympics. &nbsp;

Although ice hockey did not originate in Canada, it became one of the country’s national sports. In the late 19^th century, organized leagues formed in Canada, where rules for the sport evolved—including the size of the net and number of players on ice at one time (six per team with a goaltender). Canadian rules, including the use of a rubber puck, eventually were adopted worldwide.

In 1920, a team from Canada won the first hockey world championship, held at the Winter Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.

In 1917, the National Hockey League formed with four Canadian teams. In 1924, the Boston Bruins became the first American team in the NHL, which has expanded several times over the years.

For more than 100 years, the NHL has been the world’s preeminent professional hockey league. The NHL even awards its Eastern Conference champion the Prince of Wales trophy, a nod to that 19^th-century royal ice hockey competitor.

READ MORE: ‘Miracle on Ice’: When the US Olympic Hockey Team Stunned the World

Origin Overview – The Birthplace of Hockey

Quotes Prove Ice Hockey’s Origin by Garth Vaughan © 1999

Garth Vaughan, Author

Windsor, N. S., Canada

“Facts do not cease to exist simply because they are ignored.” – Aldous Leonard Huxley

Ice Hockey is a Canadian game. It’s as Canadian as the Maple Leaf. “Go west, young man”, was the advice of wise men to the youth of the Maritimes as Canada began to develop. They should have added, “And don’t forget to look back!”, for had they done so, Canadians wouldn’t still be searching for the Birthplace of Hockey.

Town of Windsor Nova Scotia circa 1836

It would have been obvious that our national winter sport began and developed as the nation did, and in the same direction, from east to west. Ice Hockey, the fastest and most exciting winter game in the world, got its start on the east coast, in Windsor, Nova Scotia. After developing for seventy-five years in Nova Scotia, it began to spread to the west coast; a trip which was to take an amazing fifteen years.

Ice Hockey was not invented, nor did it start on a certain day of a particular year. It originated around 1800, in Windsor, where the boys of Canada’s first college, King’s College School, established in 1788, adapted the exciting field game of Hurley to the ice of their favorite skating ponds and originated a new winter game, Ice Hurley. Over a period of decades, Ice Hurley gradually developed into Ice Hockey.

A man who is still North America’s most quoted author, Thomas Chandler Haliburton, born in Windsor in 1796, told of King’s boys playing “hurley on the ice” when he was a young student at the school around 1800. This is the earliest reference in English literature of a stick-ball game being played on ice in Canada. Haliburton, who wrote the first history of Nova Scotia, was the first Canadian to acquire international acclaim as a writer, and the account of his recollection is therefore of great significance.

Soon after the boys of King’s College School adapted Hurley to the ice, the soldiers at Fort Edward, in Windsor, took up the new game. They carried the game to Halifax, where it gained impetus as it was played on the many and beautiful Dartmouth Lakes, and frozen inlets of Halifax Harbour.

The development of Ice Hurley into Ice Hockey during the 19th Century is chronicled in the newspapers of Nova Scotia.

To quote Thomas H. Raddall, a noted Nova Scotia historical novelist: “When the soldiers were transferred to military posts along the Saint Lawrence and Great Lakes, they took the game with them; and for some time afterwards continued to send to Dartmouth Indians for the necessary sticks.” As would be expected, coincident with the evolution of the game of Ice Hockey, the basic rules and the equipment with which the game was first played also developed in Nova Scotia – wooden pucks; one-piece sticks made by the native Mi’kmaq carvers and world-famous Starr “hockey” skates. When the game was introduced to Montreal in 1875, The Starr Manufacturing Company of Halifax and Dartmouth held the 1866 American and Canadian patents on Starr Hockey Skates, and the Mi’kmaq carvers of Nova Scotia were the undisputed national masters of carving one-piece ironwood hockey sticks. Not only did the Montreal players use Nova Scotia “hockey”skates, “hockey” sticks, and Halifax “Hockey” Club Rules as they learned how to play the game, they were also taught by a “hockey” coach from Halifax by the name of James George Aylwin Creighton. Later Nova Scotian contributions to the game would be the “hockey” net, the position of “rover” and the “forward pass”.

Over the years, the origin of the game has been misunderstood all across the nation and false claims have been made of the game beginning in both Kingston, Ontario and Montreal. These were based on faulty information which resulted from incomplete research. Decades earlier, people knew from whence the game had come.

Dr. A.H. Beaton, secretary of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1898, told the country in a national publication, the ‘Canadian Magazine’, that “Nearly twenty years ago hockey, as a scientific sport, was introduced into Upper Canada from Nova Scotia, the latter being the indisputable home in Canada of this game.”

The roots of the game apparently were lost in the intervening years leading up to the 1940s, because in 1943 when the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association accepted the report of a research committee charged with determining the origin of Ice Hockey, and named Kingston(1886) as the Birthplace of Hockey, an error was made, inasmuch as the committee members had not looked back to Montreal(1875) where the game was played eleven years earlier, let alone further east to Nova Scotia(1800) where it began eight decades before. Had they checked newspapers in the public archives, they easily would have determined that Windsor is the birthplace, and Nova Scotia is the growth-place of the game.

The so-called ‘Kingston Claim’ was based on a game played in 1886 between the Royal Military College and Queen’s University. George Munro Grant, a native of Nova Scotia’s Pictou County was the principal of Queen’s University at that time. For the previous fourteen years he had been preaching at Saint Matthew’s church in Halifax. Dr. Grant would have been acutely aware of the origin of the game of Ice Hockey and the game’s equipment in Nova Scotia.

To further solidify the Nova Scotia connection to the spread of Ice Hockey, it should be pointed out that the young men of RMC were first introduced to the game in 1884, when Cadet #149, Roddy McColl, arrived from New Glasgow. McColl is credited by RMC students with teaching them the game, with hockey sticks and hockey skates brought from Nova Scotia. He acted as Goal Judge in the first Queen’s-R. M.C. games. In an interview in 1936, he stated, “The Nova Scotia boys defeated Kingston in hockey.”

The Kingston Claim cited “Shinny” ( a Scottish field game actually called “Shinty”) as having been played in Kingston as early as 1855. Shinty was played in other places at the same time, including Nova Scotia. Shinty, although ‘Ice Hockey-related’, did not develop into Ice Hockey.

Captain James Sutherland of Kingston, Ontario, who did much to develop Ice Hockey in Ontario, was President of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1943 when a committee was formed to study the origin of the game. Along with journalist and hockey reporter Billy Hewitt, father of famous Hockey Broadcaster Foster Hewitt, and a friend named George Slater of Montreal, Sutherland’s committee of three was not long in presenting its findings based on flimsy evidence, that Kingston was the birthplace of Ice Hockey. The C.A.H.A. accepted the report and thus gave birth to the “Kingston Myth”. Later in life, when he was reminded that the sticks used to play the first games in Kingston had been sent up from Halifax, Captain James Sutherland conceded that the Nova Scotia capital preceded most centres in playing the game. “Otherwise, why send to Halifax for sticks?”, he commented.

Mr. J. C. Beauchamp of Montreal, while preparing to write a book on hockey history in 1940, wrote to Creighton’s Limited of Halifax, distributors of hand-made “Mic Mac” sticks to Upper Canadian hockey clubs: “The making of the first sticks has a most important bearing on the origin and early development of hockey. It may also settle the old controversy as to whether Halifax or Montreal was the birthplace of the game.”

John Regan, a journalist of Halifax who wrote a book “First Things In Acadia – The Birthplace Of A Continent”, in 1936, wrote to Captain Sutherland in 1943 concerning the birthplace controversy with the following interesting remarks. “You probably agree that any account of this national sport should be as complete as possible. Hockey on ice had been second nature with Maritimes, records show, long, it seems before the game became common in centralist communities. Actually, in 1867, Montreal and Toronto vigorously promoted lacrosse as Canada’s national game and sent organizers to the Maritimes and Britain. The Indian game was languidly taken up here; typically tried on skates. Misstatements by Central magazines and broadcasts are quite common but unfortunately there is a tendency to refuse to make corrections. In fact, you can verify that for years, 1860-1890 and after, that thousands of pairs of skates and hundreds of bundles of Indian-made hockey sticks were regularly shipped from Dartmouth, Halifax, and Saint John to sporting goods houses in New England, Montreal, and Toronto for local distribution. Mainly because ice sports in these regions were relatively in infancy, so to speak, and manufacturing had been long overlooked. Hockey or Hurley did not start in the Maritimes at Confederation, but long before.”

Elmer Fergusson, Montreal sports writer and radio sports commentator in the 1940s: “After probing into Maritime Hockey Lore”, he wrote, ” I am satisfied that ice hockey really began in Nova Scotia.”

Foster Hewitt, noted pioneer hockey broadcaster, wrote in his book Down the Ice, in 1936: “Like other evidences of early hockey, it is difficult to confirm the testimony, but it is generally believed that when the young men in Kingston played their early games, the sticks had been imported from Halifax and Montreal. ”

William Kerr, of Montreal, who played for Queen’s University’s first hockey team in 1886, commenting on their hockey sticks which were imported from Nova Scotia for the games, said they were “simply wonderful sticks…such beauties that they were…made of small trees, planed down, with roots for blades; warranted irresistible by any shin!” Kerr went on to explain that an order was sent to the Nova Scotia capital for sticks. What cadet Kerr and others did not know, was that the sticks were not made in the city but were merely distributed from there by the Starr Manufacturing Company and others, which bought them from the Mi’kmaq carvers in Tuft’s Cove, Millbrook, Shubenacadie, Guysborough, and the Annapolis Valley native communities. Starr later produced “Mic Mac” brand sticks which were popular across the country into the 1930s.

J.W. (Bill) Fitsell, hockey historian from Kingston, Ontario, said that Cadet Kerr of the original R.M.C. team ” gave an important clue to hockey history when he reported that some of the senior cadets remembered that Halifax made ‘simply wonderful sticks. ‘” J.W. (Bill) Fitsell, also stated in his 1987 book on hockey history entitled Hockey’s Captains, Colonels and Kings, (The Boston Mills Press), “The three Queen’s – R.M.C. matches, 1886-1888, which followed the first Montreal games by a decade, were of historic significance to the new ice sport. They brought together players from two areas of Canada, Halifax and Montreal, where hockey originated and developed, and also from the two centres where it first spread, Quebec and Ottawa, and produced dedicated players who were dispersed to other non-playing centres throughout North America.”

The C.A.H.A.’s unfortunate 1943 decision to cite Kingston as the Birthplace of Hockey was not based on sound historical fact and was immediately challenged from Montreal and Nova Scotia.

E. M. Orlick, the Assistant Physical Director of McGill University knew that Ice Hockey had been played in Montreal in 1875, eleven years before the Kingston game. Commenting on the C. A.H.A. Committee Report of 1943 which supported the Kingston Claim, Orlich wrote, “No amount of eyewash, backwash, or whitewash can convince any individual, who has seen the evidence in my possession, that Kingston has even the slightest shred of an historical claim, either to the origin of ice hockey, or the proposed Hockey Hall of Fame.” In his article, published in the McGill News, he made a case for the game having started at McGill on the basis that some of the players in that 1875 game were McGill students. That in no way gives McGill a right to a claim, for McGill had neither a team nor an ice rink at the time. The fact is, that the first “organized” hockey game played in Montreal was between teams representing the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA) Football Team and the Victoria Skating Club. It was two years after the fact, in 1877, that McGill formed it’s first hockey team.

When Orlich claimed that Ice Hockey started in Montreal in 1875, he may not have realized that it had been played in Nova Scotia for decades before that time. Also, he may not have realized for he never mentioned that a Nova Scotian, one James George Aylwin Creighton, the world’s first “hockey export”, and first hockey coach, had taken the game from Nova Scotia to Montreal and taught it to members of the two teams that played the city’s first game on March 3, 1875, at the Victoria Skating Rink.

Orlich’s article even stated that “there are no records available pertaining to any earlier games” than the 1875 match.

The Boston Evening Gazette, sixteen years earlier, in 1859, printed a story about Winter Sports in Nova Scotia, which told of “hockey” being played in Nova Scotia. Creighton was but nine years old at the time, attending the Halifax Grammar School, practicing figure skating and learning about Ice Hockey which was developing from Ice Hurley at the time. Nova Scotia newspapers of the era had chronicled the evolution of the game during the entire period.

Creighton moved to Montreal from Dalhousie University in Halifax in 1872, taught the game to new friends from then until they played in public in 1875. In fact, the first games in Montreal were played under “Halifax Hockey Club Rules“.

Creighton never did play hockey for McGill, as Orlich, and others since him, would have us believe. It was after Creighton had established Ice Hockey with the Victoria Skating Club and MAAA clubs of Montreal that he enrolled at McGill in 1877 to earn a law degree. Soon thereafter he moved to Ottawa, became Law Clerk to the Senate and, in 1884, began playing hockey with senators, parliamentarians and aides de camp, as well as William and Edward Stanley, the sons of the Governor General of the day. Their team was called the Rideau Hall Rebels and did much to popularize the game in Ontario. Henry Joseph, in an interview in Montreal in 1936 shed great light on the game’s origin. A noted Montreal athlete who played football with Creighton for the MAAA and also played with him in Montreal’s first hockey game in 1875, said that “J. G. A. Creighton was the leading spirit in the introduction of hockey into Montreal” and added that he “could not recall seeing hockey sticks in Montreal before that time, nor anybody playing hurley or shinny on skates“. Finally, Joseph said that “to Creighton should go the credit for the origin of ice hockey in Montreal”.

Dr. C.Bruce Fergusson, Nova Scotia provincial archivist, writing in the Nova Scotia Journal of Education in 1965, concerning ‘Montreal’s Claim’, had this to say: “If Halifax Rules were used in the first game of ‘true ice hockey’, which was played in Montreal in 1875, was it not reasonable to infer that those rules were evolved on ice, not solely on paper, in Halifax?”

Timothy “Ted” Graham, Maritime Champion Amateur Skater of 1887, in a letter written to the Halifax Herald in 1943, concerning the origin of the game, stated simply, “Nova Scotia is the birthplace of hockey, not Ontario.”

William Gill, a scenic artist of Halifax who played hockey on the North West Arm before 1872, said they used : “‘Micmac’ sticks purchased from the Indians at the Halifax Green Market.”

“Old Joe” Cope, highly respected Mi’kmaq historian, hockey stick carver, noted musician, boxer and native elder story teller, moved about the province keeping in touch with members of his Mi’kmaq Nation. In 1943, on reading that Kingston was making a claim to being the birthplace of hockey, wrote to the editor of the Halifax Herald from his home on the reservation at Millbrook, N.S., “Long before the pale faces strayed to this country, the Micmacs were playing two ball games, a field game and an ice game.” The Dictionary of the Mi’kmaq tells that their original ball game was called Oochamkunutk. When they began playing hurley on ice with white men, they called it Alchamadyk.

Rev. J.A. (Jock) Davidson, resident of Kingston, Ontario, commented in a paper he wrote in 1976, “The first organized hockey games played here (Kingston) are shrouded by both the mist of history and the fog of local mythology.”

Dr. Sandy Young, professor of sports history at Dalhousie University, in his book, Beyond Heroes, “The facts lead to one conclusion: While it is true that very primitive forms of hockey-like games are centuries old, THE HOME OF CANADIAN HOCKEY IS NOVA SCOTIA. Other claims cannot be supported by the evidence available.”

Brian McFarlane, host of Hockey Night in Canada for 27 years, hockey historian, and author of a host of books on Ice Hockey, told The Hants Journal of Windsor Nova Scotia, “In all of my years of doing research into the origins of the game, I have never seen anything documented in print about the first games of hurley on ice or hockey until I saw Windsor’s evidence that Thomas Chandler Haliburton recorded regarding the game being played by students of King’s College School on Long Pond circa 1800. No place in Canada is there written evidence of the game being played any earlier, and since hockey developed from hurley on ice in Nova Scotia, until there is such evidence, I endorse and support the claim of Windsor, Nova Scotia to the birthplace of the wonderful game of hockey.”

Scott Russell, Dec. 2000: Co-Host of CBC Hockey Night in Canada and author of ICE TIME: “The birth of hockey actually started at King’s College School around 1800. The boys wanted to adapt the Irish game of Field Hurley to an ice game in the winter months.”

Garth Vaughan, Dec. 2000: Hockey Historian, and author of The Puck Starts Here – The origin of Canada’s great winter game, Ice Hockey: “While Ice Hockey is as Canadian as the Maple Leaf, it is also as Nova Scotian as the Bluenose and the mayflower.”

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ROOTS OF WORLD HOCKEY | Budgetary institution of the Chuvash Republic of additional education “Sports School No. 4”

Hockey, as one of the most popular and visual games, always attracts spectators and fans, as it is distinguished by brightness, excitement and uncompromising struggle. Otherwise, the popular and beloved song with such wonderful words would not have been born with such wonderful words: “Real men play hockey, a coward does not play hockey.” It is often used both before the game and during the breaks of hockey matches.

However, one should not perceive hockey only as a spectacle, hockey is not only crossed sticks, cracking boards and grinding ice under the cheers of the stands, hockey is also a long, delicate calculation, a game akin to chess, where the best players calculate their actions on the court three or four moves ahead.

There are several versions of the origin of hockey. Most experts say: various types of games on grass were the prototype of ice hockey. Hockey has been known since ancient Greece. This is evidenced by the image of hockey players on the bas-relief of the wall of Themistocles. It is believed that the name “hockey” comes from the old French word “hoke” (shepherd’s stick hook).

The first description of the game of field hockey dates back to 1330 and is given in an Italian manuscript.

Two centuries later, ice hockey originated in Holland. This is confirmed by the paintings of famous artists of the XVIII century. In particular, the painting by Romeik Huge “Portrait of a hockey player” is of great interest. The origin of ice hockey in Holland was facilitated by the widespread use of speed skating due to the appropriate natural conditions. Ice hockey took shape as a sport in Canada, but its “progenitors” were ball and stick games on ice, popular in Holland in the 16th and 17th centuries. Ice hockey, similar to modern bandy, was one of the favorite games of the Dutch. This is evidenced by numerous engravings and paintings by Dutch artists of that time.

At the end of the 17th and 18th centuries, interest in ice hockey declined significantly due to the long wars in Europe. And only in the second half of the XIX century. the game is becoming popular again. In England, the most widespread hockey “bandy” (bandy). And although Canada is considered the birthplace of modern ice hockey, the British turned out to be “guilty” of this. From Holland, ice hockey came to England, and from there to Canada.

Already in the 70s of the XIX century. ice hockey was included in the program of all winter sports holidays in Canada. The first hockey rules were formulated by students at the University of Montreal. The role of the gate began to be played by two stones on the ice, with the help of which the dimensions of the space into which the puck could be hammered were determined.

1875 (March 3). The first official hockey match took place in Montreal at the Victoria skating rink, the teams consisted of 9 people, the game was played with a wooden disc, and gates were also used.

1879 Canadian W.F. Robertson formulated the rules of hockey, first proposing to use a rubber puck for the game. The first official rules for the game of ice hockey were published in 1886. The Canadian R. Smith became the author of the new code of rules.

1886 The first international meeting was held between the Canadian and English teams (Canadians won). Championships began to be held annually, and the Stanley Cup was awarded to the winners.

In 1860, an English infantry regiment was sent to Canada, which included bandy hockey players. (Although prior to this, in Montreal newspapers for 1847, it is mentioned that complaints were received in the city court against young people who, at a public skating rink, “chased flat stones with sticks on ice”).

University students played a big role in spreading the game. Hockey was included in the program of all university sports holidays. In the winter of 1879/80. students at the University of Montreal for the first time formulated the rules of the game.

Due to favorable climatic conditions, hockey began to spread rapidly throughout Canada. In 1886, a code of hockey laws was drawn up. The team consisted of 7 field players (goalkeeper, front and back defenders, central and two wingers, as well as a rover (“robber”), who played ahead of the attackers along the entire front at the opponent’s goal). Substitutions were only allowed for the injured.

In 1890, the first hockey association was formed in the province of Ontario and the first championship was held.

In 1893, the Governor General of Canada, the British Lord Stanley, established a silver cup for the annual presentation of his best team.

1899 The world’s first indoor ice hockey stadium with a capacity of 10,000 spectators was built in Montreal. Organized Canadian Amateur Hockey League.

1900 Francis Nelson, a Canadian, invented a net for a gate made from a fishing net. It was an important innovation that forever closed the eternal question: was there a goal? The modern dimensions of hockey rinks (61×30 m) have been established. The game time was divided into 3 periods of 20 minutes. each, the composition of field players was reduced to 6, replacements began to be practiced.

In 1904, the first professional Sault Ste. Marie team was formed in Canada. It brought together the strongest players of that time, including Art Ross, whose name is given to the prize given today to the most productive hockey player in the NHL. In the same year, Canadians came to the conclusion that the ideal size for a hockey rink is 56 by 26 meters. To this day, NHL matches are played on such fields.

At the beginning of the 20th century, to increase speed, professionals began to play in teams of 6 field players. At 1910, the National Hockey Association (NHA) was created. In 1911, the Patrick brothers formed the West Coast Hockey Association (WCAH). In January 1912, the first HAZP match took place in Victoria. It went down in history as the first match on artificial ice.

The Patrick brothers introduced player numbers into hockey, programs for spectators, points not only for goals, but also for assists. In 1911, the Canadians began to play matches for 3 periods of 20 minutes. In 1917, the NHA disbanded. November 22 1917 years can be considered the date of birth of the NHL.

1914 Professional ice hockey clubs merged into the National Hockey League (NHL).

1908 Great Britain, Bohemia, Switzerland, France and Belgium founded the International Hockey Federation (LIHF, after 1979 – IIHF).

1920 was marked by the first meeting in the official tournament of the Olympic Games of the teams of the Old and New Worlds. Canadians once again confirmed their glory as the strongest. Canadians also won at the world championships 1924 and 1928

In 1936 Great Britain wins the Olympic title, taking it away from the Canadians, who have held it for 16 years.

1929 Montreal Maroons goaltender Clint Benedict wore a mask for the first time, and goaltenders were allowed to jump when trying to hit the puck.

1972 Creation of the World Hockey Association.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, hockey began its victorious march across Europe. 1898 is considered to be the year of the introduction of ice hockey in Sweden. Somewhat later it was transferred to France, Belgium, Switzerland. The spread of hockey was facilitated by playing on relatively small rinks. With the development of refrigeration technology, closed skating rinks began to be built everywhere, including in countries with a warm climate. At 1899 in Montreal was built the world’s first indoor stadium with artificial ice, accommodating 10,000 spectators. At the beginning of the twentieth century. The development of hockey in many countries has reached such proportions that it became necessary to create an international organization.

He eclipsed Bobrovsky himself in the NHL final.

Where did the unknown Canadian goalkeeper “Vegas” come from? Hill – June 12, 2023

In the dreams of most Russian fans, Florida should have won the Stanley Cup, and Sergei Bobrovsky should have become the playoff MVP. And it was not something naive or fantastic. Our goalkeeper played so powerfully in all three rounds leading up to the final that he could well have taken a swing at a new scalp in the form of Vegas. However, in the decisive series of the season, everything is going against Bob and his team so far.

But there was still a goalkeeper-hero in the final. His name is Edin Hill. At the end of the fourth game with the “Florida” goaltender “Vegas” set a historic achievement in the NHL playoffs. He became the first goaltender in NHL history to score 10 wins after not playing a game in the first round of the playoffs.

Actually, in all the matches of the final series, in which Hill conceded no more than two goals, his team won. Moreover, in these three matches, Edin invariably reflected at least 29 shots, becoming the main creator of victories. In the only game, the third in the series, the 27-year-old Canadian missed three goals and Vegas was forced to concede. It’s more of an exception than the rule.

Barbashev and Vegas are one step away from the Stanley Cup! Bobrovsky did not save “Florida” and lost the fourth match of the final

However, even before the final, Hill announced himself as loudly as possible. At some point, the Canadian goalkeeper’s winning streak reached five matches, thanks to which he repeated the achievement of his teammate Laurent Brossois, who started this playoffs as the team’s number one and also marked a five-game winning streak. Recall that during one of the matches of the series with the Edmonton Oilers, Brossois suffered a leg injury.

Thus, the goaltenders of “Vegas” repeated a rare achievement in the NHL playoffs 43 years ago. In 1980, Philadelphia Flyers goaltenders Phil Mayr and Pete Peters also went on a five-game winning streak in one playoff. Since then, none of the teammates-goalkeepers have been able to repeat such a result during one Stanley Cup.

Hill became Vegas’ starting goaltender after an incredible streak of injuries that plagued the Golden Knights from the start of the season. In fact, Edin himself ended up in the camp of future Stanley Cup finalists after it became known that Robin Lehner would miss the whole season, and Laurent Brossois would miss training camp. He came from San Jose, where he spent the previous championship under the guidance of Russian goalkeeping coach Evgeny Nabokov.

“And that’s when they started mating with each other…” How goalkeeper Lehner went bankrupt because of snakes

“I’ve never seen so many goalkeeper injuries. But each successive player did a great job throughout the year. We’re lucky in that, and that’s why we’re still playing. Everything is good in this regard. The position is important. At the beginning of the season, we had doubts about the operations that Robin Lehner had, and I was just getting to know the work. We also had Laurent Brossois, who had an operation and was supposed to return to the squad, but not immediately. We knew he would be back, but we didn’t know exactly when.”0090,” Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy said.

Hill was originally a back-up to his peer Logan Thompson, but he too was injured in February. In order not to be before the playoffs with a broken goaltender’s trough, the Knights traded the legendary Jonathan Quick from Los Angeles. They did not make a serious bet on the age-old American in Las Vegas. It was originally considered as a safety option. As a result, he did not play a single match in the playoffs, and in the final he sits behind Hill, who was not mentioned as a serious goalkeeper for several months.

Canadian name slow down the Russian genius? He practices yoga and is ready to beat Bobrovsky in his first playoff

However, it cannot be said that Hill is completely no-name. As a junior, he had the best save percentage in the Western Hockey League. In the draft, Arizona chose the almost two-meter Canadian in the third round. Not to say that it is very high, but in 2015 only four goalkeepers were chosen higher, including Ilya Samsonov. But the Coyotes did not really believe in Hill, keeping him mainly as the third goalkeeper. At some point, he was a direct competitor of Ivan Prosvetov. Now he is one step away from outplaying Sergei Bobrovsky himself.

Never in the history of the NHL has a Stanley Cup been won by a team trailing 1-3 in the final series. So the triumph of “Vegas” can be predicted now. Hill’s chances at Conn Smythe are also great. Much more intriguing is what kind of contract he will get in the summer and what the Golden Knights will do with their goaltenders. Yes, besides Hill, Quick and Brossois are running out of contracts, but Thompson is not going anywhere, and Lenar will most likely have to be redeemed. The management of the “knights” offered Edin to re-sign the contract in March. Of course, with a salary increase, which is a little more than $ 2 million. But he decided to wait until the end of the season. And acted wisely. Chuyka this guy is manifested not only in the gate. Now he can hit the jackpot.