THE HISTORY OF HOCKEY
Games similar to the hockey played today have been played for over 4000 years! Many ancient civilizations throughout the world have participated in hockey style games and watched live hockey in one version or another!
Tombs in the Nile Valley in Egypt contained drawings of men playing the game that were 4,000 years old! Other evidence has been found to show that the Persians, Romans and Aztecs as well as many others played a form of hockey!
The first proof discovered that the games were actually played with teams, was found at the base of statues which were part of a wall built by Themistocles in 478 B.C.
These statues depicted six men that had sticks with hooked ends. Two of the men were standing opposite each other with a ball laying in between them. No doubt, even then fans gathered to watch live hockey.
Europeans that settled in Argentina in the early 16th century described a game played by the Araucano Indians. The game was called chueca which means "the twisted one", named after the sticks they used.
Throughout the Middle Ages these games were played all over Europe. The Canerbury and Gloucester both have a type of hockey game depicted in their cathedral windows! A book entitled, Decretal of Gysors as well as many other artifacts have been found.
Edward III as well as Richard II once tried to ban these games from being played. They both felt that men playing the games or just there to watch live hockey should be spending the time practicing their archery skills.
During the 17th and early in the 18th centuries, the game took on a violent trait! Villages in England would challenge each other to games that could include as many as one hundred players on each team.
These games would last as long as a month and a half. And, because winning was a matter of manhood and pride, they became very violent and many villagers would be badly injured.
It is known that hockey was being played at English public schools as early as 1853. Lord Lytton wrote that it was an old fashioned game that was rarely played except at schools! The children's parents and family would attend to watch live hockey.
Blackheath, the first recorded hockey club was established in 1849 in London. The clubs game was played with rough sticks and they used a block of black rubber as the puck.
Over the years several more clubs formed, a hockey association was organized in 1886, but it only lasted for seven years. Seven of the hockey clubs throughout London joined together in 1886 to establish the Hockey Association.
The Blackheath club was among the original founding members. However, they wouldn't agree on the rules that were drawn up by other members and left. Blackheath formed the National Hockey Union although it later failed.
With help from the British Army the game found it's way to the British Empire late in the 19th century. This led to the very first international hockey competition that was held in 1895, the game ended with Ireland at 3 points and Wales at 0!
That same year the International Rules Board was established. Hockey made it's way into the Olympic Games in 1908, represented by three teams. By 1928, hockey had became a permanent addition to the Olympics. Thousands of people got to watch live hockey at the Olympics.
The International Hockey Federation was formed in 1924. The founding members included Belgium, France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. And, it's members have still continued to grow.
Although many of these games were referred to as field hockey, the games were played on ice when lakes, ponds or canals were frozen over. In a Dutch painting dating back to the 17th century, the towns people are playing a hockey game on a frozen canal while onlookers watch live hockey!
As Europeans immigrated to North America, they brought various types of hockey styled games with them. These games were played both in fields and on ice. According to a colonial newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia, avid hockey players continued to play through a snow storm!
While Sir John Franklin was on an Artic expedition in 1825 at Great Bear Lake. He wrote, "The game of hockey played on the ice was the morning sport".
However, the first records of a ice hockey game come from Canada.
In the mid 1850's, British soldiers that were stationed at Kingston and Hallifax played ice hockey.
The first known organized game of hockey that was played indoors is also attributed to Canada! The game was played on March 3, 1875 at Victoria skating Rink in Montreal. As always many fans attended the game to watch live hockey.
Team members consisted of several McGill University students. In 1877, McGill students drew up a set of seven hockey rules and founded the first ice hockey club, McGill University Hockey Club.
The first recorded hockey game played by women was around 1890, researchers are a little unsure of the exact date. But, the game was played in Ontario.
By 1893, Montreal was home to close to 100 hockey teams and there were hockey leagues across Canada. This was also the first year that the U.S. had ice hockey competitions, they were at Yale University and Johns Hopkins.
The Governor General of Canada, Lord Stanley of Preston, got to watch live hockey at the Montreal Winter Carnival. In seeing that there wasn't any recognition for the winning team, he bought a decorative bowl to be given as a trophy.
This bowl was called the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, it later was renamed and became the highly sought after Stanley Cup! Canada's champion amateur hockey team was first awarded the cup in 1893, and to this day the Stanley Cup is still being awarded to the championship team of the National Hockey League!
College athletes from Canada and the U.S. competed in the first international series in 1895. The Canadian's won all four of the hockey games that were played!
The very first known league of professional hockey teams was formed in 1904. It included five teams from the United States and Ontario, but the league only lasted through three seasons.
Ice Hockey made it's way into the Summer Olympic Games in 1920. The Canadian's won again and it was proclaimed the first World Ice Hockey Championship!
The National Hockey League was formed in 1917 in Canada. The league faced many struggles during the first decade, but the NHL teams have always been very successful on the ice!
There had only been one time, in 1925 when a team that didn't belong to the NHL won the Stanley Cup. And, by 1926 the NHL had became the only league that competed for the cup.
Today the NHL has 30 teams from both Canada and the United States. In 1924, the Boston Bruins became the first U.S. team to join the NHL.
The National Women's Hockey League was formed in 1999. It has since quickly became the world's highest level of women's hockey. And, gave women the recognition they deserved on the ice.
The rules that were established in the 1870's have changed very little in today's hockey. The most notable change has been in the amount of players on the field at the same time. The sport has become the fourth most popular sport in the world!
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