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In 1872, a young man named James Creighton from Halifax, Nova Scotia moved to Montreal, bringing the sport of ice hockey along with him. In particular, he brought hockey sticks and skates. In 1875, Creighton organized a group of players to practice the sport indoors at the Victoria Skating Rink. There was the societal belief that hockey only belonged on outdoor ponds, mainly due to the danger of a ball flying around inside. Creighton’s solution to this problem was to create a flat, circular piece of wood, the very first hockey puck.
After practicing for a month, Creighton held a public exhibition of the sport on March 3, 1875. The first exhibition was played under Halifax Rules, where the puck couldn’t leave the ice, forward passing wasn’t allowed and the goalie couldn’t fall down or kneel to make saves. The official rules of hockey, known as the Montreal Rules, were created in 1877. These new rules included injured players being allowed to be replaced, team sizes being set at seven a side and the rink’s measurements being made a distinct standard.
Watching a match between the Montreal Victorias and the Amateur Athletic Association in 1889, Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, Governor General of Canada, fell in love with hockey and helped form a team, the Rideau Rebels, and a league, the Ontario Hockey Association. Stanley created the concept of a regional competition where the winner would receive a cup. This cup was originally known as the Dominion Challenge Trophy but is now more famously known as the Stanley Cup.
A professional hockey game consists of 3 periods of 20 minutes. The clock runs only when the puck is in play. Team change ends per period. If teams are tied in NHL regular season play, an overtime period of 5 minutes will be played under sudden death rules, and if still tied after overtime, teams will compete in a best-of-5 shootout. In the NHL postseason, there is no shootout nor sudden death rules and each overtime period is 20 minutes. Why not find toronto maple leafs tickets online so that you can see a real game in action for yourself!
Rules infractions lead to play stoppages and play is soon restarted at a face off. In most cases, the offending player who commits a penalty is sent to the “penalty box” and their team must play with one less player on the ice for a designated amount of time. Minor penalties are 2 minutes, major penalties are 5 minutes, and double minor penalties are 2 consecutive penalties of 2 minutes duration. Minor penalties include tripping, roughing, delay of game, hooking, slashing, high-sticking and too many players on the ice. Boarding penalties can either be minor or major at the discretion of the referee.
A penalty shot is awarded to a player when the illegal actions of another player stop a clear scoring opportunity. The obstructed player picks up the puck on the center red-line and will attempt to score on the goalie with no other players on the ice. Officials also stop play for puck movement violations, such as using one’s hands to pass the puck in the offensive end.
One key strategy that teams can implement in hockey would be to send an extra attacker onto the ice to substitute in place of the goaltender. This strategy is used to give the offense an advantage in potential scoring opportunities. This strategy is typically utilized in two situations; near the end of the game with about 60 to 90 seconds to go, or during a delayed penalty call against the opponent where that team has no chance to shoot the puck.
