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Essay on Ice Hockey

Decent Essays

Ice Hockey

I. History

Around 1820 the sport started to catch on among the visitors to the frozen lakes. People had played field hockey and another game in Europe for years, but this new version of the old sport required that it’s players put on skates. Using metal blades that could be strapped to their boots, the players would cut branches from trees to use as sticks; for pucks they would use round pieces of cork or wooden balls. In the 1870s, each team was made up of nine players skating at the same time, and body checking was not permitted. There were no substitutions, so players were expected to play the entire 60 minutes of the game.

By 1880, the game had begun to grow into the game we know today; teams were …show more content…

Play begins with a face-off, when the referee drops the puck between the opposing centers. Unlike most sports, player substitutions occur during play. A goal is scored when the puck is driven into the opponent's goal. A player who scores three goals in one game is said to have scored a hat trick. Games are divided into three 20-minute periods, and, if the score is tied, they proceed into an overtime period that varies under different sets of rules.

Penalties are assessed for various infractions, and the offending player is sent to a penalty box for two minutes for a minor infraction and five minutes for a major one. Teams may not substitute for their penalized players during the penalty, except during a misconduct penalty, which usually requires a player to spend ten minutes in the penalty box. No team can be at more than a two-player disadvantage at a time, and a team with a one- or two-player advantage is said to have the power play.

III. Playing Area

Ice hockey is played on an oval ice rink about 200 ft (about 61 m) long and about 85 ft (about 25.5 m) wide and enclosed by a board wall about 4 ft (about 1.2 m) high. Two goals, each 4 ft high and 6 ft (1.8 m) wide, are centered on goal lines at each end of the rink, not more than 15 ft (4 m) from the end wall. Two blue lines divide the playing area into three equal-sized zones: the

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