ICE HOCKEY

International ice hockey rink. Ice hockey requires two teams, each usually having six players, who wear ice skates, in play at a time. The object is to propel a vulcanized rubber disk, the puck, past a goal line and into a net guarded by a goaltender, or goalie. With its speed and its frequent physical contact, ice hockey has become one of the most popular of international sports. The game is an Olympic sport, and worldwide there are more than a million registered players performing regularly in leagues. It is perhaps Canada's most popular game. game played on ice by two teams, each composed of six players on skates. The players use sticks to hit a hard-rubber disk, called a puck, into their opponent's goal. Ice hockey is believed to have developed from a hockey-type game played by Micmac Indians and adopted by settlers who added elements of field hockey; this is alleged to have evolved into the game of shinty, which was played by British soldiers stationed in Canada during the 1860s. The first record of a puck, rather than a ball, being used was in 1860 at Kingston Harbour, Ont., and the first game with rules was played in 1875 between two student teams at McGill University in Montreal. The game thereafter spread quickly throughout Canada and the United States. The National Hockey League (NHL), organized in 1917, consists of professional teams in the United States and Canada. The annual Stanley Cup, which is the highest award in professional ice hockey, was first given in 189394 to the best Canadian team and since 1917 to the winner of the NHL play-offs. Ice hockey was made an event in the Winter Olympic Games in 1920, and in 1924 the Boston Bruins became the first U.S. team in the NHL. The World Hockey Association was founded in 1972 as a rival to the NHL, but in 1979 the two leagues were merged. A game consists of three 20-minute periods (overtime is used in the NHL and U.S. college games to resolve games that are tied at the end of regulation time; regular-season games may end in a tie if not resolved in overtime). Ice hockey is the only major sport in which substitution is allowed while the game is in play. Players are frequently substituted, rarely staying on the ice for more than two minutes. The goalies are the only exception, as it is their duty to protect the goal, from which they will only occasionally stray. Ice hockey is a very aggressive game, and players must wear protective equipment. The puck is often stripped from a player by means of a hit, or check, to the body. Many types of hits are illegal and draw penalties. For minor fouls the offending player is usually required to sit out two minutes of play, leaving his team shorthanded. If the opposing team scores a goal during a penalty, the penalized player comes back on the ice. This man-advantage situation is referred to as a power play. For more serious fouls a player usually must sit out for 5 or 10 minutes, but a substitute may be used except in cases of excessive violence. Additional reading The history of the game is presented in Brian McFarlane, 60 Years of Hockey: The Intimate Story Behind North America's Fastest, Most Exciting Sport: Complete Statistics and Records (1976); S. Kip Farrington, Jr., Skates, Sticks, and Men: The Story of Amateur Hockey in the United States (1971); Jay Greenberg, Frank Orr, and Gary Ronberg, NHL, the World of Professional Ice Hockey (1981), with profiles of players and discussion of strategy, great games, and the sport's eccentrics; Stan Fischler and Shirley Fischler, Everybody's Hockey Book (1983), analyzing the structure, organization, and rules of every level from NCAA and IIHF through NHL; and J.W. Fitsell, Hockey's Captains, Colonels, & Kings (1987), exploring the Canadian origins of the game and including many new research findings. See also National Hockey League, Official Guide & Record Book (annual). Stanley I. Fischler Shirley W. Fischler Ice hockey clothing Defensemen and forwards wear the same protective equipment underneath their uniforms. A goaltenders uniform may weigh 40 pounds (18 kg) more after the addition of leather guards on the legs, thicker padding around the chest and shoulder areas, special gloves, a mouth guard, and a face mask. Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. ice hockey Ice hockey equipment The equipment shown is used by defensemen and forwards. Goaltenders use a skate with a flatter blade and a hockey stick with a wider blade and a shaft that widens near the heel. Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. ice hockey Ice hockey goal area. Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. ice hockey skiing marathon skate layoutInternational ice hockey rink. Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. ice hockey Play of the game Rink and equipment International ice hockey rink. NHL hockey is typically played on a standard-sized rink shaped like a round-cornered rectangle that is 200 feet (61 metres) long and 85 feet (26 metres) wide. International rinks are usually 184200 feet by 8598 feet (see illustration), and U.S. college rinks are typically 200 feet by 100 feet. The goal cage is 4 feet (1.2 metres) high and 6 feet (1.8 metres) wide. Any shot that completely clears the goal line, a 2-inch- (5-cm-) wide stripe on the ice across the front of the cage, is a goal. In front of the goal is the crease, a semicircular area that corresponds to a circle with a 6-foot radius, demarcated by a red line. When the goalie is in the crease no attacking player may enter unless the puck is there as well; if the goalie is not in the crease, however, anyone may enter. The blue lines that divide the ice into three zones are 60 feet (18 metres) out from the goal line and are painted across the width of the ice. The area between the blue lines is called the neutral zone. This zone is bisected by the red centre line. Virtually all equipmentfor children, amateurs, or professionalsis the same. Made of vulcanized rubber, the puck is 1 inch3 inches (2.5 cm7.6 cm) and weighs 5.5 to 6 ounces (156 to 170 grams). Hockey sticks, once made from wood, are now formed from a variety of materials. Rules are enforced limiting the size of the stick and the curvature of its blade. Forwards and defensemen wear the same type of skates, but goaltenders have flatter blades because they need more balance and are stationary for longer periods. The shoes of goaltenders' skates are fitted with rubber protection for the toes. Players wear padding under their uniforms to protect legs, shoulders, and arms. Since 197980 all players entering the NHL must wear helmets; helmets and face masks are mandatory in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and IIHF play. The goaltender wears a specially designed mask (often molded to the contours of his face) with a plastic guard that protects the throat area. Over his uniform a goalie wears extra equipment. Pads up to 11 inches (25.4 cm) wide protect him from the tips of his skates to above his knees. They not only afford protection but also aid in blocking shots. On his free hand the goalie wears a glove similar to a first baseman's baseball mitt, with a wide webbing that enables him to catch the puck. The stick hand is encased in a glove with a wide backing that protects his arm. The goalie's stick has a wider shaft and blade than those of the other players. Fully dressed, goaltenders carry up to 40 pounds (18 kg) of equipment. Rules and principles of play The modern game on every levelamateur, collegiate, international, and professionalhas been influenced largely by the NHL. Checkingbody contact to take an opponent out of playis permitted anywhere on the ice. In most leagues, including the NHL, players may not make or take a pass that has traveled over a red line and a blue line; if this occurs, the play is ruled offside. A face-off, in which an official drops the puck between opposing players, follows the infraction. In hockey competition that has no red line, an offside infraction involves a pass that has traveled across the two blue lines. Face-offs are held at the point of the infraction. Players who precede the puck into the attacking zone also are ruled offside, and a face-off is held at a face-off spot near the attacking blue line. A face-off also begins each period and is used as well after a goal and after any stoppage of play. The goalie rarely leaves his goal area. The usual alignments of the other five players are three forwardsthe centre, a left wing, and a right wingand two defensemena left defenseman and a right defenseman. A player may handle the puck as often or as long as he likes, so long as he does not close his glove on the puck or touch the puck with a stick that is higher than shoulder level. A player may not pass the puck with his open hand. The goalie, however, is generally not subject to these restrictions. The game is divided into three periods of 20 minutes playing time each, with a 15-minute intermission between periods. Hockey games may end in a tie unless the rules stipulate an overtime period to serve as a tiebreaker. In the case of a tie in college hockey one 10-minute sudden-death overtime period is played in regular season play. NHL teams play a five-minute sudden-death overtime period. During the play-offs college hockey has 10-minute overtime periods until there is a winner, while the NHL has the same system with 20-minute periods. There is generally no overtime period in international hockey; however, since 1994 Olympic competition has had a 10-minute sudden-death period followed by, if needed, a shootout. In organized ice hockey a victory is worth two points in the standings; a tie is worth one. A goal counts as a point for the team, but individual points may be awarded to as many as three players for one goal. One point goes to the player who scored the goal, and a point is awarded for an assist to each of the last two of the scorer's teammates who touched the puck, providing that the opposition did not handle the puck in the interim. Of the major sports ice hockey is the only one in which substitutions are permitted while the game is in play. The game is so fast and so demanding that forwards generally skate only 90 seconds at a time. Defensemen usually stay on the ice for a slightly longer period of time. Because of the speed and contact there are many infractions, not all of them having to do with "hitting" penalties. Play is stopped for an offside and for the infraction called icing, which occurs when a team shoots the puck out of its zone past the other team's goal line. Icing is not called against a team when it is shorthanded; if the teams are evenhanded or if the offending team has more players than the opposing team, the puck is returned to the defensive zone of the team that iced it for the face-off. No player, however, may delay the game by intentionally shooting the puck out of the rink or by shifting the goalposts. Minor penalties are most commonly assessed for excessive use of the body or equipment to impede the opposition. For a minor infraction the offending player must remain in the penalty box at the side of the rink for two minutes while his team plays shorthanded. This man-advantage situation is called a power play. If the opponents score at any time during the penalty period, the penalized player may return to the ice. Penalties incurred by the goalie are served by a teammate. A major penalty for violent play results in the loss of a player for five minutes or for the remainder of the game. If major penalties are incurred simultaneously by both teams, substitutions are made and there is no shorthanded play. A game misconduct penalty for abusing an official results in the loss of a player for 10 minutes; however, a substitution is allowed, and the team does not play shorthanded. There are three common types of shots in hockey: the slap shot, the wrist shot, and the backhander. The slap shot has been timed at more than 100 miles an hour (160 km an hour). The slap shot differs from the wrist shot in that the player brings his stick back until it is nearly perpendicular with the ice and then brings the stick down in an arc, swatting the puck as he follows through. It is not as accurate as the wrist shot, in which the player puts his stick on the ice near the puck and without a windup snaps his wrist to fire off a shot. The backhander is taken when the puck goes to the other side of the stick from which the player normally shoots. If he is a right-handed shooter, for example, he takes the backhander from his left side. It is taken when there is not enough time to shift the puck to his normal shooting position. The backhander generally is not as hard or as accurate as the wrist shot, but it has the advantage of being taken quickly. Player positions in ice hockey The modern game consists of a goaltender, two defensemen, and three forwards. The relative positions of each player at the beginning of a game are shown. Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. ice hockey Figure 1: Professional ice hockey rink. ice in lakes and rivers a sheet or stretch of ice forming on the surface of lakes and rivers when the temperature drops below freezing (0 C ). The nature of the ice formations may be as simple as a floating layer that gradually thickens, or it may be extremely complex, particularly when the water is fast-flowing.