Untitled Document
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| A
McGill Hockey Game in 19011 |
The good old hockey game!
It's the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!
© Tom Connors
Belted out proudly by six-year-olds and fifty-somethings alike, the Hockey Song
rings through the chilled air of hockey sanctuaries across the frozen north.
Written in 1973 by prolific song-writer Stompin' Tom Connors, the song achieved
anthem-like status after it was played at an Ottawa
Senators' game in 1993 and then shortly thereafter at a Toronto
Maple Leafs' game.
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Backyard
Hockey Pond in Long Reach, New Brunswick2 |
For many Canadians hockey
is more than a sport – it's a way of life. Hockey parents spend every spare
moment shuffling their children to and from the rink for every practice and
game. Hockey enthusiasts don their favourite team's jersey and eagerly flood
stadiums and bars at every available opportunity. Hockey players spend their
entire lives improving stick handling skills, trying to skate with a little
more speed, and studying the game with the hope that they can one day glide
across the ice in front of throngs of screaming fans.
Hockey is a booming business
in Canada with numerous
leagues, teams, monuments, memorials and stores all dedicated to the game. Canadian
leagues range from amateur leagues for children barely old enough to walk to
the revered National Hockey League (NHL).
Whether it be an informal
game of shinny on a backyard pond or the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Canadians embrace
this game that makes the cold months of winter pass with a little more ease.
HISTORY OF THE GAME
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| The
1942 Montreal Canadiens Hockey Team3 |
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The origin of this game
is widely contested; there is some evidence of hockey-like games conducted on
ice throughout Europe between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, as well
as claims that Windsor,
Nova Scotia or Great
Bear Lake in the Arctic are home to the first recorded instances of organized
hockey. However, Kingston,
Ontario was officially
touted as the birthplace of ice hockey by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association
in 1943. This was primarily due to an account of a game between Queen's
University and the Royal
Military College of Canada in 1886.
The groundwork for what
is known as today's game was laid in Montreal,
Quebec in the late 1800s.
The first recorded indoor game was played in this French-Canadian metropolis
in 1875 at Victoria Skating Rink. Enthusiasm for the game burgeoned as the McGill
University Hockey Club was formed in 1877 and the first ''World Championship"
was held at the annual Winter Carnival in 1883.
In 1888, the Governor General
of Canada, Lord Stanley of Preston, attended the Montreal
Winter Carnival and was noted by newspapers to exude a great deal of exuberance
for the sport. After noticing there was no official trophy for the winning team,
Lord Stanley bought a bowl, which was titled the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup
and later renamed the Stanley Cup. It was first awarded to an amateur team from
Montreal in 1893
and thus began the longstanding tradition of the Stanley Cup. After a long season
of high-intensity battles and four rounds of playoffs, the Stanley Cup is presented
to the NHL's reigning victors each year. While there are many individual trophies
presented to players and coaching staff, the Stanley Cup, which was redesigned
in 1963, remains the most coveted of prizes to be won.
The National Hockey League is Born
In 1917 the NHL was formed in Montreal,
Quebec. Beginning with only
four teams, the league expanded to 10 teams in its infancy, but was reduced
to only six teams by 1942 due to devastation caused by the Great Depression
and the second world war.
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The NHL Lockout
In 2004, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced a lockout after unsuccessful
contract negotiations between the National Hockey League Players' Association
and the NHL. The source of the 310 day lockout centred around a salary
cap, which intended to limit the amount of money each team could spend
on players' salaries. The NHL became the first professional sports league
to miss a full season. A collective bargaining agreement was eventually
reached and play resumed for the 2005-2006 season with record attendance
levels.
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The Toronto
Maple Leafs, Boston
Bruins, New
York Rangers, Chicago
Blackhawks, Montreal
Canadiens and Detroit
Red Wings remained the only six teams in the league for nearly a quarter
of a century, resulting in the reference to these teams as the "Original
Six." In the 1960s, the league resumed expansion plans after taking notice
of rumours that the Western Hockey League was considering declaring itself a
professional league. For the first time since the 1920s, new teams were added
and the number of teams continued to climb to the reach its present-day total
of 30.
ICE HOCKEY AT THE OLYMPICS
Making its debut at the
summer Olympics in 1920, men's hockey was appropriately moved to the winter
games in 1924. Winning six of the initial seven gold medals, Canadian teams
excelled for the first decade, but suffered in years to come, because Olympic
rules did not permit professional hockey players to participate. It wasn't until
1988 that these skilled players were afforded the opportunity to play in the
games and even then scheduling conflicts between the NHL and the Olympics were
problematic. It was in 1998, for the Nagano Olympics, that the NHL first paused
its schedule to allow the league's elite to compete in the games.
WOMEN'S ICE HOCKEY
In the 1890s Lord Stanley's
daughter, Lady Isobel was photographed playing hockey at Rideau
Hall in Ottawa.
Over a century later, women's ice hockey is now rapidly gaining popularity throughout
the world.
In recent years, the sport
has made significant strides with the development of the National Women's Hockey
League in 1999, as well as its incorporation into the Olympic Games in 1998.
For many years, Canadian and American teams dominated the sport at professional
levels and were the only two teams to ever reach a women's world championship
final until 2006 when Sweden unsuccessfully attempted to take gold from the
Canadian team in Italy.
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The
Coveted Stanley Cup4 |
THE HOCKEY HALL OF FAME
Dedicated to the history
of the game, this sanctuary of hockey paraphernalia is located in Toronto,
Ontario. The league's
ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup, spends half of the year displayed in the Great
Hall of the Hockey
Hall of Fame.
Established in 1943, the
Hockey Hall of Fame was originally located in Kingston,
Ontario, but moved to Toronto and opened its first permanent location at Exhibition
Place in 1961. Still at home in Canada's largest city, the hall of fame is now
located downtown and draws 300,000 visitors each year.
There are 15 exhibits, which
provide information about the history of the game and its past players, as well
as current statistics, teams and players. There are also interactive displays,
such as the Source for Sports Shoot Out, which allows visitors to shoot a puck
at a computer simulated version of goalie Eddie Belfour.
CANADIAN HEROES
Achieving celebrity status,
Canada's favourite hockey players have sprouted up all over the country, from
small towns in Saskatchewan
to major cities in Ontario.
There is a long list of past and present Canadian-born hockey heroes, including
but not limited to Maurice “The Rocket” Richard, Mark Messier, Bobby
Orr, Mario Lemieux, Doug Harvey, Patrick Roy, Gordie Howe and most notably,
Wayne Gretzky.
Born in Brantford,
Ontario, Wayne Gretzky
is nicknamed the "Great One" and is commonly considered the best hockey
player of all time. The game's only player to tally over 200 points in one season,
Gretzky led the Edmonton
Oilers to win the Stanley Cup four times in the 1980s before a controversial
trade to the Los
Angeles Kings on August 9, 1988 sent him to the United States. An upsetting
day for Canadians, the trade was highly criticized. The leader of the New Democratic
Party at the time, Nelson Riis, even went so far as to demand the government
stop the move.
There are numerous monuments
honouring the hockey icon, including a statue
that stands outside of Rexall
Place in Edmonton,
Alberta where the Oilers
currently play. Additionally, one of Edmonton's
busiest streets, which passes by the Oilers' arena, was renamed Wayne Gretzky
Drive in October of 1999. In his hometown of Brantford,
Ontario most of Park
Road is now officially titled Wayne Gretzky Parkway.
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Canada
Post Stamp Commemorating Hockey5 |
HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA
Commonly falling in mid-February,
Hockey Day in Canada has become an unstoppable phenomenon since its inception
in 2000. This unofficial holiday celebrates the "triple header" featuring
all six Canadian teams in action, as well as the culture of hockey across Canada.
Recently, due to the NHL schedules, the day often features American-Canadian
match-ups.
In addition to broadcasting
the NHL games, Hockey Day in Canada highlights various tournaments, leagues
and hockey players across the country. Each year, infamous Canadian hockey broadcaster
Don Cherry and his better-half, Ron Maclean, report from a different remote
area of Canada to promote the hockey efforts of smaller communities. In the
past, Hockey Day in Canada has featured all-night pick-up hockey games from
Red Deer, Alberta
and Windsor,
Nova Scotia.
THE SIX CANADIAN NHL
TEAMS
Over the years, some Canadian
cities have mourned as their teams have relocated to larger American markets,
while other parts of the country have feverishly fought for a franchise of their
own. Today, there are six NHL teams in Canada: Vancouver
Canucks, Calgary
Flames, Edmonton
Oilers, Ottawa
Senators, Toronto
Maple Leafs and Montreal
Canadiens.
Vancouver Canucks
Joining the league in the 1970 expansion, the Canucks
are one of two Canadian teams that have never won the coveted Stanley Cup. Advancing
to the finals in 1982 and 1994, the franchise was unable to emerge victorious
from either contest. The Canucks play at General
Motors Place on Griffiths Way in downtown Vancouver
near the waterfront.
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| The
Pengrowth Saddledome is Home to the Calgary Flames6 |
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Calgary Flames
After
a stint in Atlanta,
Georgia as the Atlanta Flames
this team moved to Calgary
in 1980 and in 1989 they acquired the Stanley Cup for the first time. In 2004,
Calgary Flames fans erupted in manic excitement as the team made a historic,
but unsuccessful bid for the hallowed prize. Cheering the team on as they made
their way to the final game of the final round of the playoffs, the city came
alive with elated fans who filled the Saddledome
with a sea of red jerseys.
Edmonton Oilers
Dominating the NHL in the 1980s, the Edmonton
Oilers were home to some of the greatest players of all time, including
Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. In their first season (1979-1980) the Edmonton
Oilers made the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but ultimately lost the championship to
the Philadelphia
Flyers. Following that loss they would prove themselves to be fierce
competitors winning five Stanley Cups in the 1980s. The Oilers' prominent rival
is the Calgary
Flames with the contest between the two teams termed the Battle of Alberta.
Ottawa Senators
The original Ottawa
Senators team was formed in 1883, but eventually floundered and was
no longer a professional team by the 1930s. Returning to professional level
ice hockey in the 1992-1993 season, the Ottawa Senators made it to the Stanley
Cup Finals in 2007, but were unable to topple the Anaheim
Ducks.
Toronto Maple Leafs
One of the original six teams, the Toronto
Maple Leafs is one of the most popular teams in the league despite its
inability to win the Stanley Cup since their 1967 triumph over the Montreal
Canadiens. The Leafs have battled fiercely against the Canadiens, as well as
the Ottawa Senators, providing the league with some of the most heated battles
and closely watched games. The Toronto Maple Leafs play at the Air
Canada Centre, which is connected to Union
Station on Bay Street in downtown Toronto.
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal
Canadiens are commonly referred to as the “Habs” derived from
the French-nickname Les Habitants (inhabitants). This original six team
has won more Stanley Cups than any other NHL team and is the last Canadian team
to have claimed the cup with their victory over the Los
Angeles Kings in 1993. The Canadiens play at the Bell
Centre in downtown Montreal.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF:
- Wikipedia; McGill Hockey
Game 1901; Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Backyard Hockey Pond;
Long Reach, New Brunswick, Canada
- The Montreal Canadien
Team in 1942; Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Wikipedia; The Stanley
Cup at the Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Canadian Postage Stamp;
Canada
- Wikipedia; The Pengrowth
Saddledome; Calgary, Alberta, Canada
