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| Ice Hockey |
The word “hockey” comes from the old French word "hocquet", meaning "stick". In ice hockey, two teams, each comprised of six players, use a stick to hit a puck. The aim is to score more goals than the opposition.
There is evidence to suggest that indigenous North American played a game similar to hockey on the ice in winter before Christopher Columbus “discovered” the continent. Since then, several forms of ice hockey have been played in Europe and North America. In 1879, a group of college students at McGill University in Montreal organised competitions and developed the first known set of hockey rules.
The sport migrated south to the United States during the 1890s. The first known hockey games took place between Johns Hopkins and Yale Universities in 1895. From that point onwards a number of clubs and associations were formed leading to the creation of an international federation for the sport in Paris in 1908.
Canadian rules were adopted as standard in 1911, fixing the match at three periods of 20 minutes. In 1912 the number of players was reduced from seven per team to six, as is the team size today. |
| Olympic History |
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The first Olympic Games to include ice hockey for men were the Antwerp Summer Games in 1920. Four years later it was part of the first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix and has remained on the program ever since.
Women’s ice hockey made its debut at the Winter Olympics at Nagano 1998. In another first for the sport, professional players from the world's premier competition, the National Hockey League of North America, played in the Nagano Games.
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| Australia and ice hockey |
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Unfortunately Australia failed to qualify an ice hockey team for Vancouver 2010. Although the national league is developing in Australia it may be another few Games before the local stars realise their Olympic dreams.
Australia qualified an ice hockey team for the Winter Olympic on one occassion back in 1960 at Squaw Valley. The team finished ninth and last, scoring nine goals and conceding 83 from their six games. The following team did their best for Australia: Ben Acton (capt), Ron Arness, David Cunningham, Noel Derrick, Alfred Dewhurst, Vic Ekberg, Basil Hansen, Clive Hitch, Russell Jones, Noel McLoughlin, John Nicholas, John Parrott, Ken Pawley, Robert Reid, John Thomas, Steve Tikal, Ivan Veseley, Ken Wellman and William McEachern as coach.
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| The Sport |
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At the Olympic Winter Games, women compete in an eight-team tournament whereas men compete in a 12-team tournament.
Each country may have one men’s and one women’s team. Men’s teams have 23 players (20 players and three goal keepers, while women’s teams have 20 players (18 players and two goal keepers), with a maximum of six players - including the goalie - permitted on the ice at any given time. Players may be substituted at any time during the game.
Among the team of six players on the ice are one goalkeeper, two defenders, two wings and one centre. Fewer players can be on the ice as a result of penalties: a goalkeeper can be replaced by a skater during a delayed penalty, or at any other time of the game, at the team's risk.
A regular game consists of three 20-minute periods, with a 15-minute intermission after the first and second periods. Teams change ends for each period. If a tie occurs in a medal-round game in which a winner must be determined, a five-minute sudden-victory overtime period is played. In the gold medal game, a 20-minute sudden-victory period is played subsequent to another 15-minute intermission. In the case of a tie after any sudden-victory period, a game-winning penalty shoot competition takes place to determine the winner.
Canada are the defending champions for both men and women. Surprisingly the United States have not won the men's tournament since Lake Placid 1980.
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| The Event |
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The competition is comprised of two phases, a preliminary round and a play-off round. The first is a round robin format with two groups of six teams for the Men’s tournament and two groups of four teams for the Women’s tournament. Each team plays the other teams in their group once.
Advancing to the play-off round are the top four ranked teams in each group for the men and the top two teams from each group for the women. There are quarterfinals, semi-finals and games for the gold/silver and bronze medals.
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| Equipment |
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Ice hockey players use a stick that is 152cm long and that can be made of wood or metal. Its blade is covered with a special material to prevent the puck from slipping. The puck is a hard rubber disk that the players hit with their stick. The puck itself is 2.54cm thick and 7.62cm in diameter. It weighs between 156 – 170 g and can reach speeds of 160km/h.
Players wear head guards and a series of protective pads underneath their clothing, including those for the shoulders, knees and elbows, as well as shin guards and large gloves. Their skates are leather and lace up over the ankle. Ice hockey skates have a short blade to allow for quick turns. They are 3mm thick.
The goal-keeper wears additional protection, including complete leg and body pads as well as a helmet and metal visor. The stick is also longer than the blade used for general play – 39cm instead of 32cm.
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Ice Hockey Events
Men
Ice Hockey
Women
Ice Hockey
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