Hockey: history of development. History of the World Hockey Championships

Hockey, whose history of emergence and development is described in more detail below, is a team sport game where opponents with a stick must score a puck into the opponent's goal. The main feature of the competition is that players must navigate the ice skating ground. The first memories of the game with a stick and a ball date back to the Middle Ages. Together with this, as a separate type of competition, it was formed much later.

Origin versions

For such a sport as hockey, the history of emergence has become one of the most contested. According to the official version, his birthplace is the Canadian city of Montreal. Not all modern researchers agree with this. The fact is that the images of people participating in a similar game on a frozen pond are present in some paintings of Dutch masters, which date back to the sixteenth century. Be that as it may, the British soldiers, after they won Canada from France in 1763, brought hockey on the grass with the ball to the country. Due to the fact that North America is characterized by severe and long winters, the game had to be adapted to local conditions. As a result, people began to compete on frozen lakes and rivers. So that the legs do not slip on their surface, the cheese cutters are attached to the shoes.

The debut match

A very important role in the development of this sport was played by Montreal. It was in this city, on the rink "Victoria", on March 3, 1875, that the first officially recorded match in hockey was played. The history of the fight was even reflected in the article of the local newspaper called Montreal Gazette. Each of the competing teams consisted of nine players. The shell for the game was a wooden disk, and gates were ordinary stones. Protective equipment participants was borrowed from baseball.

First rules

Already two years after the debut hockey match took place, a group of students from the University of Montreal named McGill invented the first rules of the game. They consisted of seven items. In 1879 a rubber washer was created. The game quickly gained popularity, so in 1883 was presented in the annual winter carnival in Montreal. Two years later, the Canadians founded an amateur association in this sport.

In 1886, the rules of the game of hockey were streamlined, refined and printed. The story goes that R. Smith was the first who recorded them . It should be noted that from the modern version they did not differ much. From now on, each team had to compete for seven players. They were the goalkeeper, back and front defenders, three attackers, and also one rover (the strongest hockey player who scored best goals). The composition did not change during the match. The only time that a replacement was allowed was the player's injury. An obligatory condition for its implementation was the consent of the opposing team.

The Stanley Cup

The popularity of this sport continued to grow. In 1893, the Canadian Governor-General, Lord Frederick, Arthur Stanley, bought a goblet that looked like an inverted pyramid that consists of silver rings. He was to be given to the champion of the country in such kind of sport as hockey. The history of this game does not know the more prestigious trophy. Initially, even amateurs could fight for him. Since 1927, the right to own a Stanley Cup is disputed by representatives of the National Hockey League.

Revolutionary innovations

The history of ice hockey in the early twentieth century was characterized by constant innovations. In particular, in 1900 the gates began to install a net, thanks to which the number of disputes about the scoring goal was almost reduced to zero. As the metal whistle stuck to the judge's lips, it was first changed to a bell, and even later to a plastic analog. At the same time appeared and throwing the puck. In order to increase speed and entertainment, in 1910 it was decided to allow substitutions during the course of the game. At the initiative of the three brothers Patrick, hockey players began to assign numbers, goalkeepers were allowed to tear off skates from the ice, and players - to give a pass ahead. Moreover, they proposed to limit the duration of the match in three periods of twenty minutes.

The International Hockey Federation officially approved the rules of the game in 1911. The basis was taken Canadian sample. In 1929, the goalkeeper of the Montreal Marunz team, Clint Benedict, was the first to use a mask. Five years after this, the rule of bulita was officially introduced. Multicolored lanterns with a siren for accurate recording of the goals scored began to be used in 1945. At the same time, the rules were amended on triple judging.

The first arena

The history of hockey development is simply unthinkable without the construction of an appropriate infrastructure. Initially, the arenas for the competition were ice rinks with natural ice. To prevent it from melting, crevices were made in the walls of the buildings, thanks to which cold air entered the interior. In 1899 in Montreal the first ice rink with an artificial covering was built. In the thirties of the twentieth century, quite large arenas began to be built in Canada and the USA. One of the most notable of these at that time was the "Palace of Sports", erected in Chicago in 1938. The arena numbered 15 thousand spectators.

The first professional teams and leagues

In 1904, Canada created the world's first professional hockey team. It should be noted that at that time it was decided to move to a new game system, according to which each of the participants in the match consisted of six players. Moreover, the standard size of the site is 56x26 meters. Four years later, the professionals were finally separated from the amateurs.

In the early twentieth century and in Europe became a very popular sport such as hockey. The history of its development in the Old World officially dates back to 1908. It was then that the International Federation for this sport was founded at the congress in Paris. It was initially composed of four states - Great Britain, Belgium, Switzerland and France. The Canadian hockey association appeared four years later.

The National Hockey League (NHL) was founded in 1917. Very quickly she became the leader on the planet. This is not surprising, because here are the strongest players. Moreover, the best goals in the history of hockey, as a rule, were hammered in the NHL.

Competition

The first international match between representatives of North America and Europe in the framework of the official tournament took place in 1920. Then the Canadian team defeated the team from the UK. It should be noted that the history of the World Hockey Championships originates from the Olympic Games, the winner of which was the strongest on the planet. Tournaments were separated from each other and became independent only in 1992. At the same time, the International Federation decided to eliminate the European championship.

The very history of the World Hockey Championships knows several forms of the tournament. Initially, the competitions were held on the cup system, and later - in a circle (in one or several stages). Over time, there were also games for relegation - "playoffs". The number of participants in the group varied from eight to sixteen.

Russian hockey

It is now officially accepted that the history of hockey in Russia began on December 22, 1946. It was on this day that the first matches of the national championship took place in a number of Soviet cities. In 1954, a team from the USSR triumphantly debuted in the world championship, beating the Canadians in the final match. In the nineties of the last century, because of the lack of stability in the country, many athletes went abroad to perform.

The history of the Russian national hockey team knows many failures and achievements. The title of the strongest team on the planet was won back in 1993. However, the next such title fans had to wait for fifteen years. Now the Russian team is deservedly considered one of the strongest in the world and consistently demonstrates good results.

Interesting Facts

To ensure that the puck does not spring during the game, it is frozen before the start of the fight.

The majority of the hockey players lost at least one tooth during the speeches.

The first washers were square.

The speed of the hockey projectile can reach a mark of 193 km / h.

Now the washers are made of vulcanized rubber.

Hockey with a ball

The history of hockey with the ball takes its beginning in the middle of the last century. In modern interpretation, this sport is a team game on the ice, in which you need to hammer the ball into the opponent's goal. For it, a rectangular area is used, the maximum size of which is 110x65 meters. The match consists of two periods of 45 minutes. Each team consists of eleven players (including 4 reserve players and 1 goalkeeper). It should be noted that the number of substitutions here is not limited. One of the most interesting rules in this game is that a player who is on the opponent's half of the field himself (without taking into account the goalkeeper) to take the ball does not have the right. Whatever it was, this kind of hockey does not have the same popularity as its version with the puck.