Origin And Development Of The Beautiful Game - Ice Hockey

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Maybe you are a faithful hockey fans, but do you know the history of hockey? In my opinion it is necessary to learn the development of hockey. Hockey was popular among the ancient Romans, Greek, Persians and the Egyptians and now it has become one of the oldest sports played in the world. It is said that a game known as Hurling, similar to hockey was played in Ireland In the first millennium BC. Hockey has become popular around the world only in the 19th century.

Who Invented Ice Hockey?

Though there are many arguments and debate regarding the origin of ice hockey, in fact there are no evidences to make sure when the game of "Ice Hockey" was invented. Many people believe the British soldiers who were stationed in Nova Scotia Canada invented it. They had initially used a rubber ball and had framed a set of basic rules to play the game. The original name of ice hockey was ice-Hurley.

Another tale regarding the invention of ice hockey is that one of the teachers of a school called "King's View Academy" in Nova Scotia, asked his students to make up a winter sport as the part of their project work. It is also ...
... believed the games the students made up and played on the frozen pond was ice hockey.

The hockey rules first used was invented in1879 by the students of the McGill University in Montreal. Canada framed formal rules for ice hockey, for instance, there were rules that state hockey players should wear and they played this game using this rule. These formal rules were known as "McGill Rules". The modern ice hockey used puck instead of rubber ball. In 1885, the first national hockey organization was formed in Montreal, Canada. This association was first of its kind and was known as Amateur Hockey Association of Canada. There were many amateur clubs and leagues established and Ontario was the first city to have a league of four teams to be formed in 1885.

In 1890, ice hockey was played in the United States of America between the universities of Yale and Johns Hopkins. Though it is believed the game originated in Canada, it became very popular in the US and the first professional league of ice hockey was established in America and all the NHL players has his own. In 1903, Pro Hockey League was established and it included both the Canadian and US teams. National Hockey League originated in 1910. Ice hockey spread to Britain and other European countries in the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1920, at Antwerp Summer Olympics ice hockey was introduced for the first time as an Olympic sport. In 1924, Chamonix Winter Olympics ice hockey made its entry for the first time in the history of Olympics. In 1998 Olympics at Nagano, women's ice hockey was introduced as an Olympic sport.

For hockey players, protection is the most important during the game. Before the game begins, all the equipments such as helmet, shoulder pads, Cheap reebok jerseys
and any other items should be checked carefully. Today, ice hockey is popular in almost eighty nations and it is the national game of Canada. You can see hockey games in many national and international events, more and more people of today are going crazy about it.