History of Hockey

The term - "hockey" derived from the English «hockey», or from the Old French «hoquet», meaning "shepherd's staff with a hook."
Hockey - a sports team game with sticks and puck (or ball), the content and the purpose of which - using individual maintenance and transfer of the ball partner, beat him the greatest number of times in the opponent's goal.

Even before the advent of hockey in the 16th century, the Netherlands there playing with a ball and sticks on the ice. Then these games have appeared in England and Scandinavia, where they subsequently transformed into hockey on the ice in the 19th century.
modern ice hockey as a sport game originated in Canada. This is the country, the climate and the nature of which (the numerous ponds, freezing in winter, and long winters) to create favorable conditions for the spread of the game. First, did not play hockey, and a heavy ball and the number of teams was 50 or more players on each side. in 1870. Ice hockey in Canada is a mandatory game for all sports events. The first ice hockey rules were formulated by students McGill University in Montreal. Classic hockey goal at the time was not yet been invented, their role was played by two racks that are celebrated space in which to get the puck when you hit the goal.  In 1879, the Canadian UV. Robertson formulated the rules of hockey, and then was offered to play the rubber washer. In 1885, Montreal was founded Amateur Hockey Association. The first official rules of ice hockey were published in 1886godu, as preserved to the present day. They were amended by the number of teams: the number of players in the field was reduced from nine to seven, the conditions have changed to find the number of players in the game on the field: on the ice can be a goalkeeper, defenders of the front and rear, center and two wingers, and the area in front gate was the scene for the action of a strong hockey player - the rover. team, which entered the field of play, it was forbidden for any reason, change the players, so she spent the entire game in a single composition. Exceptions were made ​​for replacement players for injured and always agrees rivals. The author of a new code of rules was Canadian R. Smith. In 1886, the first international meeting between the Canadian and British teams. in 1899 in Montreal, was built the world's first domed stadium to play football with an artificial ice surface for up to an unprecedented number of visitors - 10 000. In the same year founded the Canadian Amateur Hockey League. first professional team on the game of hockey has been organized in the country where hockey was born - in Canada in 1904. In four games this season, the team was the final division for professionals and amateurs. In the late 19th century, Canadian hockey has come to Europe. In 1914, the professional ice hockey clubs united in the National Hockey League (NHL). And in 1908 the United Kingdom, Bohemia, Switzerland, France and Belgium have established the International Ice Hockey Federation (Lih, after 1979 - IIHF). rules of the game are constantly changing: for example, in 1900, was invented grid for the gate, which allows to define precisely - whether scored a goal against the team. Were later installed size hockey rinks, installed the game (three periods of 20 minutes), reduced the number of players on the field up to 6 people, have been possible replacement players not only for health reasons. Also, his innovations have given us brothers Patrick - they have introduced a number assignment to each player, a new scoring system, a platform was lined on certain areas. In 1929, goalie Clint Benedict first put on the mask, and in 1945 the gates installed colored lights for a more accurate estimate of goals ("red" - the goal is "green" - a goal is not fixed). In recent years, began to appear in the women's hockey team, which in 1998 were included in the Olympic program.