Short Hockey History Lesson

Short Hockey History Lesson

Hockey is really popular these days and it is easy to understand why. The game is fast and spectacular and is actually older than you might imagine. All basically started thousands of years in the past. Games featuring use of balls, rocks and sticks were really popular even before you thought they were. This type of games was popular in Egypt, South America and even Europe. Contrary to what many believe, roots of hockey are based in England. There we saw many games held in competition between various villages. One team could have even had 100 players. Many serious injuries were seen in games that lasted days.

We saw a beginning of modern hockey history in 1860. At that point Eton University came up with a new rules set. At that exact time North Americans started to play a lot more. The first hockey game ever was played in 1875 in Montreal. College students squared off then. An association appeared and we saw new rules being developed. Hockey history was changing. Due to the popularity that was rising we eventually ended up seeing the world championship held for the first time in 1883. We witnessed a dramatic change in rules together with mandatory protective equipment being needed.

Although few people are aware of this fact, it each the Olympic Games that helped the most in growing popularity for hockey. It was first played there in 1924. One piece of hockey history linked to the Olympic Games was when an amateur American college team defeated the Russian favorites. That moment was called “Miracle on Ice”. Americans started to like the sport even more then. NHL was formed in 1917 and now includes 30 teams. We have 20 American teams and 14 Canadian teams. Modern days immediately means that the popularity is a lot higher. This game brings in billions in revenues and is constantly generating more. It is quite unclear the levels that can be reached but we do expect constant rises in future hockey history.