Fast-paced hockey keeps fans enthralled
You wanted to know
"How did hockey start?" a camper asked during a Lake County Forest Preserve District camp held at Libertyville's Independence Grove.
Hockey raises the stakes for rough-and-tumble sports with chilly temperatures and blades flying over ice.
Like all sports, hockey combines elements from other team games, such as using a stick to carry a ball across a field and landing it in the opponent's goal. However, it is the only major sport with a playing field made of ice.
As an organized sport, hockey began when McGill University faced the Montreal Victorias on Jan. 31, 1877, at Montreal's McGill University. McGill won 2-1. The students wrote seven official rules, established the number of players on a team and called for the use of a rubber puck.
In those days, a faceoff was called a bully, a word borrowed from a game called hurley.
Like all sports, hockey is a platform for athletes to share friendly competition.
"Hockey is so much fun for me because it has always been a part of my life. It's something I've been able to share with my family. Being a part of a team and forming lifelong bonds and friendships is special," said Chicago Wolves captain Pat Cannone, 29, the team's center and a league top-scorer.
There are two main leagues in North America - the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League. The NHL was formed in 1917 and added U.S. teams, including the Chicago Blackhawks, in 1926. Its season-ender is the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The trophy was first offered by Canada's Governor Lord Stanley in an NHL forerunner Canadian league in 1893. It has been continually awarded annually ever since, except in 1919 when an influenza outbreak canceled the determining match. The league hosts 30 teams.
The AHL was also established in 1917 and fielded teams in many of the same cities that already were home to NHL teams - Boston, New York, Detroit and Chicago. The Calder Cup is the prize teams take home when declared season champs, named for the league's first president, Frank Calder.
The two leagues are linked by the more than 100 players and coaches who have earned both the Calder and Stanley cups. The AHL also fields 30 teams.
Last fall, saw the launch of the National Women's Hockey League, the first paid professional hockey league for women, with four teams.
How has hockey filled the cold stadium seats for nearly 140 years?
"Hockey attracts such rabid fans because it's such a fast and action-packed sport, but the players also display high levels of skill and toughness that fans can recognize and understand," said Lindsey Willhite, Chicago Wolves public relations director. "Anyone attending their first game is hooked almost instantly."
Lake Forest College Men's Hockey Coach Patrick Kelliher agrees that the constant action is what lures people to fill the seats at hockey arenas.
"The speed of the game and the pace at which players are forced to make plays keeps fans' attention throughout the game action. Although there are stoppages in play, once the puck is dropped there is always something to keep your attention," Kelliher said.
"Whether it is a big hit, a great pass, a nice goal, or a big save by the goalie, there is something to watch for. Add to that the fact that there is no out-of-bounds for the players it keeps fans engaged throughout the action."
Check it out
Cook Memorial Public Library District suggests these titles on hockey:
• "Center Ice: The Stanley Cup" by Jaime Winters
• "Face-off!: Top 10 Lists of Everything in Hockey" by Sarah Kwak
• "Safety Stars: Players Who Fought to Make the Hard-hitting Game of Professional Hockey Safer" by Sue Irwin
• "Side-by-side Hockey Stars: Comparing Pro Hockey's Greatest Players" by Shane Frederick
• "Tales from the Chicago Blackhawks Locker Room: A Collection of the Greatest Blackhawks Stories Ever Told" by Harvey Wittenberg
• "Clean sweep!: Frank Zamboni's Ice Machine" by Monica Kulling