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Unfrozen Pucks are Not Allowed.

(A trivial look at Hockey in the NHL)

Can a hockey player wear any number he wishes to wear in the NHL?  Do any players wear or use unusual items as lucky charms?  Are there ways to make or modify the ice to favor the home team?   This article seeks out some of the not so well known and some of the more interesting facts about hockey and in particular hockey in the NHL.  So lace up the skates and let’s take a tour through some of the more interesting facts from hockey.

The Hockey Puck:

· Pucks are made of vulcanized rubber

· Weight:  6 ounces

· Diameter:  3 inches

· Pucks are frozen before entering play to make them bounce resistant.

· Apparently in the earliest days of hockey chunks of frozen cow dung were used for pucks (obviously these games were played outdoors…or at least I hope they were!)

· How are pucks made?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xFbO4sQjPw

· For a smile, try this “Don’t be a hockey puck” Don Rickles is the voice.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WiwOojDTrs

The Hockey Stick:

· Player Customized.  Dimensions are determined by each player’s preference and there are many varieties of sticks that current NHL players use.

· Originally sticks were made of wood. 

· Rock elm has traditionally been the favored wood for hockey sticks.  White ash has been used as a substitute, but is not as rugged as rock elm.

· Aluminum, graphite, and carbon-graphite have become popular materials for modern technologically designed sticks.

· Tour the San Jose Sharks Stick Room… http://www.exploratorium.edu/hockey/ramfiles/ge4.ram

The Jersey:

· Jerseys are sometimes called sweaters.  The story behind that goes back to hockey’s beginning days when players actually wore sweaters instead of the high technologically designed mesh jerseys that are commonly worn today.

· Numbers.  In the NHL, the number 00 cannot be worn.  Also disallowed numbers include fractions (like ½), decimals like (as 0.01), and three digit numbers (ie.101).

· Names.  All NHL hockey players must have their complete surname on the back of their jersey at shoulder height in 3” letters.

The Mask:

· First Mask Worn:  1927.  Clint Benedict wore a mask, but, the mask hindered his goaltending abilities.  Thus, the idea did last long.

· 1959.  Jaques Plante, Montreal Canadians, personally designed and wore goalie masks. At first during practice and eventually he wore them in games.  Goalie Masks quickly became popular.

·   Current masks are typically made of Kevlar or fiberglass (sometimes both).

·   Decorative mask designs provide an extra aspect to the game that often adds fan excitement and additional interest in the sport.  A link to a listing of amazing NHL goalie masks.

·   Goalie without a mask:  April 7, 1974, Andy Brown played his final game for the Pittsburgh Penguins maskless (without wearing a mask).

The Ice:

·   It takes 10000 to 15000 gallons of water to form an Ice Hockey Rink.

·   Thickness:  approximately 1 inch, but, NHL rinks often are sometimes closer to 3/4” thick.  Thinner ice skates faster and increasing the thickness slows skating speed.

·   Temperature:  arguable, but, most sources suggest around 24 degrees Fahrenheit (16 to 26 degrees maintained…depends on which source you find information from).   When preparing the ice, lower temperatures are generally used.

·   If you really want to know more about the ice, check out this video.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hT3yfuLPIU

The Ice Markings:

·   The broken red line.  Televised hockey in the early days was in black and white and distinguishing between red and blue was difficult.  It was decided to make the center line a broken red line to allow clear distinction.

·   Applying markings.  All lines, circles, and other painted markings are applied to the third thin layer of rink ice.  The second layer of ice is painted white to improve puck vision.  Additional layers are added until the ice is at least ¾ inch thick.

·   Nice picture modeling the layers of ice for an ice hockey rink.

The Net:

·   Height:  4 feet (1.2 meters)

·   Width:  6 feet (1.8 meters)

·   Depth:  3 feet 8 inches (112 centimeters)

·   The net is composed of white nylon cord and draped in a way to prevent the puck from coming to rest outside the net and strung so as to keep the puck in the net.  The goalpost and crossbar are painted red and the remaining exterior surfaces should be painted white. http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=26275

The Rink:

·   Rink:  A Scottish word used to describe a place where curling was played.  It is now used to describe areas and arenas where ice sports and other ice activities occur.

·   NHL Dimensions:  85 feet x 200 feet (26 meters x 61 meters)

    (Dimensions are based on the size of Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal, Canada).

·   Olympic and International Dimensions:  98.4 feet x 197 feet (30 meters x 60 meters)

·   How an ice rink works…  http://iceskatingresources.org/HowAnIceArenaWorks.pdf

·   Just for the fun of it… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq_07HbxIUU

The Arena (Current NHL Stats):

·   Average seating capacity:  18,308

·   Largest seating capacity:  21,273 (Montreal Canadians, Bell Centre)

·   Largest including standing room only:  22,428 (Chicago Blackhawks, The United Center)

·   Personal Favorite Arena:  PNC Arena, home of the Carolina Hurricanes and host to numerous other events ranging from Cher, Ringling Brothers, Harlem Globetrotters to NCAA basketball. A favorite non hockey event is the NCAA basketball tournament games that occur there. http://www.thepncarena.com/

The Stanley Cup:

·   Oldest Professional Trophy in North America

·   Awarded to the best team in the National Hockey League.

·   Weight:  36 pounds

·   Height:  35 ¼ inches

·   The Montreal Canadians have won the cup 24 times.  More than any other team.

·   When purchased by Lord Stanley of Preston to be present as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup (later name was changed to the Stanley Cup) the purchase price was $48.67.

·   Link to view of the 2013 Stanley Cup Winners with the cup

Random Trivia:

·   The Original Six:  The Blackhawks, the Bruins, the Canadians, the Leafs, the Rangers, and the Red Wings.  These six teams were part of the early days of hockey in the 1920’s and 30’s and have survived to remain a part of the modern NHL.

·   Two Goalies for One Team at the Same Time?  Until the 1931-32 season, there was not a rule to prohibit a team from playing 2 goalies at the same time.  That said, there is no record of that bizarre event ever occurring.

·  The first NHL games:  December 19, 1917.  2 games… the Montreal Canadians defeated the Ottawa Senators 7-4 and the Montreal Wanderers defeated the Toronto Arenas 10-9  (Side Note: it is argued that the Wanderers game was actually the first of the two games and Wanderer Dave Ritchie scored the first goal in NHL history, a few still suggest that it was Joe Malone who scored the first goal in the Canadians game that should be credited with the right to the first NHL goal).

·  The Empty Net:  Frank Boucher, coach of the New York Rangers, is credited with being the first to pull the goalie and opt for a sixth skater when trailing late in a game (1939-40 or 1940-41).  Check out Dave Bolland’s empty net goal in last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. 

·  The Hat Trick:  Three goals by the same player is considered a hat trick.  Fans often throw hats on the ice after a player achieves this feat.  It is likely that this term originated in cricket.  Back in 1858, an English cricket player took 3 wickets with consecutive balls, as a reward the club gave the player a new hat and the term “hat trick” arose from that event.

·  The Zamboni:  Invented in early 1940’s by Frank Zamboni and revolutionized how a rink’s ice is maintained and resurfaced.  Providing a quick and fairly easy way to provide a quality surface for ice skating events.

·  Strange Luck:  The 1975 New York Islanders may win the award for one the strangest good luck charms ever.  During their playoff run they managed to make a rare comeback.  The Islanders won their best of seven series against the Pittsburg Penguins after trailing by 3 games.  The islanders attributed their success to a good luck charm that the team carried with them during the series.  What was their good luck charm?  A large bag of elephant dung (apparently left by the circus who was performing in Madison Square Gardens).

·  The Octopus:  Detroit Red Wings’ good luck item.  First appeared during the Red Wings’ playoff run .   April 15, 1952.  An octopus was thrown on the ice by two fishmonger brothers.  The eight tentacles were supposed to be representative of the eight wins needed to win in the cup with the playoff system as it was in 1952.  That year, the Wings swept the series to claim the Stanley Cup and the Octopus became an enshrined charm for Detroit Red Wings.

The NHL started up a new season this week and I’m sure will provide us plenty of new interesting and bizarre facts this year.  But, for now, I hope you found something that entertained you in this article.  A taste of this and that, a quick review of a few facts that intrigued me, everything from the sport we know as hockey.  The next time you hear someone saying, “they’re freezing the puck”… be sure to let them know… “Oh, they don’t need to do that, they did that before the game”…. no unfrozen pucks allowed.