| Ice hockey is one of the most beloved winter sports | | | | they certainly can boast about hosting the very first |
| around the world, and it's a national obsession in some | | | | indoor ice hockey game. On March 3, 1875, the first |
| countries, like Canada. Popular belief holds that hockey | | | | organized and acknowledged indoor game was |
| was invented in Montreal, but is that really the case? In | | | | played in Montreal, and the "Montreal Gazette" |
| a word - no. The truth is, we really don't know who | | | | reported it, making it official. It wasn't until 1877, |
| invented ice hockey, or when it was actually invented. | | | | however, that any real "rules" were drafted for the |
| We do know that it's been popular since at least the | | | | game. Five Canadian students drafted these first |
| 1700s, and it may have originated even before that | | | | seven rules, and so, in a sense, they did help "invent" |
| time. | | | | the modern sport of ice hockey. Their names were |
| The word "hockey" could come from at least two | | | | James Creighton, Henry Joseph, W. F. Robertson, |
| sources. Many people think it may derive from the Old | | | | Richard F. Smith, and W. L. Murray, and once there |
| French word "hoquet," which literally means a | | | | were rules to follow, the game just grew in popularity. |
| "shepherd's crook," (think of the shape of the hockey | | | | The coveted Stanley cup came into being when the |
| stick, but it may also come from the Middle Dutch | | | | governor general of Canada, Lord Stanley of Preston |
| word "hokkie," which can mean "goal" when used | | | | attended the Montreal Winter Carnival in 1888, where |
| popularly. We do know that 16th century Dutch | | | | the game was showcased. He was so impressed |
| paintings show a game that looks like ice hockey or its | | | | with this new winter game that he helped create the |
| relative being played on frozen canals, so that | | | | championship and a trophy for the best team in the |
| predates settlement and invention in modern-day | | | | country, and that trophy was the Stanley Cup. |
| Canada. | | | | Since then, the game has just grown in popularity and |
| The Brits May Have Done It | | | | has spread around the world - the first US |
| Field hockey and lacrosse were popular in Europe, and | | | | professional team formed in 1899 in Michigan, and it's |
| many people believe that British soldiers, stationed in | | | | spread like wildfire since then. Hockey is so popular |
| Canada in the 1700s created a more modern form of | | | | because it's competitive, fast-paced, and can be violent |
| ice hockey to combat boredom and the long, cold, | | | | at times, but most of all, it takes immense skill to be |
| Canadian winters. There are more paintings that show | | | | able to balance on the thin blades of ice skates while |
| this new form of entertainment being played in Nova | | | | maneuvering that tiny puck around the rink. So, we |
| Scotia and even Virginia in the United States during this | | | | don't really know who invented ice hockey, or who to |
| time. So, we really don't know who invented ice | | | | thank, but without the invention of ice hockey, we |
| hockey, only who helped refine it. | | | | would be missing one of our very favorite winter |
| The First Indoor Game | | | | sports! |
| Montreal may not lay claim to inventing the game, but | | | | |