Final Project Ice Hockey

                                             Ice Hockey

Ice Hockey is a sport that is composed of a team of skaters aiming to shoot a hard rubber also known as a puck into the net as means to score a goal that will ensure their chances of winning the match. It is a team sports that allows a group of skaters to play on ice. It is popular in countries situated in temperate regions where it is some of the most important sport in their community due to their climate. Ice hockey is popular in countries such as in Canada, Sweden, Latvia, Norway, Russia, Finland, Norway, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, France, the Netherlands, and in United States. This is a physical sport due to the contact being applied by the players as they pass the puck in order to score a goal while the opponent team tries to play defensive plays such as blocking to prevent other opponents from scoring a point.

 Ice hockey is a popular sport in countries that experiences winter or bitter cold environment. It is because there aren't many other sports that are provided by the cold environment such as ice hockey. It is where players go to skate on a frozen body of water such as lake, pond, or wide rivers in order to play this particular sport. No one truly knows when or where ice hockey originated from except the fact that it’s an evolved form of field hockey that existed since ancient times. Ancestors of Europeans used hockey by skating and trying to shoot a certain material into the net of their opposing teams. It was during the early Christianity times when people started skating on the icy fields. Wooden curved bat were used in the past in order to batter a certain piece of smaller wood to slide it through the surface of the ice and enter the net.

Basing from the equipment, ice hockey uses full body armor. It is because it aims to provide a protective gear to decrease the risk for a player to be harmed which is highly likely in a sport as aggressive as ice hockey. This includes accidents that can be incurred by the players through physical trauma from being swept by the ice surface or being injured by other player. Helmet, cage, shoulder pads, mouth guard, elbow pads, protective gloves, padded shorts, girdle, athletic cup, neck protector, shin pads, skates, face net gear, bat, leg pads, catch glove, blocker, arm protector, and chest protector. These are essential protective gear that allows individuals to become more protective from any ice hockey events that will try to become more competitive. If one piece is not worn by a player, the risk of being physically traumatized will be imminent since that the player is engaged in a highly physically contacted sport (Hackel, n.p.).

 Pertaining with the nature of the game, there are numerous rules that a player will have to follow in order to keep a game manageable and less chaotic. This includes using international codes of standards that will be followed by the players. For example a hockey game should be played inside an ice hockey rink. There should be at least six members of ice hockey players during each game. One of which is the goal keeper or the goal tender. As a rule, the main objective of this sporting event is to allow each team to score a goal by allowing all members to shoot the puck into the net of their opponent. The net is heavily guarded by their opponent’s goal keeper in order to block the puck when being plucked towards the net of their opponent during a match event to prevent a score from the opponent.

Each player can also pass the puck to other players using their hockey stick. Players are not allowed to kick or pick the puck with their hands because that violates the code of conduct of the game, which could result into a foul play that will cause the team to be negatively affected. The goal tender is allowed to block the puck by using their blocking knee pad to prevent the puck from being scored to the net of the opponent. If there are violations that are conducted by the opponent, penalties will be applied depending from the decision of the referee. This includes allowing a penalty pluck by the opponent to their opponent team in order to have the chance to score a goal. In other case, the violating member will be given a warning such as yellow card or red card if the offense is serious (Janela, n.p.).

The ice hockey referee is always responsible for deciding about the assessing of penalties that are being incurred by the offending team which differ from male hockey and female hockey. In female ice hockey games, each player can use their shoulder or hip in order to hit another player. In males, hitting another player using their hip or shoulder is considered as foul as it portrays physical violence that may lead to injuries to other players when being hit by a fast moving object including the shoulder of a team. Illegal hits, grabbing, clutching, and fights are considered as an offense, which could cause the playing team to be indicted for penalty shot from their opponent, which could lose their potentiality to win a game. There are three types of fouls minor, major and severe. Players that break the rules are sent to the penalty box depending on the type of foul committed minor takes two minutes, major three minutes and severe fouls take up to five minutes.

        

    Pertaining with the officials, there are at least between two and four that are enlisted on the ice. This includes the two linesmen that are going to be responsible for calling icing and offside violations committed by the players. They are also tasked to monitor any conducting face-offs and breaking up fights of each events. There are also two referees that could allow calling penalties and signals all gaming events. The real time on the duration of the game can take place for at least two and a half hour. But when there will be a draw, a 20 minute overtime will be granted to the match to allow each opponent to score a draw. Ice hockey is very popular in Europe where winter is a natural occurrence in the continent that is experiencing a frequent snowy weather especially during the months between Octobers to May in each year. They are also participated by countries in North America such as in Canada and in the United States (Schmidt, n.p.). 

Ice hockey is a considerable sport in several countries around the world and is becoming more popular even in countries with hot climates thanks to technology .Ice hockey is considered a major inspirational sport by many and have been acclaimed from entertainment media such as movies, films, and in modern contemporary culture. The sport can be played in either indoor or outdoor, provided that there is a safe icy surface for the players to start the game and enjoy its mechanics. There are numerous international matches that are being organized for these sporting events such as world cup for hockey, Olympics, European games, and other gaming events where foreign countries are going to participate and challenge other countries with their expertise in ice hockey sports. 

References

Hackel, Stu. "The Morning Skate: Assessing the Winter Classic". The New York Times. 2009. Print.

Janela, Mike. "Highest ice hockey game attendance". guinnessworldrecords.com. 2010. Print.

Schmidt, Todd A. "Ice Hockey Injuries". The Hughston Clinic, P. C. – Home – Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in Georgia and Alabama. 2009. Print.