Michael Porter
Professor Tomb
English 1A
October 14, 2014 Concept of Hockey One of the most creative sports all began on November 17, 1917 when five teams established the National Hockey League. Through rough times of developing a set schedule and finding enough players as well as supporting fans, the NHL struggled to successfully form an association until 1920. In 1920 another set of five times agreed to join, after the NHL formed new policies and a schedule for each team. Hockey is now comprised of 30 national teams and is growing rapidly worldwide, reaching over nearly 600,000 thousand players of both youth and adult leagues. Every sport is perceived differently with its complex set of rules to follow in order to come out victorious over the other team. The main goal in hockey is to beat the opposing team by scoring more goals than the opposing team. Seems easy enough? Not at all considering the amount of gruesome effort and teamwork expected out of each of the players. Each team consists of six players, five skaters and a goalie. Hockey can be played on a variety of ice surfaces ranging from outdoor shallow ice ponds to indoor arena’s containing high quality ice. Although all you need is an ice surface to skate on, a proper skating rink which qualifies the national hockey league association rink dimensions of 61mm tall by 30mm wide. Flexible boards slightly over two meters high surrounding the rink are made to absorb player’s impact and stop rocketing pucks reaching up too over 100mph. Two nets which span over the length of four average size adults standing side by side and a little over a meter high are placed on opposite sides of the rink. Goalies are enlarged in size when suited up head to toe with protective gear to defend flying pucks from sailing into the net. Each of the five players on both sides of the team battle each other to gain possession of the puck with carbon fiber sticks while standing on a quarter inch metal blade. As some players strive to gain possession of the puck, other players must position themselves accordingly to the team’s location of either net in order to set up a play to score a goal or to take a defensive stance to prevent it from happening to themselves. When someone finally gets the puck on their stick, the must skate as fast as possible with the puck before an opponent smashes into them or uses his or her stick to knock the puck lose. He or she also has the option to pass the puck which is a highly efficient way to play the game because the puck simply travels faster than a player can ever skate. Once all the players are setup to try and score a goal in the other zone, they can either fire shoots at the net or even deceive the goalie and use some trickery to pass the puck from side to side confusing the goalie of who will actually release the deadly shot. Teams will have a total of 60 minutes to score as many goals as possible divided up into three periods of 20 minutes each.
The heat of the moment of the play and the concentration it takes to drive down the field for that winning touchdown or pull up for the buzzer beater three, tunes in everyone's attention. Whether it’s the viewer’s eyes glued to the T.V. or diehard fans screaming and jumping up and down on the stands, we all stand in anticipation waiting for the moment. It’s that last play or last few minutes of the game which every fan is waiting for. All the work each player trains day and night to contribute and the stressful play calling of the coaches all come down to the last minute or last play. This enthusiastic ending is why all sport fans watch or play the game. Winning may seem like an obviously reason but the determination it takes to grasp the win and claim themselves as the best team is why players strive to succeed and why fans express their support. Although people without the experience of playing the sport or listening to someone else who has,