By CAYDEN SPENCER
Sheridan High School Student
The Sheridan Student Column is brought to readers by Sheridan High School’s 10th grade English class, taught by Abby Williams.
The history of ice hockey has long been a debated subject.
The first official game of ice hockey is declared to have been played in Montreal in 1887, according to the International Ice Hockey Federation. It is said that the Montreal Gazette posted the first rules of ice hockey a year after. Further research shows that the first games of ice hockey may have originated and played in England. The earliest rules of this game were likely published in England as well. However, from the 1870s forward, Canada reshaped the sport in its entirety.
From the beginning of recorded history, “stick-and-ball games” have been present in many cultures. Ice hockey falls in this category of “stick-and-ball games.” Recordings of these games played in ancient Greece and Egypt have been discovered. Such games were played by Native Americans before Europeans arrived on the continent. Clear evidence is present that “stick-and-ball games” were played in medieval Europe as well. An illustration of curved sticks guiding a ball to a target is shown in the 13th century encyclopedia, Speculum Maius.
Hockey developed from early versions played in the British Isles. Scotland, Ireland, and England are the main points of interest from which hockey evolved. Many of these games shared similar rules and structures. However, according to the earliest known records of ice hockey, these games were not recorded as actually being played on ice, until a game of shinty played in 1608 in Scotland. Ice skates were likely not used in these games, however. Iron skates were not found in the British Isles until 1660.
When the British royal family returned from the Netherlands, a love for skating was brought with them. Canals provided an ideal space for skating. Skates were likely introduced to the Fens, a coastal plain in eastern England, by Dutch drainage workers. By 1662, diarist Samuel Pepsy described “people sliding with their skates,” which he declared as “a very pretty art.”
As history continued to develop and Europeans began to arrive in North America, hockey was eventually an important part of Canadian culture. Canada was known as the dominant power in ice hockey by 1920. Canada dominated Olympic ice hockey for over three decades. Canada has been the biggest and most essential contributor in building the world of ice hockey.
To this day, the sport grows in popularity around the world. I grew up watching ice hockey with my parents. The game has a special place in my heart.