Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Hockey...the Sport. What is it?
Hockey...what is it? Hockey is a very tough team sport that involves skating on ice and trying to score goals. OK, a few basics. The concept of the sport is to get a hard rubber disc, called a puck, into the goal. The problem is that the puck needs to get past the goalie, a heavily padded player that is doing anything they can to keep the puck out of the goal. Each team has five players and a goalie. This includes three forwards (left wing, center, and right wing) and two defensemen (left and right). Each player wears pads for protection, ice skates, and carries a hockey stick that is made to move and shoot the puck. The player has to be skilled in ice skating and be able to "stick handle" or dribble the puck on the ice while trying to avoid the other team trying to get the puck from you. The most goals wins. Each goal that is scored awards the individual players either a goal or an assist. These points are added up and followed by hockey fans everywhere. There are many rules to protect the players and help to keep the game flow smooth. Broken rules can result in a penalty, or time spent in the penalty box, while your team plays short handed for the amount of time the penalty is for. More to come...stay tuned!
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Does this sport attract more players with a short fuse than other sports? Is the aura of violence just a bad rap for hockey?
ReplyDeleteAfter playing for about a year, I would say that, in my opinion, the aura of violence is a bad rap. Granted, there are some players that play physical and do so on purpose; "dirty" players are in every sport. For the most part the players I have met and played against are just there to be competitive and have a good time. More times that not, we are laughing and cracking jokes while playing than being violent. True, the sport and the competition can bring some emotion flares, but all sports see that. From an outside perspective, I can see many people's view that hockey is a "goon" sport and violent, yet the NHL has been proactive with stricter rules and enforcement. Then again, most sports do not allow "checking" or hitting during the game as hockey does; it is only natural that it can look like a violent sport.
DeleteI LOVE hockey! And I think hockey players actually have a much longer fuse than football or basketball players (or perhaps because they are allowed to be frustrated on the ice - they are more patient in the rest of life.) My favorite player on all time is Ian Laperriere. He will fight anyone despite a size disadvantage and once took a puck to the face in the fist period, lost 7 teeth and received over 100 stitches in the second period, and played (without pain killers because they would affect performance) in the third period. He is a tough, feisty agitator who is one of the sweetest men off the ice.
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