Canada didn't invent Hockey, they just renamed another sport and played it on the only surface they had available.... ice. Figures.....
from a Canadian website on Hockey:
Quote:
Hockey wasn't really "invented."
A similar sport started in Ireland as the sport of Hurley. Canadians played it on ice. This happened in Nova Scotia in the 1800's. It was called Ice Hurley for quite some time and then people started to call it ice hockey.
Of course, there are other stories. - Some say the MicMac indians played a form of hockey in Nova Scotia when the Europeans arrived.
- In Windsor, Nova Scotia, there is a school called Kings View Academy. A teacher there supposedly took his students out to the pond behind their school and asked them to make up a sport. The game they played became hockey.
- Another interesting story says that ice hockey was first played in 1885 by British soldiers stationed in Canada. Guards who were guarding the Parliament building in Canada used to sneak off to a nearby field and play ice hockey. Some say they started by whacking rocks with a stick to stay warm.
Two towns claim that the first game of hockey was played there. The first is Kingston, Ontario, and the second is a small town in New Brunswick, both of which are in Canada.
It is generally accepted that the current rules for hockey evolved from students at McGill University in Montreal ("the McGill Rules") in 1875.
Around 1920 the NHL was formed by Canada. It grew. Rules evolved. For example in the 1920's you were aloud to pass forward.
Hockey is Canada's national game, but not Canada's "official sport," which is lacrosse.
On any Saturday night, right across Canada, about 40 percent of the population is watching HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA, the longest running program on Canadian TV. It has been on for over 50 years, every Saturday night, every hockey season.
It is now played in over 80 different countries around the world.
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