Hockey Facts, Worksheets, Origins & Ice Hockey For Kids (2024)

Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent’s goal using a hockey stick. The two main types are ice hockey and field hockey, and the sport is mostly referred to simply as hockey.

See the fact file below for more information on the hockey or alternatively, you can download our 24-page Hockey worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

ORIGINS

• The precise origin of hockey is unknown. Many believe ice hockey probably evolved from the game of field hockey that had been played in Northern Europe for centuries.
• However, games played using curved sticks had been seen in different ancient cultures. 4000-year-old carvings from Egyptian times feature teams with sticks and a projectile.
• Around 600 BC in Ancient Greece, a game called kerētízein was played with a horn or horn-like stick.
• In Inner Mongolia, the Daur people have been playing beikou, a game similar to modern field hockey, for about 1,000 years.
• An Ethiopian game called Genna is considered a field hockey game without many differences from field hockey itself.
• The first organized indoor hockey game was played March 3, 1875 at Montreal’s Victoria Skating Rink, between two teams of nine players each from McGill University.
• In 1888, the first Amateur Hockey Association was formed.
• In 1892, the first ever women’s hockey game was played in Ottawa, Canada.

ICE HOCKEY

• In 1875, the first game of ice hockey with Creighton’s rules was played in Montreal, Canada.
• In 1877, the first known rules for ice hockey were published by the Montreal Gazette.
• Ice hockey is the most popular sport in Canada, Finland, Latvia, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. It is the national sport of Latvia and the national winter sport of Canada.
• Ice hockey is played between two teams of skaters on a large flat area of ice, using a three-inch-diameter (76.2 mm) vulcanized rubber disc called a puck.
• The aim of the game is to knock the hockey puck into the opposing team’s net. The net is guarded by a special player called the goalkeeper.
• In ice hockey, each team only has six players on the ice rink at a time, unless there is a penalty.
• The NHL was formed in 1917. It consisted of 5 teams: Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and the Toronto Arenas, which was the only team with artificial ice.
• There are six teams known as “The original Six”. These are: Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Today, 30 teams make up the NHL.

FIELD HOCKEY

• Field hockey is played on grass, watered turf, artificial turf or synthetic field, as well as an indoor boarded surface.
• Each team plays with ten field players and a goalkeeper. Players commonly use sticks made out of wood, carbon fibre or fiberglass to hit a round, hard, plastic hockey ball.
• The game is popular among both males and females in many parts of the world, particularly in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina.
• The governing body of field hockey is the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
• The game is played between two teams of eleven, 10 field players and one goalkeeper.
• A match ordinarily consists of two periods of 35 minutes and a half-time interval of 5 minutes.
• All players on the team in possession of the ball are attackers, and those on the team without the ball are defenders, yet throughout the game you are always “defending” your goal and “attacking” the opposite goal.

ROLLER IN-LINE HOCKEY

• Roller inline hockey is a variant of hockey played on a hard, smooth surface, with players using inline skates to move and hockey sticks to shoot a hard, plastic puck into their opponent’s goal to score points.
• There are five players including the goalkeeper from each team on the rink at a time, while teams normally consist of 16 players.
• The game is played in three 15-minute periods with a variation of the ice hockey offside rule. Icings are also called, but are usually referred to as illegal clearing.
• The governing body is the IIHF, but some leagues and competitions do not follow the IIHF regulations, in particular USA Inline and Canada Inline.

Hockey Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the hockey across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Hockey worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the hockey which is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent’s goal using a hockey stick. The two main types are ice hockey and field hockey, and the sport is mostly referred to simply as hockey.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

• Hockey-wide
• Puck Drop
• The NHL
• Hockey on Ice
• The Puck is In
• Hockey Gear
• Field Hockey
• Field Hockey Legend
• Game of Goals
• Hockey Poster

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Link will appear as - KidsKonnect, July 22, 2021