Ice hockey is a fast-paced team sport played on an ice rink, in which skaters use sticks to shoot a rubber puck into the opposing team's goal. It is the national sport of Canada and hugely popular across northern Europe and the United States. Read more
In which sport is the 'Stanley Cup' the championship trophy?
EasyThe Stanley Cup is awarded to the champion of the NHL playoffs and is the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, donated by Governor General Lord Stanley of Preston in 1892. Unlike other trophies, the Stanley Cup has each winning team's players, coaches, and staff engraved on it each year. The winning players traditionally each get to spend a day with the Cup.
The Stanley Cup has been lost, left behind at a party, and even used as a flower pot - it has had a far more eventful life than most trophies. It was once dropped into the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.
How many players are on an ice hockey team on the ice?
EasyEach ice hockey team has 6 players on the ice at one time: a goaltender, two defensemen, and three forwards (left wing, center, right wing). Teams have 20 or more players on their roster but can only dress a maximum of 20 for any single game. Players rotate in frequent line changes to maintain high energy levels.
Ice hockey players typically skate between 5 and 7 kilometers per game - and professional teams make roughly 70-80 player changes per game, with each shift lasting an average of just 45 seconds at the elite level.
In ice hockey, what is a 'hat trick'?
EasyA hat trick in ice hockey occurs when a player scores three goals in a single game. In the NHL, fans traditionally throw hats onto the ice to celebrate a hat trick, forcing a brief stoppage in play to clear the ice. A natural hat trick refers to three consecutive goals scored by the same player without any other goals in between.
The tradition of throwing hats onto the ice after a hat trick started in the 1940s and 1950s, when a Toronto hat shop owner promised a free hat to any player who scored three goals while wearing one of his hats - the tradition spread and has been maintained ever since.
Which sport uses a 'puck'?
EasyIce hockey is the sport that uses a puck, a hard vulcanized rubber disc that is 1 inch thick and 3 inches in diameter. The puck replaced a rubber ball in early hockey games because it slid more predictably on ice and caused less danger when it flew into the stands. NHL pucks are frozen before games to reduce bouncing and increase control.
At professional speeds, a hockey puck can travel over 160 km/h (100 mph), making it one of the fastest projectiles in professional sports. The record for the hardest shot is 108.8 mph (175.1 km/h), set by Zdeno Ch?ra in 2012.