History of ice hockey in the United States

Ice hockey is a popular sport within the United States.

Beginning

Hockey came to the United States not too long after it did in Canada. It was brought overseas from British soldiers and immigrants. They would play this stick and ball game on frozen ponds and lakes in the winters (The History of Ice Hockey, 2015). The first recorded game of ice hockey was played in the United States at Yale University and Johns Hopkins University in 1893. (History of Ice Hockey, n.d.)

In 1894, the first artificial ice rink was built in Maryland (Fitzpatrick, 2012). The rink was called the North Avenue Ice Palace, which was located in Baltimore, Maryland. A few years later, in 1896, the first ice hockey league in the United States was formed called The U.S. Amateur Hockey League. It was founded in New York City around the same time as the second artificial ice rink was opened in New York, New York, called the St. Nicholas Arena. The U.S. Amateur Hockey League then became a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation in 1904 (Sportsknowhow, n.d.). There were five teams from the United States and Ontario that formed the International Ice Hockey Federation. This league only lasted three seasons but it was the first professional ice hockey league that the United States participated in. (History of Ice Hockey, n.d.)

Meanwhile, teams in western Canada formed the Pacific Coast Hockey Association in 1911. This league created new designs and rules that helped ice hockey evolve into the game it is today. Some of these new innovations that were created were blue lines that were painted under the ice which divided the ice into three sections, goaltenders are allowed to fall and slide on the ice to help prevent the other team from scoring a goal, forward passing is permitted in the neutral zone, and the game was split into three periods of 20 minutes. In 1912, the game changed again making it so there is only 6 players playing on the ice instead of seven. (Fitzpatrick, 2012)

Stanley Cup

The Stanley Cup is the oldest trophy in North American sports. Lord Stanley of Preston was appointed by Queen Victoria to be the Governor General of Canada on June 11, 1888. While governor, Ice hockey was still just forming in Canada. He first got to see the game of hockey played at Montreal's 1889 Winter Carnival (Stanley Cup, 2002). During the carnival he watched the Montreal Victorias play the Montreal Hockey Club. Since then his family and him became very involved in the game of ice hockey. His two sons, Arthur and Algernon, convinced their father to donate a trophy that would be considered to be a visible sign of the ice hockey championship. This trophy was a silver bowl inlaid with gold. The trophy was first presented in 1893 and was called the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. The name of the trophy was later changed to the famous name, The Stanley Cup. (Stanley Cup, 2002)

In 1914 the Portland Rosebuds, an American-based team, joined the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. After that, the trustees of the Stanley Cup made a statement that the Stanley Cup was no longer for the best team in Canada, but now the best team in the whole world. The Rosebuds became the first American team to compete in the Stanley Cup Finals two years later. In the year 1917, the team Seattle Metropolitans was the first American team to win the Stanley Cup. Once that season was over, the National Hockey Association was changed into the NHL or the National Hockey League. (Stanley Cup, 2002)

National Hockey League

In 1924, the Boston Bruins were the first American team to join the National Hockey League. During that season, the first NHL game was played in the United States where the Boston Bruins defeated the Montreal Maroons 2-1. That same season, the NHL increased the season schedule from 24 games to 30 games. Three more American teams the New York Rangers, Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Cougars, joined the NHL in the year 1926. That same year, the Western Hockey League fell apart and sold most of its players to the new NHL teams. This makes the NHL the top hockey league in North America. In 1942, the Brooklyn Americans withdrew from the NHL. This left the Canadians, Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Bruins, Rangers, and Black hawks as the only teams left in the NHL for the next 25 years. Those six teams are now called "the Original Six." (Fitzpatrick, 2012)

Olympics

A hockey tournament debuted in the summer Olympics in 1920. It would later be called the first World Ice Hockey Championship. Canada took the gold medal and the United States took the silver. Canada took the gold metal again in the 1924 winter Olympics. This was the first time hockey was considered an Olympic sport. In 1936, Great Britain gave Canada their first big loss in international hockey. Great Britain took the gold medal. The USSR finally joined in on Olympic ice hockey in 1956. They ended up winning the gold medal that year. (Fitzpatrick, 2012) In 1960 and 1980 the United States won the ice hockey Olympic Games. The 1980 ice hockey Olympics was known as "Miracle on Ice". This was when the United States upset the Soviet Union. (United States at the Olympics, 2005)

Television

In 1957, CBS is the first U.S. television network to carry NHL games. Later, the television network NBC also started carrying some NHL games. Both television networks held rights to show NHL games at times, but neither television network showed a full NHL schedule. They only carried select games from the Stanley Cup Finals. From the year 1971 to the year 1995 no United States television network had exclusive coverage of the NHL games. The USA television network started carrying 35 regular-season games and played the full schedule of the playoff games from the year 1981 to 1985. ESPN replaced the USA network in 1985 and then Sports Channel replaced ESPN in 1989. ESPN came back and later took over the National Hockey Contract in 1993. The Fox network joined ESPN in the year 1995. (Fitzpatrick, 2012)

Present day

As of the year 2015, there is over 2,000 ice rinks in the United States alone (United States, 2008). Also, the NHL still exists and there are now 30 teams participating in the league. 23 of those teams are located in the United States and 7 of the teams are located in Canada. As of spring 2014, United States has won 16 medals (gold, silver, and bronze) total.

References

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