Hockey Coloring Pages

Fun Facts about Ice Hockey

• Unlike baseball or basketball, the origins of ice hockey are murky, at best. While some say a version of the game was played by the French and Irish as far back as the 1700s, others claim it was invented in the mid-1800s when Canadians with homemade sticks would skate on frozen ponds in Ontario.
• Before hockey pucks were invented, the earliest hockey games were played outside on frozen ponds with chunks of frozen patties of cow poop.
• In 1930 World Ice Hockey Championship, the Canadian team was considered so dominant that it did not participate in the knock-out tournament. Canada was right away put into the final game and the tournament was played to determine an opponent. Canada won.
• The original Stanley Cup was only seven inches high. The names of every player from each winning team is etched on the base of the Cup. The cup and base now stands more than 35 inches high.
• Chicago Blackhawks Hall of Famer Stan Mikita is most often credited with the creation of the curved stick blade in the 1960s — all blades were previously straight — though many others, including fellow Hall of Fame forward Andy Bathgate, also claim to have curved their sticks as far back as the 1930s and ’40s.
• Some pro players call their mothers for a few words of encouragement, but not Sidney Crosby; Sid the Kid has a strict rule about not speaking with his mom on game days. He has broken this rule three times, and each time has been injured during the game.
• The decision to install higher plexiglass panels in all hockey arenas was taken after a player-spectator brawl in 1979. After a 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers, Mike Milbury of the Boston Bruins jumped over the glass, tore off a boisterous spectator’s shoe and proceeded to beat him with it. His actions resulted in a six-game suspension.