December 19: First National Hockey League Games (1917)
Prayer Idea
Pray for people who play hockey and provide support behind the scenes.
History Note
Many cultures have developed games in which players use sticks to move a ball or other object to a goal. Hurling is an ancient Irish version. Indigenous nations in North America played stickball. By the 18th century, the Mi’kmaq people in Nova Scotia had developed a version played on ice. In the 19th century, European settlers in Canada evidently combined elements of the Mi'kmaw game with concepts from other sports to create modern ice hockey.
In 1875 teams played the first recorded public indoor ice hockey game in Montreal. The Stanley Cup was first awarded after an 1893 competition between amateur teams. Professional teams started competing in organized leagues in Canada and the United States.
The National Hockey League (NHL) was organized in 1917 with two teams from Montreal, one from Ottawa, and one from Toronto. Those teams faced each other in the first two games on December 19.
The 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, included an ice hockey competition. A Canadian team won the gold medal. A Canadian team also won gold at the first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, France, and ice hockey has been part of the Winter Olympics ever since. (Canada has won a total of 9 Olympic gold medals in men’s ice hockey and 5 in women’s ice hockey.)
The NHL has expanded to include 25 teams in the United States and 7 in Canada. The largest number of NHL players still come from Canada. The United States produces the next largest number of players, followed by Sweden, Russia, and Finland. Perhaps two million people enjoy playing ice hockey worldwide.
The Arena Hockey Club of Toronto won the first NHL season. After defeating the top team from the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, they considered themselves champions of the world. Photo courtesy Angus Carroll.
Learn More
This is the earliest known film of people playing ice hockey. Thomas Edison’s company filmed it in 1898 in New Jersey.
Find more resources at Homeschool History.
