Ice hockey puck

“ The puck may be stopped but, not carried or knocked on, by any part of the body, nor shall any player close his hand on, or carry the puck to the ice in his hand. No player shall raise his stick above the shoulder, except in lifting the puck. Charging from behind, tripping, collaring, kicking or shinning shall not be allowed, and for any infringement of these rules, the Referee may rule the offending player off the ice for that match, or for such portion of actual playing time as he may see fit. ”

“ Perhaps it is this quality of the disk over the ball which has made it necessary in the Canadian game to allow the defensive players to stop the puck in any way they choose, instead of as in ice polo, where the ball may only be stopped by the sticks, the feet, or the body.
The space demanded for Canadian hockey is 112 feet by 58 feet, although the game is possible in a more restricted area. The goal is placed at the middle point of the two shorter lines; it consists of two upright posts four feet high placed six feet apart, and to score a goal the puck has to be driven between the posts. ”

“ When the puck has been lifted down the ice it is the duty of every forward towards whose goals the rubber has been sent, to follow immediately and quickly, in order to place himself in play, and not lag in the middle of the rink until his defence men shall have returned it. The practice of "lagging" off-side is indulged in in order to gain a rest, but it renders the game slow and uninteresting and fosters off-side play. ”

“ As an individualist, I’m impressed with the fact that, in hockey, skating is secondary to the game and I get no particular thrill out of chasing a puck and banging at it with a stick. Neither can I see any necessity for letting myself be bumped to the ice if I can possibly help it. ”

“ Nearer and nearer to the goal drew Alexander, and now he prepared to drive the puck behind it. The Marston people were wild with delight and threw their caps into the air in a frenzy of excitement. But suddenly, with a burst of speed, a mighty lunge forward, and a quick thrust of his hockey-stick, Dutchy caught up with Alexander, and secured the puck. In the tussle for it, however, both players tripped or stunbled and sprawled along the ice, and the Conrad goal-tender drove the puck out of danger. ”

“ The cringer, the man who waits outside of a scrimmage until by chance the puck slides to him, the man who fears an opponent, is not a hockey player. It is, of course, scientific play on certain occasions, to wait until the puck is shoved out of a crowd, or from the side, but reference is made, above, to the time when a "dive" is needed. Even if a man knows that an opponent is mean, unfair, this should be but a poor excuse to fear him, because the referee is on the ice for the protection of all the players. ”

“ Almost at once after the unsuccessful try the puck was at the Beavers’ goal, threatening it—occasion for more shouting. What a fast game hockey is! How exhilarating to watch! How I envied those boys. What excitement, what exhilaration it must be for them! Here was fame spontaneous, overwhelming, real. This was their world, much what the social world would be to me,—I hoped.
Time was called and the cheering fell to a subdued murmur. The players left the ice for their dressing-rooms. ”

“ When a forward, rushing down the ice, is well followed by another of his side, he should not try to dodge the cover point, but should draw out that man by inclining to the side, and pass the puck to his partner, taking care to then place himself in the best possible position to receive it back, if the latter cannot shoot. ”

“ Every fellow seemed to start up as if on springs, and it was indeed a pretty sight to see all those colored jerseys beginning to flit hither and thither over the ice, each young athlete ready to exert himself to the limit in order to accomplish the task falling to his hand.
Hockey sticks circled through the air, or were held in readiness for a stroke, as those whose hands gripped the same darted down toward the inoffensive puck, with hostile intent.
Frank had found himself opposed to Coots in the start as the puck was "faced," with the shoe of a hockey stick on either side. ”

“ And all have skates and hockey sticks and enter without price.
And seats are round for those who rest—the idle and the old;
But those who are not in the game are apt to find it cold.
Some play defence, some forward, with terrific speed and stress.
The puck keeps flying 'twixt the goals of failure and success,
Now up, now down, across and back, here, there, and everywhere.
The grit of skates, the crack of sticks, the shouting, fill the air.
Some slip and fall a thousand times and spring up in a trice;
Some go to pieces on their feet and have to leave the ice ”

“ The game began, and was soon in full progress, with the players surging from one end of the rink to the other, according to which side had gained possession of the puck, and were endeavoring by every legitimate means possible to shoot the little rubber disc between the goal posts, and into the net of their opponents.
It was soon seen that as a whole the Scratch Team was woefully weak. Hugh's players had things pretty much their own way. ”

“ If the new goal scheme, advocated by the Quebec Hockey Club, be accepted, the usefulness of the goal-minder will be increased, and his science will be more frequently called into play, because the position of the goals, flush with the end of the ice, makes them amenable to attack from whatever place in which the puck may be, whereas, nowadays, the danger is not immediate when the puck is behind the poles. ”

“ I put the puck back to centre as a penalty for one of your side playing foul tactics, and willfully seeking to injure one of the opposing team. Let it be a warning that such conduct cannot be tolerated."
Lef looked at the referee. Then he stared around at his players.
"He's going to quit!" shouted some one, close by.
"Same old game; if he can't have everything he wants, he won't play!"
"Poor old Lef; he's in hard luck all the time. Say, don't try the baby act, old boy! You and your crowd are putting up a good article of hockey. ”

“ The game shall be started and renewed by the Referee calling "play" after having placed the puck on its larger surface on the ice, between the sticks of two of the players, one from each team, who are to face it. After a goal has been scored the puck shall be played on the centre of the ice.
off-side.
7. A player shall always be on his side of the puck. ”

“ Each player is armed with a hockey stick, as to the size of which the only rule is that it shall not be more than three inches wide at any part. A good stick should be made of a single piece of ash, bent, not sawed, into the proper curve, of the length and weight the player finds to suit him best. The bone of contention between the contending sides is called the puck, and is a circular piece of vulcanized rubber one inch thick all through, and three inches in diameter. It is slightly elastic, and will rebound from the board sides of the rink if sent violently against them ”

“ The defensive men on a hockey team should not by any strategy or coaxing on the part of their opponents allow themselves to leave their own goal unprotected.
The forwards have most of the work of shooting goals and advancing the puck. Of course such a man must be very active and a good all round player. Hockey is a poor game in which to display grand-stand playing. The player’s whole idea should be to shoot the puck so that either he or some member of his team may score a goal. ”

“ Although by nearing his opponents' defence with the puck a player naturally approaches the position from which to shoot, he will invariably confuse his adversaries more successfully, and often secure for himself or his partner, a much more desirable vantage ground, by passing the puck to the latter, before reaching the cover-point. Indeed, if the question of praise be mentioned, there is often more due to the player who assists by a clever bit of combination work, than to the man who scores the game. ”

“ Pluck is an essential to a man who aspires to perfection in the game, and is as indispensable to him as it is to a footballer or a soldier. The calculating player often saves himself by avoiding unnecessary dangers, but occasion demands, at times, a fast rush through a "bunch" of fighting players, through swinging, smashing sticks that, in noise and movements, resemble a threshing machine,—a desperate jump, or a block of the puck, at the expense of a sore punishment, to score or save a single goal, and the risk must be run. ”

“ It is essential that the two centre men and the right wing should be able to shoot the puck as well from the right side as from the left, because the chances of scoring in either ways are about equal. As for the left wing, he is called upon so seldom to shoot from the right, that is presuming that he holds his stick correctly, with the blade to his left side, that it is not so important for him.
The most dangerous, successful lift for the goal, is raising the puck about to the level of the knee. ”

“ The team that indulges most in this scientific play, has the less hard work to do, and is necessarily the freshest when the trying end of the match comes round, because combination play minimizes the Work in this arduous game.
As soon as a player secures the puck, he should first look for an opening, and then size up, at a glance, the position of his confreres. It is, indeed, a question whether it be not more scientific, more successful, to first look for a good opportunity to pass the puck to a partner, and then, if none such presents itself, to force a clearing. ”

“ Play begins with a bully—that is, the puck is placed between the two centres in the centre of the rink, and they, after solemnly striking their sticks together, three times, scramble for its possession, trying either to drive it ahead into their opponents' territory, or behind to the half-back, who immediately passes it to one of the forwards. Then the game goes on in lively earnest; and when the teams are expert and well matched, there is nothing on ice to compare with it for brilliancy and excitement. ”

“ When the play is at the other end of the rink, the cover-point should advance to about the middle, so that when the puck is lifted down, he may return it without loss of time, in order to keep the game centered around his opponents’ goals, and to save his forwards the trouble of skating up to him so that they may again "get into play." It is by playing far up under these circumstances that a clever cover-point can shine to the advantage of his team. If he has a good opening he should shoot well for the goals, but if he has not, he should, as I have said, return the puck instantaneously. ”

“ The pure air, the bright lights, the merry, laughing girls, the noisy enthusiastic boys, and age that's not too old to still enjoy the pleasure of a fascinating game, all combine, with the keen ice and the fast play, to make hockey the king of infatuating sports. ”

“ When the forwards of a team are operating around their opponents' goals and cannot get an opening, it is sometimes advisable for them to slide the puck to their cover point if he is well advanced towards the middle of the rink, because this will probably coax out the defence, and the change of positions may create the desired effect. ”

“ When two "wing" men play combination together, in an attack, the puck should scarcely ever be passed directly to each other, but should be aimed at the cushioned side of the rink, some distance in advance of the man, so that he may secure it on the rebound. The rink is so wide that it is difficult to pass the puck accurately from one side to the other, especially during a rush, so the above means is recommended. ”

“ The stick of a cover-point player should be somewhat heavier than a forward's. It should belong in the handle, in order to increase a man`s reach, and the blade should taper, becoming thinner towards the end, which aids in raising the puck. His dress and skates are the same as used by the forwards. ”

“ Leave that rubber alone, will you?" howled some one, when the defender of the Columbia goal met the flying puck with a well-aimed crack that ended the suspense temporarily, and hurled it back toward the centre of the ice.
Like spokes leading toward the hub of a wheel, flitting figures shot toward the object of interest. A stick was thrust out to intercept its progress, and again a furious fight for the possession of the coveted puck was on. ”

“ It is singular, but remarkably true that a forward who could not win even a "green" skating race, can excel as a lightning hockey player. It is one of the ingenious paradoxes of the game, that cannot be explained. A man who can beat another in a race is not necessarily a faster forward than that man. Examples on every team prove the contention. Perhaps the possession of the puck, the excitement of the game, the attraction that an assistant has when skating near him, gives to the man who may not claim distinction as a racer, a power, a speed, that a simple race cannot make him exercise ”

“ If they crowd in upon him, his view of the play is abstructed; if the cover rushes out he may not use the bodycheck, because he does not know which man will have the puck, and therefore cannot afford to waste time and energy on one who has already passed the rubber, or who will do so, and the point man must necessarily keep his position unless some fumbling occurs. ”

“ In lifting the puck, attention should be given to direct it so that it shall not be sent to an opponent, but to the side or to an opening, in order to enable the forwards to follow it up and block the return. ”