Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

HOCKEY (possibly derived from the " h...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 556 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

HOCKEY (possibly derived from the " hooked " stick with which it is played; cf. O. Fr. hoquet, shepherd's crook) , a See also:game played with a See also:ball or some similar See also:object by two opposing sides, using hooked or See also:bent sticks, with which each See also:side attempts to drive it into the other's See also:goal. In one or more of its See also:variations Hockey was known to most See also:northern peoples in both See also:Europe and See also:Asia, and the See also:Romans possessed a game of similar nature. It was played indiscriminately on the frozen ground or the See also:ice in See also:winter. In See also:Scotland it was called " shinty," and in See also:Ireland " hurley," and was usually played on the hard, sandy See also:sea-See also:shore Ice Hockey (or Bandy, to give it its See also:original name) is far more popular than See also:ordinary Hockey in countries where there is much ice; in fact in See also:America " Hockey means Ice Hockey, while the See also:land game is called See also:Field Hockey. Ice Hockey in its simplest See also:form of See also:driving a ball across a given limit with a stick or See also:club has been played for centuries in northern Europe, attaining its greatest popularity in the See also:Low Countries, and there are many 16th- and 17th-See also:century paintings extant which represent See also:games of Bandy, the players using an See also:implement formed much like a See also:golf club. In See also:England Bandy is controlled by the " See also:National Bandy Association." A team consists of eleven players, wearing skates, and the proper space for See also:play is 200 yds. by too yds. in extent. The ball is of solid See also:india-See also:rubber, between 21 and 21 in. in See also:diameter. The bandies are 2 in. in diameter and about 4 ft. See also:long. The goals, placed in the centre of each goal-See also:line, consist of two upright posts 7 ft. high and 12 ft. apart, connected by a See also:lath. A match is begun by the See also:referee throwing up the ball in the centre of the field, after which it must not be touched other than with the bandy until a goal is scored or the ball passes the boundaries of the course, in which See also:case it is See also:hit into the field in any direction excepting forward from the point where it went out by the player who touched it last.

If the ball is hit across the goal-line but not into a goal, it is hit out by one of the defenders from the point where it went over, the opponents not being allowed to approach nearer than 25 yds. from the goal-line while the hit is made. In America the development of the See also:

modern game is due to the See also:Victoria Hockey Club and McGill University (See also:Montreal). About 1881 the secretary of the former club made the first efforts towards See also:drawing up a recognized See also:code of See also:laws, and for some See also:time afterwards playing rules were agreed upon from time to time whenever an important match was played, the See also:chief teams being, besides those already mentioned, the See also:Ottawa, See also:Quebec, Crystal and Montreal Hockey Clubs, the first See also:general See also:tournament taking See also:place in 1884. Three years later the " See also:Amateur Hockey Association of See also:Canada " was formed, and a definite code of rules See also:drawn up. Soon afterwards, in consequence of exhibitions given by the best See also:Canadian teams in with numerous players on each side. The rules were See also:simple and the play very rough. Modern Hockey, properly so called, is played during the See also:cold See also:season on the hard See also:turf, and owes its See also:recent See also:vogue to the formation of " The Men's Hockey Association " in England in 1875. The rules drawn up by the See also:Wimbledon Club in 1883 still obtain in all essentials. Since 1895 " See also:international " matches at hockey have been played annually between England, Scotland, Ireland and See also:Wales; and in 1907 a match was played between England and See also:France, won by England by 14 goals to, nil. In 1890 Divisional Association matches (See also:North, See also:South, See also:West, Midlands) and inter-university matches (See also:Oxford and See also:Cambridge) were inaugurated, and have since been played annually. See also:County matches are also now regularly played in England, twenty-six counties competing in 1907. Of other hockey clubs playing See also:regular matches in 1907, there were eighty-one in the See also:London See also:district, and fifty-nine in the provinces.

The game is played by teams of eleven players on a ground too yds. long and 50 to 6o yds. wide. The goals are in the centre of each ( end-line, and consist of two uprights 7 ft. high a, surmounted by a hori- ~~ s ; zontal See also:

bar, enclosing a °J space 12 ft. wide. In t$ . a front of each goal is ,5 riggcle n; aece See also:ing cir See also:curve dlineitsgreatest , diameter from the goal- line ®y line being 15 ft., called the striking-circle. The positions of the players 20 on each side may be seen on the accompany- ,ti ing See also:diagram. Two umpires, one on each ®' 0 0. 0 ': 0 °o side of the centre-line, Centre line officiate. D i a 0 0 0 0 The ball is an ordinary LW;'', LI CF RI '‘3'RW See also:cricket-ball painted See also:white. The stick has a 0 to hard-See also:wood curved See also:head, OH 0' and a handle of See also:cork LH RH; or wrapped See also:cane. It must not exceed 2 in. n— in diameter nor 28 oz. ;O ~ in See also:weight. At the start S,clping Clre~e y of the game, which a at consists of two See also:thirty n h r or thirty-five See also:minute 'm ds , o, r 1: See also:oar G periods, the two centre- p; 9 , ~j forwards " See also:bully off " T I the ball in the See also:middle 4 uda, of the field.

In " bully- Diagram of Hockey Field. ing off " each centre must strike the ground G, Goal. RW, Right Wing. on his own side of the RB, Right Back. RI, Inside Right. ball three times with LB, See also:

Left Back. CF, Centre Forward. his stick and strike his RH, Right See also:Half. LI, Inside Left. opponent's stick three CH, Centre Half. LW, Left Wing. times alternately; after I.H, Left Half. which either may strike the ball. Each side then endeavours, by means of striking, passing and dribbling, to drive the ball into its opponents' goal. A player is " off side " if he is nearer the enemy's goal than one of his own side who strikesi the See also:hall, and he may not strike the ball himself until it has been touched by one of the opposing side. The ball may be caught (but not held) or stopped by any See also:part of the See also:body, but may not be picked up, carried, kicked, thrown or knocked except with the stick. An opponent's stick may be hooked, but not an opponent's See also:person, which may not be obstructed in any way. No left-handed play is allowed. Penalties for infringing rules are of two classes; " See also:free hits " and " See also:penalty bullies," to be taken where the foul occurred.

For flagrant fouls penalty goals may also be awarded. A " corner " occurs when the ball goes behind the goal-line, but not into goal. If it is hit by the attacking side, or unintentionally by the defenders, it must be brought out 25 yds., in a direction at right angles to the goal-line from the point where it crossed the line, and there " bullied." But if the ball is driven from within the 25-yd. line unintentionally behind the goal-line by the defenders, a member of the attacking side is given a free hit from a point within 3 yds. of a corner See also:

flag, the members of the defending side remaining behind their goal-line. If the ball is hit intentionally behind the goal-line by the attacking side, the free hit is taken from the point where thefball went over. No goal can be scored from a free hit directly. Hockey Stick. some of the larger cities of the See also:United States, the new game was taken up by See also:American See also:schools, colleges and athletic clubs, and became nearly as popular in the northern states as in the Dominion. The rules differ widely from those of See also:English Bandy. The rink must be at least 112 ft. long by 58 ft. wide, and seven players form a side. The goals are 6 ft. wide and 4 ft. high and are provided with goal-nets. Instead of the English painted cricket-ball a puck is used, made of vulcanized rubber in the form of a See also:draught-See also:stone, i in. thick, and 3 in. in diameter. The sticks are made of one piece of hard wood, and may not be more than 3 in. wide at any part.

The game is played for two half-See also:

hour or twenty-minute periods with an inter-See also:mission of ten minutes. At the beginning of a match, and also when a goal has been made, the puck is faced, i.e. it is placed in the middle of the rink between the sticks of the two left-centres, and the referee calls " play." Whichever side then secures the ball endeavours by means of passing and dribbling to get the puck into a position from which a goal may be shot. Tjie puck may be stopped by any part of the person but not carried or knocked except with the stick. No stick may be raised above the See also:shoulder except when actually striking the puck. When the puck is driven off the rink or behind the goal, or a foul has been made behind the goal, it is faced 5 yds. inside the rink. The goal-keeper must maintain a See also:standing position. There are a number of Hockey organizations in America, all under the See also:jurisdiction of the " American Amateur Hockey See also:League " in the United States and the " Canadian Amateur Athletic League " in Canada. Ice See also:Polo, a winter See also:sport similar to Ice Hockey, is almost exclusively played in the New England states. A rubber-covered ball is used and the stick is heavier than that used in Ice Hockey. The See also:radical difference between the two games is that, in Ice Polo, there is no strict off-side See also:rule, so that passes and shots at goal may come from any and often the most unexpected direction. Five men constitute a team: a goal-tend, a half-back, a centre and two rushers. The rushers must be rapid skaters, adepts in dribbling and passing and See also:good goal shots.

The centre supports the rushers, passing the ball to them or trying for goal himself. The half-back is the first See also:

defence and the goal-tend the last. The rink is 150 ft. long. See also:Ring Hockey may be played on the See also:floor of any gymnasium or large See also:room by teams of six, comprising a goal-keeper, a See also:quarter, three efef reOt'icgt iii: 0 IV forwards and a centre. The goals consist of two uprights 3 ft. high and 4 ft. apart. The ring, which takes the place of the ball or puck, is made of flexible rubber, and is 5 in. in diameter with a 3-in. opening through the centre. It weighs between 12 and 16 oz. The stick is a wand of See also:light but tough wood, between 36 and 4o in. long, about in. in diameter, provided with a 5-in. guard 20 in. from the See also:lower end. The method of See also:shooting is to insert the end of the stick in the hole of the ring and drive it towards the goal. A goal shot from the field See also:counts one point, a goal from a foul i point. When a foul is called by the referee a player of the opposing side is allowed a free shot for goal from any point on the quarter line. See also:Roller Polo, played extensively during the winter months in the United States, is practically Ice Polo adapted to the floors of gymnasiums and halls, the players, five on a side, wearing roller-skates.

The first professional league was organized in 1883. HOCK-See also:

TIDE, an See also:ancient general See also:holiday in England, celebrated on the second See also:Monday and Tuesday after See also:Easter See also:Sunday. Hock-Tuesday was an important See also:term See also:day, rents being then payable, for with Michaelmas it divided the rural See also:year into its winter and summer halves. The derivation of the word is disputed: any See also:analogy with Ger. hock, " high," being generally denied. No trace of the word is found in Old English, and " hock-day," its earliest use in See also:composition, appears first in the 12th century. The characteristic pastime of hock-tide was called binding. On Monday the See also:women, on Tuesday the men, stopped all passers of the opposite See also:sex and See also:bound them with See also:ropes till they bought their See also:release with a small See also:payment, or a rope was stretched across the highroads, and the passers were obliged to pay See also:toll. The See also:money thus collected seems to havegone towards See also:parish expenses. Many entries are found in parish registers under " Hocktyde money." The hocktide celebration became obsolete in the beginning of the 18th century. At See also:Coventry there was a play called " The Old Coventry Play of Hock Tuesday." This, suppressed at the See also:Reformation owing to the incidental disorder, and revived as part of the festivities on See also:Queen See also:Elizabeth's visit to See also:Kenilworth in See also:July 1575, depicted the struggle between See also:Saxons and Danes, and has given See also:colour to the See also:suggestion that hock-tide was originally a See also:commemoration of the See also:massacre of the Danes on St Brice's Day, the 13th of See also:November A.D. 1002, or of the rejoicings at the See also:death of See also:Hardicanute on the 8th of See also:June 1042 and the See also:expulsion of the Danes. But the See also:dates of these anniversaries do not See also:bear this out.

End of Article: HOCKEY (possibly derived from the " hooked " stick with which it is played; cf. O. Fr. hoquet, shepherd's crook)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
HOCHSTETTER, FERDINAND CHRISTIAN VON, BARON (1829�...
[next]
HOCUS