2006 HOCKEY PICKS

I did a google search and at one site athleticscolarships.net I found the following information.

Until the mid-1980s it was usually accepted that ice hockey was derived from English field hockey and Indian lacrosse and was spread throughout Canada by British soldiers in the mid-1800s. Research then turned up a mention of a hockey-like game played in the early 1800s in Nova Scotia by the Micmac Indians it appeared to have been mainly influenced by the Irish game of hurling it included the use of a hurley stick and a square wooden block instead of a ball. It was probably fundamentally this game that spread throughout Canada via Scottish and Irish immigrants and the British army. The players adopted elements of field hockey such as the bully later the face-off and shinning hitting your opponent on the shins with the stick or playing with the stick on one shin or side this later evolved into an informal ice game later known as shinny or shinty. The name hockey--as the organized game came to be known--has been attributed to the French word hoquet shepherds stick.

Sounds good to me. They also add the following Historical facts about ice hockey

The term rink referring to the playing area was originally used in the game of curling in 18th-century Scotland. Early hockey games allowed as many as 30 players a side on the ice and the goals were two stones each frozen into one end of the ice. The first use of a puck instead of a ball was recorded at Kingston Harbour Ont. in 1860

Now that sounds like more fun than a bucket of squirrels. eh. They further ramble on and tell us about the structuring of ice hockey.

Rules were set by students at McGill University in Montral Canada in 1879 and several amateur clubs and leagues were established in Canada by the late 1880s. The game is believed to have been first played in the United States in 1893. By the beginning of the 20th century the sport had spread to Great Britain and other parts of Europe. The modern game developed in Canada and nowadays is very popular in North America and East Europe.

And lastly we come to the NHL and these little tidbits.

The National Hockey League NHL is the most important league in the world it comprises teams from the United States and Canada but for many years almost all NHL players were Canadians. The winning team of this competition is awarded the Stanley Cup trophy. Ice Hockey was added to the Olympic Games in 1920 being one of the most popular events at the Winter Olympics.

Now I do not claim to be a historian so if you disagree with anything I posted here i leave it to you to do your own research but in the end what we have is one of the best games on the planet. It is fast it is action packed it has fights for gods sakes and not little shoving events that are broken up right away but full on scraps that can go on for a good period of time. As the old joke goes... we went to a fight and a hockey game broke out

Here is a funny little tidbit i found in my research. The Battle of the Hockey Enforcers was a sporting event held in Prince George British Columbia Canada on August 29 2005.

The event consisted of ice hockey enforcers fighting on the ice in full hockey gear as sometimes seen in regular games. Like in the NHL no fighting on the ground was allowed and the referees separated the fighters if the fight turned too one-sided. If a fight did not end in a referee stoppage it was judged by a panel of hockey experts.

The event was somewhat successful the CN Centre was about 1/3 full with 2000 spectators but the pay per view sales have been reported to be encouraging.

The most famous participant was a former NHL player Link Gaetz but he had to withdraw after experiencing concussion-like symptoms after his first fight. The winner was Dean Mayrand from Windsor Ontario who plays for the Sorel-Tracy Mission in the Ligue nord-amricaine de hockey. Mayrand defeated Mike Sgroi in the final round receiving an award of $62000.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Hockey_Enforcers

OK now that I live in Costa Rica I missed that one but for all of you Canadians we all know how well the Rockem Sockem series of videos sold probably out on DVD now too I bet... So I can just imagine. For those of you not familiar with Rockem Sockem just google that or Don Cherry. Classic stuff and it really brings it home about what hockey is all about.

A fellow Expat another handicapper who lives down here in Costa Rica who happens to hail from the USA often points out the great hits in Football and yes they are very impressive and he speaks about the only sport to have legalized violence HA I say... Hockey has Football beat hands down. I a working from memory here but I am sure I have personally witnessed at least 3 bench clearing brawls and one fight that pitted enforcers from bitter rival teams scrap it out for like 20 million hours or something like that.

Here is some great Hockey Trivia for you I found at http://members.aol.com/blueshull/thanks.html

1.Who Said: Even if I wanted to go straight I said to myself I couldnt: there are too many enforcers around the league looking to take me on and prove they are number one?

Dave Schultz They didnt call him The Hammer for nothing. In the 1970s Schultz was the baddest Broad Street Bully racking up misconducts and fighting majors faster than you can say Philadelphia City of Brotherly Love. He did have one 20-goal season but Schultz was the games chief good defending his title every game. Between 1972 and 1975 Schultz accounted for 22% of all penalty minutes amassed by the Flyers the most penalized team in hockey. His 1974-75 recorded for most penalty minutes 427 in one season remains unbeaten

2. Which teams were involved in the brawl that brought about the NHLs fights All-Star game?

Bruins-Maple Leafs The NHLs first All-Star game was a benefit match for Torontos Ace Bailey who had been seriously injured in a Bruin-Maple Leafs fight in 1934. Bostons Eddie Shore retaliating for a trip by King Clancy mistook Bailey for Clancy and charged him from behind. Bailey struck the ice fracturing his skull he lay twisted and twitching in a seizure-like state. The Leafs Red Horner then decked Shore knocking him cold on the ice. Both teams stormed over the boards. The melee ended with Horner and Conacher holding off the Bruins with sticks raised bayonet-fashion. Near death for 10 days Bailey recorded was well enough to attend his benefit All-Star game and shake hands with Shore at center ice. For the rest of the season the Bruins wore helmets. Bailey never played another game.

3. Name the only two 50-goal scorers in NHL history who at some point in their careers also led the League in penalty minutes.

Vic Hadfield and Maurice Richard No NHLer has ever managed to score 50 goals and become penalty leader in the same season but Hadfield and Richard earn a footnote in history as the only players who did both in a career. Hadfield served a league-leading 151 minutes in the box 1963-64 and eight years later in 1971-72 scored 50 goals. Surprisingly Richard the NHLs first 50 goal scorer in 1944-45s 50 game schedule was no slouch when it came to box time more than doubling his career record 544 goals with 1285 career penalty minutes. but Richards fame has never been measured in penalties and when in 1952-53 he amassed a league-leading 112 minutes it beat Terrible Ted Lindsays season mark by only one minute!

4. What two teams brawled on the ice before the start of a 1987 playoff game?

Flyers-Canadiens. During the Wales Conference finals a bizarre pre-game brawl erupted at the end of the warm-up period when two Flyers tried to prevent the Canadiens from performing their pre-game ritual of shooting the puck into Phillys empty net. As most players were heading to the dressing rooms Flyers goalie Chico Resch streaked back onto the ice and threw his stick at the puck while hitman Ed Hospodar took on Montreals Shayne Corson and Claude Lemieux. Within seconds both teams were engaged in a full-scale battle. Officials handed out $24000 in fines.

5. Who hold the record for the most penalties in one game?

Chris Nilan It wasnt a good night for hockey on March 31 1991 when Hartford met Most in a 3 and a half hour free-for-all that saw 10 misconducts handed out. Nilans pugilistic skills made him the busiest man on the ice that night collecting 42 penalty minutes in a record 10 penalties including six minors two majors and one 10 minute misconduct and one game misconduct.

6. Which player received the longest NHL suspension ever for a playing infraction?

Tom Lysiak After being thrown out of the faceoff circle by linesman Ron Foyt in 1982 Chicagos Lysiak waited till the puck was dropped skated to the Blackhawk bench where Foyt was standing and deliberately took the feet out from under him. At his disciplinary hearing Lysiak was suspended for 20 games for physical abuse of an official.

7. A bomb exploded during a Detroit-Montreal game at the Forum in 1955 sparking the famous Maurice Richard riot. Where was the Rocket?

In the stands Richard was sitting directly behind the Detroit goal about 40 feet away from Clarence Campbell. The NHL president had suspended Richard earlier in the week for deliberately punching an official during a game. The suspension included the seasons final three games and the playoffs. At stake were Richards scoring lead the Canadiens first place finish and the Stanley Cup. For Montreal fans losing Richard -- their idol and Montreals best player -- was a slap in the face. Ironically the tear gas bomb obviously targeted for Campbell exploded very close to Richards seat. The game was cancelled and rioting spilled out onto the Montreal streets. Only a radio appeal by Richard quieted the city. All was lost: the Rockets scoring title the Habs first place finish and the cup finals. To this day Jean Beliveau believes that with Richards help the Canadiens would have won the Stanley Cup in 1955.

8. Who is the NHLs all-time penalty leader?

Dave Williams Over 13 seasons Williams averaged 4.12 minutes per game in the box. With his total of 3966 penalty minutes Williams accumulated almost 1000 minutes more than his nearest rival. Altogether Williams has spent about 74 games penalized!!

9.Which 1991-92 50-goal scorer received the most penalty minutes?

Kevin Stevens Youve got to be playing your career best when you finish second overall in League scoring with 123 points only 9 back of Mario Lemieux and still spend as much time in the box as heavyweight Chris Nilan. Despite his 252 penalty minutes Stevens scored 54 goals in 1991-92 more than Roberts 219 PIM/53 goals Roenick 98 PIM/53 goals and Hull 48 PIM/70 goals.

10. What is the Piestany Punch-up?

A World Junior Championship brawl It was the most violent melee in the history of international hockey. The Soviets out of medal contention had nothing to lose. Team Canada was applying pressure trying to increase a 4-2 lead and go for the gold medal. Then it happened. Canadian and Soviet players fed up with the stickwork and running at each other dropped their gloves and engaged in a 20 minute brawl that cleared the benches. With the fight out of control the officials left the ice and the arena lights dimmed. The game was never resumed. Both teams were disqualified and their records were erased.

OK now on to more stuff about hockey and my little rant. What the hell is this Shoot Out This is absolutely the worst thing I have ever seen or heard of in professional sports. I mean really. It has nothing what-so-ever to do with the actual game and is completely fd up! Want an example. Lets say this was the NFL and the game ended as a tie. I know lets put the kickers on the field and have em kick field goals moving them back 5 yards after each successfull attemt until one of them misses. The winner of the game will be the team that makes the last good attempt at the FG. What do you think? Ya thats what I thought too.

OK thats that for that. Now back to my googling and the results. One of the if not the most important positions in hockey is the goaltender. A hot goalie can take a team all the way to the Stanley Cup. Hers is some fun info I found at http://www.almanac.com/extras/goalies.php

Legendary Goalies and Hockey Trivia

The most unbreakable record held by an NHL hockey goalie belongs to Glenn Hall who played 552 consecutive games in the position from October 6 1955 to November 8 1962.

The Vezina Trophy is named after Georges Vezina. Nicknamed the Chicoutimi Cucumber for his hometown of Chicoutimi Quebec and for his coolness under pressure Vezina collapsed on the ice during a game in Montreal in 1925. He died of tuberculosis soon after. He was one of the first 12 inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame when it was opened in Toronto in 1945.

Of the 34 goaltenders enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame only Frank Brimsek from Eveleth Minnesota is American-born.

In 1930 Clint Benedict of the Montreal Maroons devised the first mask known to have been worn in a professional game. It was made of leather and Benedict abandoned it after a shot smashed against the nose piece and split his forehead open sidelining him for seven weeks. No other goaltender donned a mask in a game for another 29 years.

The last NHL goalie to play without a mask was Lorne Gump Worsley. Only in his final six games did he wear one. My face is my mask he said.

Chicago Black Hawk center Bobby Hulls slap shot was clocked at 118 mph. Johnny Bower once said Trying to stop Hulls shot I was afraid of getting my head knocked off. In 1927 Elizabeth Graham while goaltending for Queens University in Kingston Ontario wore a fencing mask to protect her face.

The only woman to tend goal with an NHL team was Manon Rheaume of Lac Beauport Quebec. In a preseason game against the St. Louis Blues on September 23 1992 she played in goal for one period for the Tampa Bay Lightning making seven saves and allowing two goals.

The most successful sports team in Canadian history remains the Preston Rivulettes an all-women ice hockey team that played an estimated 350 games between 1930 and 1940 and lost only twice to other womens teams.

Wonder if the pressure of guarding a hockey net shortens lives? Consider the ages at which these goalies passed away: Turk Broda 58 Jacques Plante 57 Bill Durnan 56 George Hainsworth 55 Terry Sawchuk 40 Georges Vezina 39 Charlie Gardiner 29.

Prior to 1965 the most exclusive club in all of sports was in the NHL nets. With only six teams and one goalie per team only six men in North America could claim to be a professional goalie at its highest level. Beginning with the 1965-66 season NHL teams started carrying two goalies.

Well I could just go on forever and ever with this but lets wrap it up here with this small note. Hockey can be a great way to pad your bankroll for the king of betting sports Football so do a little research and check out that hockey game eh!