Other
pro leagues came in went in the years prior
to World War I. The war disrupted hockey
organizations and in 1917, a new professional
league was formed with five Canadian teams:
- The Montreal Wanderers
- The Montreal Canadiens
- The Ottawa Senators
- The Quebec Bulldogs
- The Toronto Arenas
The new league was christened the National Hockey League. The first US team to become part of the league was the Boston Bruins who joined in 1924. Today, the NHL has 30 teams from Canada and the United States.
Changes
in the Game
Modern ice hockey has changed little from
the original rules established in the 1870s.
The biggest changes have been in the number
of players and the development of equipment.
By the mid 1890s, the number of players on the ice for each team had dropped from nine to seven. This changed reportedly happened by accident. A team showed up two men short for a game at the Montreal Winter Carnival. The other team agreed to play with just seven men. The players found they preferred the smaller squads and the change soon became standard. When the NHA formed in 1909, it used six-man sides. The NHL adopted this number at its inception.
Netting was first added to hockey goals in the early 1900s to stop the puck and show that the puck had actually passed between the goal posts.
What’s the
Well-Equipped Hockey Player Wearing this
Season?
Today’s hockey players from the junior
leagues to the NHL wear layers of protective
padding from their shin guards to their
helmets. Early hockey players wore very
little padding. Goalies were, not surprisingly,
the first players to wear pads. Goalies
originally used cricket pads to protect
their shins and knees. Other players began
to wear shin pads and gloves to protect
themselves from flailing sticks and flying
pucks. Many players stuffed newspapers under
their pads for extra protection.
