All about Ice Hockey for Women

Probably one of the fastest growing women’s sports in the world, ice hockey has seen over a 300 percent increase in participants over the last decade. It is true that there are not many organized leagues for women as there are for men, but there do exist leagues for women. They include the National Women’s Hockey League, Western Women’s Hockey League, and various European leagues; and university teams, national and Olympic teams, and recreational teams. There have been nine IIHF World Women Championships. Today, legends such as Hayley Wickenheiser, Cassie Campbell and Cammi Granato are well known due to the popularity of the game.

According to the Canadian Hockey Association the first recorded women’s hockey game took place in 1892 in Barrie, Ontario, while other records indicate that in 1969-70, the first professional female hockey player, Karen Koch entered the arena. Close to twenty years later, the women’s ice hockey was added as a medal sport at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Women’s ice hockey differs from that of men’s as body checking is not allowed in the former; and women are required to wear protective full-face masks.

In its early days, the game didn’t receive much support. One reporter in the Toronto News penned the following poem:

When girls play hockey they can take
Some very fearsome blows
With unconcern they will receive
A “smash” on the nose.
But if, while washing dishes, one
Should cut her dainty hand
She screams and faints. The cause of it.
We cannot understand.

Women’s ice hockey is played in at least twenty-six countries. This includes a number of European countries and recent developments include places in Asia like China and Japan.

Basic Rules Of Ice Hockey

Ice Hockey is easy to understand, and once the basics are understood, it makes the game more enjoyable to follow. The rink is divided into offensive and defensive zones by red and blue lines. Both ends of the rink have a net as goal posts.

Each team has a maximum of 20 players, and only 6 players are allowed on the ice at any given moment. The game begins with the puck being dropped and players fight for the puck [faceoff]. The objective is to score more goals than the other team, by getting the puck into the opposing team’s net. The game lasts for three 20-minute periods.

The game has a few basic rules:

Offside – An attacking player entering the defending zone of the other team ahead of the puck is called offside. This causes play to be halted and a face-off takes place in the neutral zone.

Icing – This refers to a player hitting a puck from their own half, past the other team’s goal line without it coming into contact or deflecting off another player. Play is then halted, and the puck returned to where the pass was originated. A goal is not awarded.

Penalties – When a player commits any violations such as tripping or elbowing, they are sent to the penalty box. A minor penalty costs them to sit out of the game for 2 minutes, and 5 minutes for fighting. The team given the penalty must go short-handed for the penalty period.

The NHL Salary Cap

Like most other professional sports the NHL has implemented a salary cap to control competitive spending. The cap has been in effect since the 2005 season when players were guaranteed 54% of the NHL’s annual revenue. Players get a larger share of the pot of annual revenue if the league makes more money. Essentially the success of the business pays off for the players similar to an employee-owned corporation.

Team salary expenses are tallied every day through the entire NHL season. If a team has a player on the books for a contract buyout, on injured reserve or the long-term injury list they must count that players expenses against the NHL salary cap. Players designated for assignment in the minor leagues or another amatuer hockey program like the Juniors are not counted against the salary cap. If a player is moved from one team to another, the new team assumes all responsibilities to the cap.

Many aspects of the salary cap are specific to a player’s situation, time in the year and age. For entry level players the maximum salary is $850,000. Veterans can earn as much as 20% of the team’s cap in the year that the contract was signed. Players over 35 can sign multi-year deals but their salary would be counted against the cap even in the event of retirement. Bonuses can be payed out in certain situations but cannot exceed 7.5% over the cap. Unlike many other professional leagues contracts cannot be renegotiated during the agreed upon period.

History Of The Stanley Cup

Once appointed Governor General of Canada by Queen Victoria in 1888, Lord Frederick Stanley developed an affinity for the native game of ice hockey. Organized ice hockey was still very raw at the time with clubs traveling for competition despite any prominent or definitive championship. At the suggestion of sons Arthur and Algernon, Lord Stanley donated a trophy and bowl to be awarded to the top amateur club in Canada. The champion of the trophy would be determined by challenge, with no team winning permanent possession. It would be transferred from winner to winner after an engraving of the champion club’s name on a silver ring fitted to the cup. The Challenge Cup period was underway, overseen by Sheriff John Sweetland and Philip Ross, who had been appointed the trophy’s trustees.

As the honor of hoisting Stanley’s Cup became more publicized amateur clubs spawned out of municipalities all over Canada. These clubs would battle to hold the trophy until the eventual development in 1915 of a league versus league format. Finally, there would be an indisputable holder of the championship. An agreement was made between the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) that the best clubs in each group would compete for the title and trophy. The dissolution of these independent leagues into the eventual National Hockey League has resulted in the divisions and clubs that compete for the Stanley Cup today. The honor of hoisting this relic stands as one of the most revered in professional sports today.