Game Development

International Hockey Useful Information

Hockey is very popular in the United States and Europe today, but it got its start in Canada. Stanley cup playoffs take the concentration of the international men’s ice hockey world championships away from American enthusiasts, unlike their European counterparts. Competition for the best players to join the NHL is fierce in many countries; many countries lose their best to the NHL (who then go on to play for the Stanley cup trophy).

For years, professionals were not permitted to play at the international level, but now that many Europeans play in the NHL, the world championships no longer are comprised of the world’s best players. In 1924, hockey became a mainstay of the Olympics; unsurprisingly, Canada won the majority of the gold medals that year, with 6 out of 7 going to the sport’s country of origin. Russia won all the gold medals but two between 1956 and 1988, the United States on the gold medal in 1960, and the professional Americans, Swedish, Finnish and Canadian players were all baned from Olympic competition in the late twentieth-century. In 1980, U.S.Non-pro college students beat the Russians and won the gold medal in Lake Placid, New York.

These were the years that the sport began experiencing a revival of popularity; though most Americans weren’t paying much attention to the sport at the time. The 1972 and 1974 Summit series had solidified Canada and Russia as hockey rivals. As a result, the Canadian Cup - where the best of the very best nations were able to play the sport - was formed. Eventually the name was changed from the Canadian Cup to the World Cup of Hockey and the United States won in 1996 and Canada in 2004. The ban against NHL players was lifted from the Olympics in 1998 and top players were allowed to compete against professionals from other countries. There have been 9 women’s competitions and the women’s game has been in the Olympics since 1998 and in the winter of 2006 marked the world championship or Olympic face with Canada and Sweden not Canada and the United States.

Women have been able to make a noticeable amount of noise in this sport, as they play their games with the same fierceness of women. Although they still have a way to go in terms of really being there with males at the domestic and international levels. Historically, men have been the players in the game, and women will have a tough fight ahead of them if they want to be considered serious contenders. The millions of people in Canada and the United States who love this sport break attendance records frequently. The love of this sport reaches the “pastime” level of game attendance, prompting the kind of devotion that many Americans put towards football, basketball, and baseball.

Whether the players are pros or whether they are newbies, hockey is its own little world with its own set of rules. Soap opera fans have nothing on fans of this sport; people worship it like the air they breathe. Many people will spend hours, late into the night, practicing the game.