FACE-OFF Your heart pounds as you hold your stick poised and ready Two players one from each team stand on the ice ready for the face-off An official drops the puck between them They battle for possession of the puck and your teammate wins it Her stick connects with the puck and sends it forward toward you and the opposing team’s net Your adrenaline pumps as you skate after it hoping to pass the puck to another teammate or maybe even score yourself
As an ice hockey player you know the thrill of the game is about much more than winning Each time you’re on the ice you test the skills you’ve developed for your sport and your position You’re challenged to work not only as an individual but also as a team player When you’re not in a game you spend time doing drills and going to practice You know you can help your entire team as a stronger player
Chapter 1 TTTTTHHHHHEEEEE BBBBBAAAAASSSSSIIIIICCCCCSSSSS Hockey is all about racking up points on the ice It’s a simple concept But scoring goals on the opposing team is not nearly as simple as it sounds Players from both teams try to gain control of the puck They try to move it closer to the opposing team’s net At the same time they need to keep it away from their own team’s net They shoot to score while opponents play defense and block the shots
Each shot that makes it into the net earns one point for the team that scored The team with the most points at the end of the game wins Scoring isn’t easy At the highest levels in the sport teams often score fewer than five points Hockey History Much of ice hockey’s history took place in Canada In 1875 James Creighton organized the first ice hockey game in Nova Scotia Canada McGill University Hockey Club was the first recognized men’s team It started in 1880 The sport’s popularity quickly spread throughout Canada In 1892 the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association won the first Stanley
