6 stick lifts the puck off the ice sending it flying through the air It sails over the right shoulder of the goalie and goes into the net for a goal The player's team ends up taking home the Stanley Cup the oldest trophy in professional sports
7 Youth hockey is wildly popular in many parts of the United States Science technology engineering and math STEM play a big part in hockey STEM principles help determine the thickness of skate blades and how sharp they should be for the best performance STEM can predict the direction of a puck after it's shot allowing
8 The difference between a save and a goal can be a tiny fraction of a second goalies to react quickly enough to make a big save And all the things a player has when stepping onto the ice including hockey sticks skates protective gear gloves and mouth guards were designed using STEM principles ADVANCING THE GAME OF HOCKEY Hockey is one of the most popular games in the world with more than 1 million players participating in
9 organized hockey leagues Being a hockey star requires a broad range of skills and abilities Players must be expert skaters and they must also be able to pass and shoot the puck They need to be strong too Some versions of hockey are contact sports This means players are supposed to body check or run into the person with the puck The purpose is to take the puck away and it requires giving and taking very physical hits using the entire body Games are played on an ice rink Typically each of the two teams has six players on the ice A team's six players are split into four positions There are two defenders two wings one center and a goalie Each position is responsible for covering a specific area on the ice The object of the game is to get the puck a hard rubber disk into the other team's net for a goal Unlike other sports there are not always an equal number of players competing on each side When a player gets a penalty he or she has to spend a certain
