Hockey equipment, skates, and accessories

Hockey equipmentHockeysmith.net is a site generated to produce information on the wonderful sport of hockey. Whether it is Ice Hockey, Roller Hockey, Street Hockey, or Field Hockey, we have got you covered. HockeySmith.net is not affiliated with any brand, and is a purely informational site designed to being you the latest in all things hockey related.

When most people hear the word hockey, their first thought is the NHL and ice hockey. We love hockey, and want to let people know more about the other forms that are being played in concurrence with ice hockey.
Let’s start with the true definition of hockey, which is any of a family of sports in which two teams compete by trying to maneuver a ball, or a hard, round, rubber or heavy plastic disc called a puck, into the opponent's net or goal, using a hockey stick.

Ice hockey is played on a large flat area of ice, using a three inch diameter vulcanized rubber disc called a puck. This puck is often frozen before high-level games to decrease the amount of bouncing and friction on the ice. The game is played all over North America, Europe and in many other countries around the world to varying extent. It is the most popular sport in Canada, Finland, the Czech Republic, and in Sweden.

Men's ice hockey has been played at the Winter Olympics since 1924, and was in the 1920 Summer Olympics. Women's ice hockey was added to the Winter Olympics in 1998. North America's National Hockey League (NHL) is the strongest professional ice hockey league, drawing top ice hockey players from around the globe. The NHL rules are slightly different from those used in Olympic ice hockey: the periods are 20 minutes long, counting downwards. There are three periods.

Ice hockey sticks are long L-shaped sticks made of wood, graphite, or composites with a blade at the bottom that can lie flat on the playing surface when the stick is held upright and can curve either way, legally, as to help a left- or right-handed player gain an advantage.

There are early representations and reports of ice hockey-type games being played on ice in the Netherlands, and reports from Canada from the beginning of the nineteenth century, but the modern game was initially organized by students at McGill University, Montreal in 1875 who, by two years later, codified the first set of ice hockey rules and organized the first teams.

Field hockey is played on gravel, natural grass, sand-based or water-based artificial turf, with a small, hard ball. The game is popular among both males and females in many parts of the world, particularly in Europe, Asia, Australia, and South Africa. Men’s Field hockey has been played at each summer Olympic Games since 1908 (except 1912 and 1924); while Women's Field Hockey has been played each summer Olympic Games since 1980.

Inline hockey is a variation of roller hockey very similar to ice hockey, from which it is derived. Inline hockey is played by two teams, consisting of four skaters and one goalie, on a dry rink divided into two halves by a center line, with one net at each end of the rink.

Another form of popular hockey is Street hockey, sometimes known as road hockey. This is usually played with the same rules as ice hockey, or roller hockey, except it is on the street. Most of the time, a ball is used instead of a puck, because a puck generates too much friction when handled on an asphalt or cement surface and does not slide.
We hope you’ll come to love the game as hockey as much as we do here at Hockeysmith.net, and please refer back to this site to get the latest information on hockey as well as hockey gear.

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