Ice hockey in Scotland

Ice hockey

The Edinburgh Eagles celebrate their victory in 2009
Country Scotland
Governing body Scottish Ice Hockey
National team Men's national team;
Women's national team
National competitions

ice hockey in Scotland is a minor sport, but one with a fairly established presence in each of the population centres.[1][2][3] The term "hockey" is usually reserved for field hockey in Scotland, and "ice hockey" is normally referred to by its full form.[4][4]

As with curling (a sport of Scottish origin), the game tends to be more commonly played indoors these days, due to milder winters in the past few decades.[5] Ice hockey is thus played on artificial rinks in Scotland, with the possible exception of street hockey, which is played at an informal level within the country.[6][7]

Governing body

The national governing body is Scottish Ice Hockey.[8]

History

Shinty and the possible Scottish origins of ice hockey

Despite the official introduction of ice hockey into Scotland in the twentieth century, its roots in Scotland go far deeper.[9] To this day, ice hockey is often referred to as "shinny" and "hurtling" in Canada, suggesting a tie up with shinty and Ireland's hurling. Shinty is the national stick game of Scotland, and Phil Dracket who favours an English origin for the game, in the Fens of Cambridgeshire admits:

"in the formative years of the game the dividing line between hockey, bandy and shinty was always a fine one."[10]

However, the similarities between the two sports, post-codification are still notable:

"[in shinty] as in ice hockey, both sides of the hook [of the stick] are used to strike the ball, but there is no restriction on the height to which the stick may be raised."[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Anderson, Craig. "The rise of Scottish hockey: Meet the four Scots teams who are helping the public fall in love with a new sport - Scotland Now". Scotlandnow.dailyrecord.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-10-28.
  2. ↑ "Scots skate on thin ice with hockey claim". The Scotsman. 2009-01-31. Retrieved 2016-10-28.
  3. ↑ "BBC Sport - SPL, Sport XV: Ice hockey on the rise in Scotland". Bbc.co.uk. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  4. 1 2 Lewis MacDonald (2015-11-06). "Ice Hockey: With Scottish teams on the up now might be the time to enjoy this spectacle | Sport | The National". Thenational.scot. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  5. ↑ Matthew Hays. "Ice hockey not invented in Canada? That's cold, man | Matthew Hays | Opinion". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  6. ↑ "Scots skate on thin ice with hockey claim". The Scotsman. 2009-01-31. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  7. ↑ "Aberdeen's puckish spirits pursue Lynx effect in Scottish ice hockey". Stv.tv. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  8. ↑ Kevin Ferrie (2014-02-25). "Receiving a helping Hand to grow (From Herald Scotland)". Heraldscotland.com. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  9. ↑ Victoria Williams Ph.D. (2015-04-28). Weird Sports and Wacky Games around the World: From Buzkashi to Zorbing ... Books.google.co.uk. p. 274. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  10. ↑ Dracket, pp. 25/6
  11. ↑ "Shinty" in Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland, HarperCollins , 2000, ISBN 978-0007103539, p.868

Bibliography


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