What is hockey in canada?
The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage is delving into the organization’s ongoing sexual assault allegations with testimony scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday in Ottawa.
Among the goals is determining how the organization has dealt with sexual assault accusations, how many similar incidents it has dealt with, and whether any money it gets from the federal government has been used to pay victims.
A senior director of Sport Canada told the committee the federal organization was made aware of an alleged sexual assault involving members of Team Canada’s world junior hockey team in late June 2018, but did not follow up with Hockey Canada at the time.
Here’s a primer on the organization at the heart of the scandal.
What exactly is Hockey Canada?
Hockey Canada is the governing body for hockey in the country, overseeing 13 member branches and working with 12 affiliated organizations/partners that manage the sport at all levels — from young children to Olympic teams — across the country.
The organization also serves as Canada’s representative in the International Ice Hockey Federation, the worldwide governing body for ice hockey and in-line hockey based in Switzerland.
What are the 13 member branches?
Members, commonly referred to as branches or member branches, function under the umbrella of Hockey Canada to “manage and foster amateur hockey” at the provincial, regional and territorial level, according to Hockey Canada’s website.
Every part of the country is somehow represented by the members, with roughly one per province or region. Ontario is the exception, with multiple branches.
Each member has its own board and manages a number of teams under its banner.
Here’s a full list of the 13 member associations:
BC Hockey
Hockey Alberta
Hockey Manitoba
Hockey Northwestern Ontario
Ontario Hockey Federation
Hockey Eastern Ontario
Hockey Quebec
Hockey New Brunswick
Hockey P.E.I.
Hockey Nova Scotia
Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador
Hockey North
Hockey Saskatchewan
What else is Hockey Canada connected to?
Hockey Canada is also associated with a number of premier associations, including the National Hockey League (NHL), the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), Canadian Armed Forces, Aboriginal Sport Circle, Canadian Deaf Ice Hockey Federation, Canadian Amputee Hockey Committee and more.
How are the teams organized?
Each organization within the Hockey Canada umbrella manages teams roughly arranged by player age.
The largest programs are for kids and teens. About 90 per cent of Hockey Canada’s 385,190 registrations were for teams with players younger than 18, according to the organization’s 2020-21 annual report.
Those teams include those in the well-known Timbits league for kids younger than 7.
Who’s in charge?
Hockey Canada is managed by a five-member board. They are all volunteers serving two-year terms and are elected by the organization’s members.
Current board members were appointed in November 2020 and have bios on the organization’s website. A Hockey Canada bylaw, approved in 2019, requires that board members include at least two men and two women in a bid to improve diversity and better represent the Canadian population at large.
Where does the money come from?
According to its annual report, Hockey Canada finances its operations “primarily through national and international events, sponsorship, government and nongovernmental funding, and donations.”
The report makes special note about the importance of partnerships with international and national sponsors such as, Sport Canada and Own the Podium, and “various funding agencies, the National Hockey League and other supporters of the game.”
Here’s how the report breaks it down.
Where does the money go?
This is how the Hockey Canada’s annual report breaks down spending.
Why is the organization in the news right now?
Hockey Canada has been under immense pressure from politicians, corporate sponsors, victim advocates and fans since May, when news broke of an alleged group sexual assault in London, Ont., involving members of the 2018 world junior hockey team.
Things escalated further last week when additional group sexual assault allegations surfaced involving members of the country’s 2003 world junior team in Halifax.
What do we know about the 2018 allegations?
In June 2018, a woman’s stepfather told Hockey Canada that she alleged she was sexually assaulted by eight players, including members of the national junior team, while intoxicated after the Hockey Canada Foundation Gala & Gold event in London on June 18.
Hockey Canada said it informed London police, which then opened an investigation. Hockey Canada also initiated a third-party investigation of its own.
Then, in February 2019, according to Hockey Canada, the complainant declined to speak with authorities or its own investigators, and London police informed them they had closed their investigation. Hockey Canada said its own investigation was closed in September 2020,
In April 2022, the woman filed a statement of claim seeking $3.55 million in damages from Hockey Canada, the Canadian Hockey League and eight unnamed players. The following month, Hockey Canada settled the lawsuit out of court with the complainant for an undisclosed amount.
What happened as a result?
The fallout was swift.
On June 2, Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge ordered a forensic audit of Hockey Canada to make sure no public funds were used as part of the settlement.
Later in June, Hockey Canada CEO Tom Renney and president Scott Smith testified before parliament’s Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage that 19 players were “strongly encouraged” to speak to third-party investigators but were not required to do so. Furthermore, the Hockey Canada leaders said they did not know the identities of the eight players alleged to have committed the assault.
It was also stated that the organization has reported three sexual-assault complaints in recent years; Renney and Smith declined to discuss the other two with the committee.
St-Onge announced a freeze to Hockey Canada’s federal funding until the organization discloses the steps it took in addressing the allegations.
In late June, Scotiabank, Canadian Tire, Tim Hortons, Telus and Esso paused or withdrew sponsorship funds from the organization.
More than a dozen hockey players, either on social media or through their legal counsel, have since denied any involvement in the alleged assault.
On July 18, The Canadian Press reported that the organization has maintained a fund, drawn from minor-hockey membership fees, to pay for uninsured liabilities including sexual abuse claims. Hockey Canada confirmed the existence of the fund the next day, calling it a “National Equity Fund” that covers a broad range of expenses.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he thought it was “hard for anyone in Canada to have faith or trust in anyone at Hockey Canada.” The next day, the organization said it will no longer use the fund to settle sexual-assault claims.
What’s alleged to have happened in Halifax?
Hockey Canada says it is also investigating an allegation of a group sexual assault involving the 2003 men’s world junior hockey championship team, and that it has contacted Halifax Regional Police about the allegations (the city co-hosted the world junior hockey championship that year).
TSN reported last week that it has independently verified reports of a video that captured the Halifax incident with three different sources. The video, described as six or seven minutes long, allegedly depicts a player speaking to a camera operator outside of a room and saying viewers were about to see “a f--king lamb roast,” according to the three sources.
The video is then said to show roughly half a dozen players taking turns sexually assaulting a woman who was non-responsive and lying face up on the pool table, according to a TSN source.
What’s happening right now?
Hockey Canada has said its reopening a third-party investigation into the alleged 2018 assault, and, among other things, participation by the players in question will be mandatory.
London police ordered an internal review of their 2018 investigation. Then, Chief Steve Williams said last week that a preliminary review revealed “further investigative opportunities” and that the investigation would be relaunched.
Halifax Regional Police has said it will investigate the 2003 group sexual assault allegation.
Parliamentary committee hearings are set to begin Tuesday in Ottawa, where MPs will scrutinize the sports organization’s handling of sexual assault allegations.
On Monday, Hockey Canada issued a 19-page blueprint to ‘eliminate toxic behaviour.’
The sports organization settled a lawsuit with a woman who says she was sexually assaulted by eight players from the Canadian Hockey League in London, Ont., in 2018 — and several other allegations of group sexual assaults by Canadian hockey players have surfaced.
In July, Hockey Canada's executives revealed that the organization has paid $8.9 million in settlements to 21 sexual assault complainants since 1989, using a slush fund comprising membership fees from young players across Canada.
The fallout has been extraordinary.
Hockey Canada announced on Tuesday that its entire board of directors and its CEO Scott Smith will step aside. Hockey Canada interim board chair Andrea Skinner had submitted her resignation three days earlier.
An election to determine a new board, which will undoubtedly be closely watched, is set for Dec. 17.
As the country's national self-governing body for amateur hockey, Hockey Canada is responsible for managing and expanding hockey programs across the country at all playing levels — from the local grassroots all the way to the World Championships and Olympics.
"I think this is a pivotal point in Canadian history," Laura Robinson, a sports journalist and the author of Crossing the Line: Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada's National Sport, told CBC News on Friday.
But what does that really mean? CBC News explains the organization's role in the Canadian hockey landscape.
Hockey Canada has a range of goals and responsibilities, according to its bylaws and regulations.
For one, it establishes a set of playing rules for amateur hockey games across the country, so that every game and practice under its umbrella is played at the same standard. It promotes the sport around Canada and arranges for national teams to play in international tournaments.
It also provides training to hockey players, coaches and referees, and raises money and redistributes those funds to local hockey clubs and member associations, among other things.
But it also represents Canada in the wider hockey world as a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation, a worldwide governing body that develops and organizes the sport of ice hockey around the globe.
The Canadian organization has existed in various forms and under different names for 108 years.
"Before Hockey Canada, there was the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association [CAHA] and the Canadian Hockey Association. But in those days you couldn't have a professional player play in an amateur association," Robinson said.
In 1998, Hockey Canada — as we know it today — was formed after a merger with the CAHA.
Hockey Canada has 13 member branches, each of which represent a province or region in Canada, with some exceptions. Ontario is represented by three different branches, B.C. Hockey oversees minor hockey in British Columbia and Yukon, while Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are represented by Hockey North.
All of these member organizations must conform to certain rules and regulations decided by Hockey Canada — it's a condition they agree to in order to join the club, according to the constitution's bylaws.
Many of these branch members are now distancing themselves from Hockey Canada, as the organization's mishandling of sexual abuse claims comes to light.
There are also 12 partner organizations that have a significant stake in the game of hockey in Canada, such as the National Hockey League; U Sports, which oversees university-level sports in Canada; and the Canadian Hockey League, of which the players involved in the alleged 2018 group sexual assault were members.
Money from Hockey Canada's National Equity Fund was used to pay settlements to some of the alleged victims.
If you compete in a sport at the local level, "you have to belong to your provincial body, which belongs to the national body," Robinson told CBC News.
"If an athlete has a dream to go to the World [Championships] or the Olympics, they have to belong to that national organization. And in this case, it's Hockey Canada."
Local players in Canada who belong to a team or league affiliated with a provincial organization have access to Hockey Canada's National Insurance Program.
According to Hockey Saskatchewan's website, the 13 member organizations are "specifically named as an insured, and all sub-associations, leagues and teams which form a part of Hockey Canada."
So if a player is injured while participating in a game or a practice sanctioned by Hockey Canada, they are covered by insurance. That's why some of the 13 member groups are withholding $3 membership fees (which go toward what Hockey Canada says are operational costs) but are continuing to pay insurance fees.
Hockey Canada's board of directors is made up of volunteers nominated and elected by their peers in the provincial member organizations. The current directors are from Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island.
Skinner — who made a controversial appearance during a meeting of the House of Commons heritage committee on Tuesday, when she defended the organization — was filling in as interim chair of the board after former chair Michael Brind'amour stepped down in August.
Until recently, Hockey Canada received funding from the federal government; through membership fees and provincial grants; and from grassroots fundraising and sponsorships.
Much of that is now up in the air, with major sponsors such as Tim Hortons, Canadian Tire and Nike cutting ties with Hockey Canada. Bauer Hockey announced Tuesday it was pausing a multimillion-dollar commitment as the official equipment provider to the Hockey Canada men's teams.
In June, federal Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge froze Hockey Canada's funding from the federal government. The organization received a total of $14 million from Ottawa in 2020 and 2021.
Ice hockey, simply referred to as hockey in both English and French in Canada, dates back to the 19th century. The sport is very popular and played year-round and at every level in the country.[1] Born of various influences from stick-and-ball games brought from the United Kingdom and indigenous games, the contemporary sport of ice hockey originated in Montreal. It is the official national winter sport of Canada[2] and is widely considered Canada's national pastime, with high levels of participation by children, men and women at various levels of competition.[3][4]
The game of ice hockey has its roots in the various stick-and-ball games played over the centuries in the United Kingdom, and North America.[5][6] From prior to the establishment of Canada, Europeans are recorded as having played versions of field hockey and its relatives, while the Mi'kmaq indigenous peoples of the Maritimes also had a ball-and-stick game, and made many hockey sticks used by Europeans in the 1800s. Similarly, ice skating team games which eventually became the organized sport of bandy were also played. From these roots, the contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, where the first indoor hockey game was played on March 3, 1875, at the Victoria Skating Rink, organized by James Creighton, a McGill University student from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) later adopted the Canadian rules as the official rules of ice hockey.
Annual championships began in Montreal in the 1880s, leading to the awarding of the Stanley Cup, considered the oldest trophy in North American sports. Lord Stanley of Preston was appointed by Queen Victoria to be the Governor General of Canada on June 11, 1888. While governor, ice hockey was still just forming in Canada. He first got to see the game of hockey played at Montreal's 1889 Winter Carnival. During the carnival he watched the Montreal Victorias play the Montreal Hockey Club. Afterwards, Stanley and his family became very involved in the game of ice hockey. His two sons, Arthur and Algernon, convinced their father to donate a trophy that would be considered to be a visible sign of the ice hockey championship, which was a silver bowl inlaid with gold. The trophy was first presented in 1893 and was called the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. The name of the trophy has since been known as the Stanley Cup.[6][5] Several traditions remain from early amateur play, including hand-shakes between opposing teams after a championship match.
Professionalism began in the 1890s, with players being paid under the table in various sports, including ice hockey and lacrosse. Openly professional leagues emerged after 1900. Five cities in the United States and Ontario formed the International Professional Hockey League (IPHL) in 1904. The American-based league was the beginning of professional ice hockey. The IPHL attracted high-end Canadian players, depriving Canada of its best players. Other early professional play took place in Northern Ontario (the Timiskaming League) and in the Maritimes (the Coloured Hockey League).[citation needed] Although many Canadian amateur teams paid their players under the table, most Canadian hockey associations still stuck to the codes of amateurism. The IPHL ceased after three years, but that was long enough to spark the creation of a Canadian-based professional league, the Ontario Professional Hockey League, in 1908. Though some believe the IHL's short existence was due to lack of spectator interest, the primary reason the league failed was a loss of good players back to Canadian teams that by 1906 played in hockey associations, such as the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association, that allowed professionals to play alongside amateurs. The National Hockey Association was formed in 1910, leading to the National Hockey League in 1917.[7]
The violence of the sport instigated the Ottawa Silver Seven and Montreal Wanderers rivalry of 1907. Newspapers described hockey as a combination of "brutal butchery" and "strenuous spectacle," speaking to public perceptions and different ways of experiencing the game. Ideals of respectable, middle-class masculinity and rough, working-class masculinity co-existed within accounts of fast, skilled, rugged, hard-hitting hockey.[8]
During the 1920s the Winnipeg's senior hockey league for the 1919-20 season, the Winnipeg Falcons, featuring the Icelandic Canadians, became Canadian national champions and won the 1920 Olympic gold medal in Antwerp for Canada in hockey. With their devotion to Canada in World War I, their integration made this team a symbol of Canadian masculinity, unaffected by the ethnic stereotyping and discrimination that affected some other sports teams during the 1920s.[9]
During the Great Depression, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association was forced to re-evaluate its position on amateurism in ice hockey and to assess its relationship to the amateur sports infrastructure in Canada, which was headed by the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada. The lacklustre performance of the Canadian national hockey team at the 1936 Olympics, over player availability forced radical changes on approaches to how the game was formulated in the country.[10]
The Canadian national men's ice hockey team dominated international amateur play from the 1920s until the early 1950s, when the introduction of state-sponsored national ice hockey programs, notably from the Soviet Union, began to dominate over the club-based Canadian program. Canada would change to a national team composed of amateurs and eventually withdraw from international senior-level competition in a dispute over the introduction of professionals, considered Canada's best, to counter the dominance and provide an "even playing field" in the eyes of Canadian ice hockey officials.
In September 1972, Canada's best hockey players from the National Hockey League (NHL) played the elite amateurs from the Soviet Union in a friendly series. When Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau met his Soviet counterpart, Alexei Kosygin, in 1971, their discussions included increasing the hockey competitions between the two countries. Soon after, hockey hierarchies of both nations decided on a series of eight games, four to be played across Canada and four in Moscow. For Canadians, the Summit Series was intended to be a celebration of their global supremacy in ice hockey. The architects of Soviet hockey, on the other hand, had designs on surprising Canada and the world with their skill and claiming the Canadian game as their own.[11]
The Summit Series was the catalyst for a re-examination of the Canadian hockey system, organization, coaching and training methods. The changes in Canadian ice hockey, along with the acceptance of professional players in international play, would eventually lead to a return to international competition in the 1990s, and an Olympic gold medal in 2002, Canada's first in fifty years. The 1990s also saw the introduction of international championships in women's ice hockey, with a Canadian national women's team formed, leading to Olympic participation, and the development of professional women's hockey.
The Hockey Hall of Fame, located in Toronto, Ontario, is the permanent home of many ice hockey trophies, including the Stanley Cup. The Hall also honours the greatest ice hockey players, inducting players annually. Some of the great Canadian hockey players honoured in the Hall include Wayne Gretzky of Ontario, who holds many NHL scoring records; Maurice Richard of Montreal, a hero in Quebec, who led the Montreal Canadiens to eight Stanley Cups;[12] Gordie Howe of Saskatchewan, and Bobby Orr of Ontario, among many others.
Prominent trophies for national championships in Canada are the Memorial Cup for the top junior-age men's team and the Allan Cup for the top men's senior team. There are national championships in several other divisions of play. Hockey Canada is the sport's official governing body in Canada and is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). A Canadian national men's team, composed of professionals, competes in the annual IIHF Men's World Championship and in the Olympics. Russia and U.S.A are considered the Canada national team major rival.[13][14]
Ice hockey is one of the most played sports in the country at the youth level[15][16][17] and remains popular for adults whether in organized professional, amateur or recreational leagues. Numerous tournaments are held annually, and ice hockey games are often part of winter carnivals, and many outdoor ice rinks are constructed for the winter season. In 2010, an estimated 1.3 million Canadian adults participated in ice hockey, second to golf.[18]
The sport is the third-most popular sport among Canadian children. A 2010 survey estimated that 22% of households have a child playing ice hockey, while 25% of households have a child playing soccer, and 24% of households have a child participating in swimming.[19] The sport faces increasing competition from other popular sports such as basketball,[20] soccer,[21] [22] and field hockey,[23] which all have high participation rates. Another factor facing participation rates is the relative higher cost of hockey equipment.[24][25] In 2013, the average cost of ice hockey equipment for youth was estimated at CA$730 while basketball equipment cost $310 and soccer equipment cost $160.[4]
Women's hockey in Canada is growing.[26] The top-level Canadian Women's Hockey League ran for 12 seasons from 2007-19. The Clarkson Cup is the highest trophy in Canadian women's hockey. Women's hockey teams exist at some college and university institutions, while girls' teams exist where numbers support organizing teams and girls often participate in co-ed youth leagues. From the 2001–02 season to the 2012–13 season, female Hockey Canada registrations increased by 59%.[4]
Ice hockey is so popular in Canada that is considered a major component of Canadian culture and national identity.[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]
In May 1964, former Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president and then current member of parliament Jack Roxburgh did extensive research to find if Canadian parliament had ever declared a national game, and specifically looked into whether lacrosse was officially declared. After going through parliamentary records, he found no law was ever enacted. The Canadian Press reported at the time that the myth of lacrosse as Canada's national game possibly came from a book published in 1869 titled Lacrosse, the National Game of Canada, and that the Canadian Lacrosse Association was founded in 1867.[40][41] His endeavour to declare hockey as Canada's national game coincided with the Great Canadian Flag Debate of 1964.[42] On October 28, 1964, Roxburgh moved to introduce Bill C–132, with respect to declaring hockey as the national game of Canada.[43]
Canadian Lacrosse Association members responded to the motion by calling it insulting and "out of line", and vowed to fight it.[44] On June 11, 1965, Bob Prittie replied by introducing a separate bill to have lacrosse declared as Canada's national game and stated that, "I think it is fitting at this time when we are considering national flags, national anthems and other national symbols, that this particular matter should be settled now".[42] The choice of Canada's national game was debated in 1965, but neither bill was passed when parliament was dissolved.[45] In 1967, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson proposed to name national summer and winter games, but nothing was resolved. Finally in April 1994, Bill C–212 was passed to recognize hockey as Canada's official winter game, and lacrosse as its summer game.[42]
Ice hockey, simply referred to as hockey in both English and French in Canada, dates back to the 19th century. The sport is very popular and played year-round and at every level in the country.[1] Born of various influences from stick-and-ball games brought from the United Kingdom and indigenous games, the contemporary sport of ice hockey originated in Montreal. It is the official national winter sport of Canada[2] and is widely considered Canada's national pastime, with high levels of participation by children, men and women at various levels of competition.[3][4]
The game of ice hockey has its roots in the various stick-and-ball games played over the centuries in the United Kingdom, and North America.[5][6] From prior to the establishment of Canada, Europeans are recorded as having played versions of field hockey and its relatives, while the Mi'kmaq indigenous peoples of the Maritimes also had a ball-and-stick game, and made many hockey sticks used by Europeans in the 1800s. Similarly, ice skating team games which eventually became the organized sport of bandy were also played. From these roots, the contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, where the first indoor hockey game was played on March 3, 1875, at the Victoria Skating Rink, organized by James Creighton, a McGill University student from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) later adopted the Canadian rules as the official rules of ice hockey.
Annual championships began in Montreal in the 1880s, leading to the awarding of the Stanley Cup, considered the oldest trophy in North American sports. Lord Stanley of Preston was appointed by Queen Victoria to be the Governor General of Canada on June 11, 1888. While governor, ice hockey was still just forming in Canada. He first got to see the game of hockey played at Montreal's 1889 Winter Carnival. During the carnival he watched the Montreal Victorias play the Montreal Hockey Club. Afterwards, Stanley and his family became very involved in the game of ice hockey. His two sons, Arthur and Algernon, convinced their father to donate a trophy that would be considered to be a visible sign of the ice hockey championship, which was a silver bowl inlaid with gold. The trophy was first presented in 1893 and was called the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. The name of the trophy has since been known as the Stanley Cup.[6][5] Several traditions remain from early amateur play, including hand-shakes between opposing teams after a championship match.
Professionalism began in the 1890s, with players being paid under the table in various sports, including ice hockey and lacrosse. Openly professional leagues emerged after 1900. Five cities in the United States and Ontario formed the International Professional Hockey League (IPHL) in 1904. The American-based league was the beginning of professional ice hockey. The IPHL attracted high-end Canadian players, depriving Canada of its best players. Other early professional play took place in Northern Ontario (the Timiskaming League) and in the Maritimes (the Coloured Hockey League).[citation needed] Although many Canadian amateur teams paid their players under the table, most Canadian hockey associations still stuck to the codes of amateurism. The IPHL ceased after three years, but that was long enough to spark the creation of a Canadian-based professional league, the Ontario Professional Hockey League, in 1908. Though some believe the IHL's short existence was due to lack of spectator interest, the primary reason the league failed was a loss of good players back to Canadian teams that by 1906 played in hockey associations, such as the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association, that allowed professionals to play alongside amateurs. The National Hockey Association was formed in 1910, leading to the National Hockey League in 1917.[7]
The violence of the sport instigated the Ottawa Silver Seven and Montreal Wanderers rivalry of 1907. Newspapers described hockey as a combination of "brutal butchery" and "strenuous spectacle," speaking to public perceptions and different ways of experiencing the game. Ideals of respectable, middle-class masculinity and rough, working-class masculinity co-existed within accounts of fast, skilled, rugged, hard-hitting hockey.[8]
During the 1920s the Winnipeg's senior hockey league for the 1919-20 season, the Winnipeg Falcons, featuring the Icelandic Canadians, became Canadian national champions and won the 1920 Olympic gold medal in Antwerp for Canada in hockey. With their devotion to Canada in World War I, their integration made this team a symbol of Canadian masculinity, unaffected by the ethnic stereotyping and discrimination that affected some other sports teams during the 1920s.[9]
During the Great Depression, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association was forced to re-evaluate its position on amateurism in ice hockey and to assess its relationship to the amateur sports infrastructure in Canada, which was headed by the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada. The lacklustre performance of the Canadian national hockey team at the 1936 Olympics, over player availability forced radical changes on approaches to how the game was formulated in the country.[10]
The Canadian national men's ice hockey team dominated international amateur play from the 1920s until the early 1950s, when the introduction of state-sponsored national ice hockey programs, notably from the Soviet Union, began to dominate over the club-based Canadian program. Canada would change to a national team composed of amateurs and eventually withdraw from international senior-level competition in a dispute over the introduction of professionals, considered Canada's best, to counter the dominance and provide an "even playing field" in the eyes of Canadian ice hockey officials.
In September 1972, Canada's best hockey players from the National Hockey League (NHL) played the elite amateurs from the Soviet Union in a friendly series. When Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau met his Soviet counterpart, Alexei Kosygin, in 1971, their discussions included increasing the hockey competitions between the two countries. Soon after, hockey hierarchies of both nations decided on a series of eight games, four to be played across Canada and four in Moscow. For Canadians, the Summit Series was intended to be a celebration of their global supremacy in ice hockey. The architects of Soviet hockey, on the other hand, had designs on surprising Canada and the world with their skill and claiming the Canadian game as their own.[11]
The Summit Series was the catalyst for a re-examination of the Canadian hockey system, organization, coaching and training methods. The changes in Canadian ice hockey, along with the acceptance of professional players in international play, would eventually lead to a return to international competition in the 1990s, and an Olympic gold medal in 2002, Canada's first in fifty years. The 1990s also saw the introduction of international championships in women's ice hockey, with a Canadian national women's team formed, leading to Olympic participation, and the development of professional women's hockey.
The Hockey Hall of Fame, located in Toronto, Ontario, is the permanent home of many ice hockey trophies, including the Stanley Cup. The Hall also honours the greatest ice hockey players, inducting players annually. Some of the great Canadian hockey players honoured in the Hall include Wayne Gretzky of Ontario, who holds many NHL scoring records; Maurice Richard of Montreal, a hero in Quebec, who led the Montreal Canadiens to eight Stanley Cups;[12] Gordie Howe of Saskatchewan, and Bobby Orr of Ontario, among many others.
Prominent trophies for national championships in Canada are the Memorial Cup for the top junior-age men's team and the Allan Cup for the top men's senior team. There are national championships in several other divisions of play. Hockey Canada is the sport's official governing body in Canada and is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). A Canadian national men's team, composed of professionals, competes in the annual IIHF Men's World Championship and in the Olympics. Russia and U.S.A are considered the Canada national team major rival.[13][14]
Ice hockey is one of the most played sports in the country at the youth level[15][16][17] and remains popular for adults whether in organized professional, amateur or recreational leagues. Numerous tournaments are held annually, and ice hockey games are often part of winter carnivals, and many outdoor ice rinks are constructed for the winter season. In 2010, an estimated 1.3 million Canadian adults participated in ice hockey, second to golf.[18]
The sport is the third-most popular sport among Canadian children. A 2010 survey estimated that 22% of households have a child playing ice hockey, while 25% of households have a child playing soccer, and 24% of households have a child participating in swimming.[19] The sport faces increasing competition from other popular sports such as basketball,[20] soccer,[21] [22] and field hockey,[23] which all have high participation rates. Another factor facing participation rates is the relative higher cost of hockey equipment.[24][25] In 2013, the average cost of ice hockey equipment for youth was estimated at CA$730 while basketball equipment cost $310 and soccer equipment cost $160.[4]
Women's hockey in Canada is growing.[26] The top-level Canadian Women's Hockey League ran for 12 seasons from 2007-19. The Clarkson Cup is the highest trophy in Canadian women's hockey. Women's hockey teams exist at some college and university institutions, while girls' teams exist where numbers support organizing teams and girls often participate in co-ed youth leagues. From the 2001–02 season to the 2012–13 season, female Hockey Canada registrations increased by 59%.[4]
Ice hockey is so popular in Canada that is considered a major component of Canadian culture and national identity.[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]
In May 1964, former Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president and then current member of parliament Jack Roxburgh did extensive research to find if Canadian parliament had ever declared a national game, and specifically looked into whether lacrosse was officially declared. After going through parliamentary records, he found no law was ever enacted. The Canadian Press reported at the time that the myth of lacrosse as Canada's national game possibly came from a book published in 1869 titled Lacrosse, the National Game of Canada, and that the Canadian Lacrosse Association was founded in 1867.[40][41] His endeavour to declare hockey as Canada's national game coincided with the Great Canadian Flag Debate of 1964.[42] On October 28, 1964, Roxburgh moved to introduce Bill C–132, with respect to declaring hockey as the national game of Canada.[43]
Canadian Lacrosse Association members responded to the motion by calling it insulting and "out of line", and vowed to fight it.[44] On June 11, 1965, Bob Prittie replied by introducing a separate bill to have lacrosse declared as Canada's national game and stated that, "I think it is fitting at this time when we are considering national flags, national anthems and other national symbols, that this particular matter should be settled now".[42] The choice of Canada's national game was debated in 1965, but neither bill was passed when parliament was dissolved.[45] In 1967, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson proposed to name national summer and winter games, but nothing was resolved. Finally in April 1994, Bill C–212 was passed to recognize hockey as Canada's official winter game, and lacrosse as its summer game.[42]
The national winter sport of Canada and the most popular sport among all Canadians, Ice Hockey can be dated back to the 19th century when various stick and ball games, both from the United Kingdom and from the indigenous communities of Canada, influenced a new game into existence. It is as popular in Canada, both as a game and as a pastime, among people of all ages, as sports such as cricket and football are elsewhere in the world. Over time it has become quite popular internationally too and is even an Olympic sport . And in a country that is full of so many diverse peoples, cultures, and languages, hockey is a kind of unifying force that brings everyone together.
It is an integral part of Canada's national identity as well as the country’s rich culture. But if you’re visiting Canada and perhaps planning on going to a Ice Hockey game and yet you don’t know a lot about the game, well, we can help you with that! Here is a comprehensive guide on Canada's official sport of Ice Hockey that it is known worldwide for.
Canada’s ice hockey was a sport that the European settlers invented by using parts of various other games. It was derived mainly from the various kinds of field hockey played all over Europe, especially in England, and from the lacrosse-like stick and ball game that was originated by the Mi'kmaq indigenous people of the Maritimes provinces of Canada. The term hockey itself came from the French word ‘hoquet’ which means a shepherd's stick, an object that was used in a Scottish game in the 18th century.
All of these influences combined to contribute to the contemporary form of Canadian ice hockey, which was first played indoors in 1875 in Montreal in Canada . In Montreal itself annual ice hockey championships also originated in the 1880s and the Stanley Cup, which is the oldest trophy award in North American sports, started to be awarded to top ice hockey teams. By the twentieth century professional ice hockey leagues had been formed, even in the United States. The most important of these that is a major professional league even today, a hundred years later, and the strongest and largest association for hockey in North America as well as the rest of the world, is Canada’s National Hockey League.
READ MORE: Learn more about sports and culture in Canada.
Most forms of Canadian Ice Hockey are played according to the rules devised by the National Hockey League or NHL. The game is played on a 200x85 feet rink that is shaped like a rectangle with round corners. There are three sections on the rink – the neutral zone in the middle where the game starts, and the attacking and defending zones on either sides of the neutral zone. There is a 4x6 feet goal cages and a goal occurs when a shot clears the wide striped goal line on the ice in front of the goal cage.
There are two teams on skates with hockey sticks with which to shoot the rubber puck into the goal cage or net of the opposing team. The puck is passed between the players of the different teams and each team’s job is not only to score a goal but also to prevent the opposing team from scoring a goal. The game consists of 3 twenty minute periods and at the end of the game, whichever team has scored the most goals wins, and if there is a draw then the game goes into overtime and the first team to score a goal during this extra time wins.
Each team has a maximum of 20 players out of which only 6 can play on the ice at a time and the rest are substitutes who can replace the original six as and when required. Since the game can be quite brutal and violent because the players may stop the opposing players from scoring goals with physical force, each player including the goal keeper or tender has protective equipment and padding. Other than the goal tender who must remain in his position, the rest of the outfield players can move from their positions and move about the ice field as they choose to. Players can be penalised if trip their opponent with their stick, body check a player who doesn’t have the puck, fight, or cause serious injury to opposing players.
READ MORE: Read about Whistler, Blackcomb and other Skiing Locations in Canada.
It may seem like Canada’s ice hockey has mostly been a male sport ever since its origins, but in fact women have also played ice hockey in Canada for over a hundred years. It was in 1892 in Ontario that the first all female ice hockey game was played and in 1990 that a first world championship for women’s hockey took place . Now women’s ice hockey has also been a part of the Olympics Winter Games. There is also a separate league for women’s hockey called the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and women’s hockey teams exist at college levels as well, thus leading to more and more women participating in the game and eventually reaching the national and international leagues.
Canada’s official sport of ice hockey is also an internationally acclaimed and played sport. From the International Ice Hockey Federation to the Winter Olympics, Canada has competed with countries all over the world, with the United States of America and Russia being the main rivals of Canada in the game.
READ MORE: Learn about coming to Canada as a tourist or visitor.
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