Ryan Singer, age 14, of Akron, Ohio, for his question:
WHEN DID ICE HOCKEY ORIGINATE?
Ice hockey is a game in which two opposing teams attempt to drive a small black disk of vulcanized rubber through the goal of the opponent by means of sticks that are curved at one end. Ice hockey is probably a descendant of brandy, a sport that developed in England in the late 18th Century, but is now played only in the Baltic countries of Sweden and Russia.
Modern ice hockey was devised either in 1853 or 1860 by British soldiers stationed in Canada. Rules were set by students at McGill University in Montreal in 1879 and several amateur clubs and leagues were established in Canada by the late 1880s.
The game of ice hockey is believed to have been played in the United States for the first time in 1893. By the beginning of the 20th Century the sport had spread to Great Britain and other parts of Europe.
Today ice hockey is played in some 30 countries, principally in North America and Europe.
Ice hockey is an action packed, extremely rough game that is considered the fastest of all sports. It is played on natural or artificial ice, on an oval rink with a standard size of 200 feet by 98 feet. The rink is enclosed by a board wail about four feet high. Two goal nets, each four feet high and six feet wide, are situated 10 feet from each end of the rink.
The playing area is divided into three equal sized zones by two blue lines. In professional hockey, a red centerline also divides the rink.
The zone nearest a team's goal is called the defense zone, the central zone is called the neutral zone and the zone nearest the opponent's goal is called the attacking zone. The rink has five face off circles, each with a radius of 15 feet, one located at center ice and two in each team's defense zone.
Each team uses no more than six players at a time, usually one center, two forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender, or goalie.
Each ice hockey player carries a wooden stick that is generally made of either ash or elm. The shaft is no longer than 53 inches and it has a so called blade no wider than three inches and no longer than 14 1/2 inches.
Ice hockey players wear protective pads under their clothing and thick gloves on their hands. Helmets are optional officially but are almost always worn. Goaltenders are allowed heavier and wider sticks and wear additional protective equipment, including face masks.
Ice hockey skates differ from those used for figure skating and speed skating. The blade is thinner and shorter, with a plain pointed end, and the boot is lower and thicker.
A goal is scored when the puck, a vulcanized rubber disk that is one inch thick and three inches in diameter, is driven by a stick into the opponent's goal. A player who scores three goals in one game is said to have scored a "hat trick."
The game is divided into three 20 minute periods, with a changing of goals at the end of each.