hockey report Essays - Ice Hockey Rules, Ice Hockey, Offside, Centre

Hockey is a fast sport played by two teams in a rink of ice. Each team has six players, one goalie, two defensemen, two wingers, and one center man.The players skate up and down the ice shooting or passing a rubber puck with sticks.They score points by hitting the puck into the net. Hockey is much faster than any other sport. As the players go across the ice, their shots and passes can send the puck faster than 100 miles per hour. A goalkeeper on each team defends the net from the puck going in. They always make quick slides across the on their skates, stomachs, knees or backs to stop the puck from going into the net. The side that scores the most goals wins the game. To keep the action fast, hockey has an unusual rule. It is the only major sport that allows players to change or substitute during play. The game is rough and includes lots of hitting and some fights, although fighting is against the rules. Hockey started in Canada in the 1800's. By the 1900's it had become Canada's national sport. Since then hockey has become popular in many other countries including Russia, Sweden and the United States. Hockey has many different divisions. The NHL, involves the bigger cities in Canada and the United States. Each period begins at the center face-off spot. A face-off also starts play again after it has been stopped for any reason. During play, the puck must normally be kept moving. If it is hit over the boards, held by the goalie, out of the referee's sight, frozen between opposing players, or is out of play, an official blows a whistle for a face-off. A player can move the puck along the ice, pass it to a teammate, or shoot it at the goal, but rules limit these plays in certain ways. One important rule states that no player of the attacking team may be in the attacking zone ahead of the puck. One player must carry or shoot the puck across the attacking blue line before any other player on the team crosses the blue line. For violations of this rule, an official signals the other team offside and conducts a face-off in the neutral zone. A player may pass to a teammate anywhere in the same zone. The player can also pass from the defending zone to a teammate in their team's half of the neutral zone. If the pass is past the center line an official signals the pass offside and conducts a face-off where the play began. Hockey requires a lot skills. They include checking, skating, passing, stick handling and shooting. Checking is the way a player takes the puck away from the opponent. There are two main types of checks: stick checks and body checks. For a stick check the player uses his stick to hook the puck away from the opponent. In a body check the player bumps against theopponent with a hip or a shoulder to try any block the opponent or throw them off balance. Both stick checking and body checking are allowed only against a player in control of the puck. Skating is the most important hockey skill. Players must be able to turn sharply, skate backwards and perform many other maneuvers while skating at top speed. They must be able to do this with their head up and while stick handling the puck. Passing is when a player who has the puck passes it to another player. most of the time the players use their sticks to hit the puck to their teammate. These passes are either flat passes or flip passes. To make a flat pass the player hits the puck along the surface of the ice. To make a flip pass the player makes it rise off the ice to avoid interception by an opponent. Sometimes the passer leaves the puck behind, so that a teammate can get it, this is a drop pass. Stick handling is using the stick to control the puck. The player moves the puck with one side of the blade and then with the other side when skating. This way the player keeps the opponent guessing as to the next