I always thank people from Canada for their countries creation of my favorite sport. How much impact did Canada really have on hockey? And furthermore, what can be done to save this dying sport and why has it taken so long for it to catch on?
Note that a reference to hockey (with no modifying adjective) can be a bit confusing on the SDMB. To me, *hockey * is the game played outside on a grass field. The Canadians play ice hockey.
NathanForce. Welcome to the boards.
General Questions is for questions which have a factual answer. Your question, while it will have some factual answers in it, really calls for people’s opinions. So I moved your thread to IMHO.
Also, you might try making the title to your threads a bit more descriptive, such as “What was Canada’s influence on ice hockey?”
No biggie.
samclem GQ moderator
No, Canadians play hockey. Hockey on grass is called field hockey.
Thank you.
And Nathan? You’re welcome.
Heck, I don’t even think it should be called hockey. They certainly don’t use hockey sticks. I’ve no idea whose idea those weird hooked-at-the-end things that look like a fishhook did the nasty with a cricket bat are called, but they certainly aren’t hockey sticks. 
Dying? Only to the extent that organisers and leaders value cash and/or image over playing the sport. Where are you? I can state that hockey has ‘caught on’ for quite a while here in Toronto. 
Since the only people who play “field hockey” are high school girls anyway, it’s not like there’s much chance of confusion.
But let’s answer the OP:
The precise origin of hockey, like a lot of old sports, is not easy to nail down. It is generally accepted however that hockey in its modern form was invented in Canada. The exact location of the first hockey game is a point of wide dispute, with some placing it in Nova Scotia, and some in Kingston, Ontario.
It is also generally accepted that hockey is a Canadian ice adaptation of the Irish sport of hurley (though people have been whacking at objects with sticks in an effort to shoot them into goals for God only knows how long.) It might also be an adaptation of the English sport of bandy; like a lot of sports, hockey is probably an evolutionary development from a long line of other sports. At first it was called hurley, too, or shinny; the name “hockey” wasn’t adopted for the sport until the latter half of the 19th century.
The modern rules of hockey were first used in Montreal in 1875, at McGill University. The National Hockey League was started in 1917 (contrary to popular belief, the “Original Six” teams were not the original NHL teams.)
Hockey is basically a 100% Canadian invention. 99% at least.
I’m curious as to why you think hockey is dying. Hockey is in fact as popular a sport now as it’s ever been.
Of course, the NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE is slitting its own throat. But don’t make the mistake of confusing the sport with one pro league. If the NHL dies (God willing) a new pro league will spring up in its place. As a participation sport hockey is wildly popular, the European leagues are going strong, and North American minor leagues are enjoying unprecedented attendance. College hockey in the States is a huge draw.
As to why it’s taken “so long” to catch on, hockey is about as old a sport as baseball or football (not soccer) and older than basketball. the NHL is one of the oldest professional team sport leagues in the world; only the major leagues in baseball are older in North America, and the Australian Football League’s older. Its reach is more limited than some other sports for two reasons:
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You can’t play hockey unless you can ice skate, so it’s a sport that’s really only easy to get into if you live somewhere cold, and
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Hockey is a very, very expensive sport to play, especially for kids, since they outgrow their equipment. Annual costs for kids around here are around $2000 just including league fees and equipment; throwing in your transportation and incidentals it can range from $2500 to $4000 just for house league. You can only play it on a frozen rink, and the equipment costs are high.
Well I live in rural West TN. Not exactly hockey central or so you would think yet I have no trouble at all getting up a game every sunday. Granted this is roller hockey but it’s close to the real thing. Roller hockey is very popular and growing rapidly because as RickJAy said ice hockey is very expensive where roller is much cheaper. There are 3 rinks within 25 miles of me. Not to mention tournaments at least once a month within easy driving distance. Not exactly dying.
I was speaking more about the NHL and its future I suppose when I wrote that. Oddly enough I’m not even an NHL fan; instead I am a huge supporter of the Long Beach Ice Dogs in Long Beach, CA, which is a member of the AAA East Coast Hockey League (a national league now, but still holds onto its East Coast title). I think minor league hockey is much more exciting than the pros personally.
I live in SW Ontario, about an hour east of Detroit into Canada. The Red Wings, Sabres, and Leafs (crap; I will NEVER see a Leaf Cup in my life! ) are, or were, all within travelling distance for games. TV coverage of national and even provincial leagues; I remember seeing Adam Graves when he played for the Windsor Spitfires (crap again: I’m old too! ). The public cable channels usually have coverage of local minor hockey. I remember buying hockey cards from the OHL and the Quebec Major Junior when I was in high school. I think that it might be a good thing after all for the NHL to bite it. Hearing about real hockey fans even existing in Cali and Tenn. makes me think the sport itself will be OK without a bunch of millionaires fighting about how much of the fans’ money they each get. Good hockey is what any fan wants; the jerseys don’t matter if the game is good.
To NathanForce: maybe minor league is the way to go. Isn’t college basketball more popular than the NBA down there? I saw a billboard for a minor league playoff game while on vacation in Fla. near Naples, but I can’t remember the names…
Just a stupid question - does anyone know if many ( or any) of the old Canadians that ‘migrate’ to Florida every year have involvement in hockey down there?
I don’t know the answer to that question, but I do know that the influence of Canada in current American hockey cannot be understated.
Damned straight. Maybe it’s just an Australian thing.
As for Ice Hockey and Canada, well, Ice Hockey hasn’t caught on much down here, so you can scratch that off your influenced list.
It not just an Australian thing. “Field” hockey is played all over the world by men and women. It is an Olympic event with many countries taking part . I am willing to bet there are more players of this sport than Ice Hockey
Here is the web site for the International Hockey Federation Hockey
You’d be surprised at the fans. We’ve got a team not far from here (Washington Capitals), and people here just don’t seem to care - aside from the ex-pat Canadians. I’m baffled. Around here (Baltimore), it’s Football and Baseball.
I miss home with the huge parties when it was time for the Cup playoffs. I was in the crowded downtown streets when the Flames won the cup a million years ago. I’ll never get that living here.
I was referring to calling field Hockey just ‘hockey’ without the field in front, since it is the first sport we think of when we hear hockey. As opposed to Canadians, who probably think ‘Ice Hockey’ when they hear hockey.
And I dare say a lot more people would play it.