Why do hockey players wear shorts?

Factual Questions
2

  1. Long pants look funny. The Flyers and Whalers tried them for a while.

  2. Shorts have been around for a while.

This should link to a photo of Hobey Baker, who played before WWI (and is the namesake of the award given to the best collegiate player in the US)
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?type=Player&mem=P194502&list=ByPosition&pos=R#photo

It’s a bit hard to make out, but it looks to me like he’s wearing shorts or knickers.

I would think that with shorts you can tuck things in and keep ice from getting inside your clothes a bit more easily.