Hockey Facts
Hockey Facts
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| Interesting Hockey Facts: |
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| Despite all the variations of when hockey was first played, the first organized hockey game played indoors occurred in 1875, in Montreal, Canada. |
| The NHL (National Hockey League) was established in 1917. |
| Prior to the 1960s, hockey sticks were straight. Stan Mikita, a Chicago Blackhawks Hall of Famer is credited with introducing the curve to the stick in the 60s. |
| Hockey pucks have three-inch diameters. They are frozen before each game so that they don't bounce during the game. |
| The first puck used during outdoor hockey in the 1800s was made of frozen cow dung. |
| Bobby Hull shot the fastest puck in recorded history, at 118 miles per hour. |
| The Stanley Cup was created in 1893. It was named for Lord Stanley of Preston, a Canadian Governor General. |
| Originally, the Stanley Cup was only seven inches tall. Today it is more than 35 inches tall. |
| The Stanley Cup has been awarded each year since 1914. The only exceptions were in 1919 during the Spanish flu epidemic, and in 2005 because of a strike. |
| The Stanley Cup was once used as a cereal bowl. It was once left on the side of the road by mistake, and was even once lost on a flight. |
| Rinks in North America measure 85 feet wide by 200 feet long. |
| The team to win the most Stanley Cups in the league's history is the Montreal Canadiens. |
| The greatest player of all time, Wayne Gretzky, has 61 NHL records. Nobody else comes close to this many records. |
| The record for most points in a single game is held by Darryl Sittler. He had 10 points in a game in 1976 between his team, the Leafs, and the Bruins. The Leafs won. Maurice ‘Rocket' Richard previously set the record with eight points. |
| Joe Malone scored seven goals in a game in 1920. He still holds the record for most scored goals in a game. |
| The goaltender Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens created the modern goalie mask in 1959. |
| Manon Rheaume was the first woman to play in the NHL. She was the goalie for Tampa Bay Lightning. |
| The first NHL million dollar contract went to Bobby Orr in 1971. It was a $200,000, five year term contract. |
| The first goalie to score a goal in the other team's net was goalie Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers. |
| The Zamboni, the machine used on the ice to keep it properly maintained, was named after Frank Zamboni. He invented the machine in 1949. |
| The names of twelve women appear on the Stanley Cup. They were either team executives or owners. |
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