Introduction
Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponent's net to score goals. The sport is known to be fast-paced and physical, with teams usually fielding six players at a time: one goaltender, and five players who skate the span of the ice trying to control the puck and score goals against the opposing team.
Ice hockey is most popular in Canada, central and eastern Europe, the Nordic countries, Russia, and the United States. Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada.In addition, ice hockey is the most popular winter sport in Belarus, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Latvia, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland. North America's National Hockey League (NHL) is the highest level for men's ice hockey and the strongest professional ice hockey league in the world. The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) is the highest league in Russia and much of Eastern Europe. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) is the formal governing body for international ice hockey, with the IIHF managing international tournaments and maintaining the IIHF World Ranking. Worldwide, there are ice hockey federations in 76 countries.
In Canada, the United States, Nordic countries, and some other European countries the sport is known simply as hockey; the name "ice hockey" is used in places where "hockey" more often refers to the more established field hockey, such as countries in South America, Asia, Africa, Australasia, and some European countries including the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands.
Ice hockey is believed to have evolved from simple stick and ball games played in the 18th and 19th centuries in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. These games were brought to North America and several similar winter games using informal rules were developed, such as shinny and ice polo. The contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, where the first indoor hockey game was played on March 3, 1875. Some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained to this day. Amateur ice hockey leagues began in the 1880s, and professional ice hockey originated around 1900. The Stanley Cup, emblematic of ice hockey club supremacy, was first awarded in 1893 to recognize the Canadian amateur champion and later became the championship trophy of the NHL. In the early 1900s, the Canadian rules were adopted by the Ligue Internationale de Hockey Sur Glace, the precursor of the IIHF and the sport was played for the first time at the Olympics during the 1920 Summer Olympics.
A slapshot in ice hockey is the hardest shot one can perform. It has four stages which are executed in one fluid motion to make the puck fly into the net:
- The player winds up his hockey stick to shoulder height or higher.
- Next the player violently "slaps" the ice slightly behind the puck and uses his weight to bend the stick, storing energy in it like a spring. This bending of the stick gives the slapshot its speed. Just like a bow and arrow, the stick's tendency to return to being straight is transferred to the puck, giving it much more speed than just hitting it alone could.
- When the face of the stick blade strikes the puck, the player rolls his wrists and shifts his weight so that the energy stored in the stick is released through the puck.
- Finally, the player follows through, ending up with the stick pointed towards the desired target.
The slapshot is harder than other shots and, because of the violent motion involved, somewhat less accurate. It also takes longer to execute; a player usually cannot take a slapshot while under any significant pressure from an opposing player because the opponent could easily interfere during the windup. The slapshot is most commonly used by a defenceman at the point, especially during a power play, although a forward will sometimes find an opportunity to use it.
The invention of the slapshot is credited to Bernard "Boom Boom" Geoffrion (a nickname alluding to the thunderous clack of his slapshots) of the Montreal Canadiens. Black Canadian Eddie Martin, of the Coloured Hockey League's Halifax Eurekas, has also been credited with inventing the slapshot in the late 1800s. Dick Irvin, who was a star player in the WCHL and PCHA – and who later coached Geoffrion with the Habs – was also renowned for having a hard and accurate slap shot. Growing up in Winnipeg in the 1890s and 1900s, he would practice shooting against a doorknob in his attic during the winter months for accuracy. In the summertime, Irvin would draw a chalk outline of a net onto his family's sled garage, and practice one timers off a piece of wooden board embedded into the ground.
During a hockey game, a puck can reach the speeds of 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) or more when struck. The current slapshot speed record is held by AHL forward Martin Frk, whose slapshot was clocked at 109.2 miles per hour (175.7 km/h) at the 2020 AHL All-Star Weekend, in Ontario, California.
Task
Get more pucks into the proper corner of the net every day.
Process
The Setup
Mark a spot 10 feet from the net.
Position feet with the forward one pointing towards the net the other on back 90 degrees the other way.
Arch back slightly forward and bend knees.
Grip your hockey stick at the very top and a little over halfway down.
Postion the puck in the middle of your feet.
The Shot
Bring the stick up to almost straight up.
Start to move your body forward.
Bring the stick straight down.
Shift your weight onto your forward foot.
Hit the floor a bit behind the puck.
Exert all force into the shot.
Take 10 shots at each corner of the net.
Evaluation
Student gets one more puck in the right spot every day.
Conclusion
The student has a more powerful and accurate slapshot.