The popularity of ice hockey has increased dramatically in recent years. It has traditionally been seen as a sport best suited to the colder climates of countries like Canada. But in the last few years, other countries like the United States have become hooked on the game too. In fact, the NHL which used to be a Canadian stronghold has become dominated by American teams.

 

 

It's no secret that ice hockey can be a hazardous sport. Many people think that football is the most risky team sport but ice hockey has a number of lethal items that football doesn't. The stick, the blades of the skates and even the puck can cause a lot of injury during play. Besides that, ice hockey is a game where full body checking is allowed. In the early days, players had very little protection at all- they usually wore no gloves, helmets or padding. Even the goalie had very little, if any, padding and protection. Today, ice hockey equipment must be specially certified before use and is designed to protect the players without inhibiting their playing abilities.

But ice hockey has also proven to be a common ground for people to come together. During the seventies and early eighties while the world was in the grip of the Cold War, it was on the rink that Soviet players and players from the Western World were able to come together. The Soviet link would prove to be an important one in the National Hockey League, as a number of Soviet players joined, playing for different Canadian and American teams.

 

 

In order to see just how popular ice hockey is, all you need to do is have a look at three particular games that have entered the halls of ice hockey lore. The first is known as the Cold War. It happened in 2001 and was between two college teams. Despite temperatures that were below freezing, 74,554 people showed up to watch the game. Another big draw was the Heritage Classic, played in 2003. This game pitted two hockey greats against each other- the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens. This game is remembered best, mainly because it consisted of a number of former hockey greats like Wayne Gretzky. Viewer-ship of that match was estimated to be at around 2.747 million. This record was broken in 2008, during the Winter Classic match between the Penguins and the Sabres.

 

Naturally, ice hockey has entered into different facets of popular culture as well. Canadian television in particular is rich with hockey sentiment- in fact; there is even a reality show on hockey called ‘Making the Cut’. Canadian folk singer Stompin' Tom Connors paid tribute to the game with the very famous tune called The Hockey Song. The band ‘Five For Fighting’ take their name from the ice hockey penalty for fighting.

 

For some, ice hockey is a way of life. For others, it's just a great game to watch and play. No matter which way you look at it, it's hard to ignore the attraction of ice hockey.

 

Al is the author and webmaster of "http://www.sportstickets411.com/football-tickets.html" information web site.

 

 

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