Hockey Pucks
Hockey pucks are what the player attempts to hit into the net to score. They are a disc shaped, hard rubber item that resembles a roll of tape. This rubber that is used to make this piece of equipment is vulcanized. Vulcanized means that it is heated to a high temperature and other basically ingredients, namely sulfur, is added to make the overall puck harder and smoother enabling it to glide across the ice easier and much faster.
Most people have the misconception that hockey itself was formed originally in Canada. This could not be farther from the truth. The game had it's official start in England or Great Britain and was originally played with a ball and not a puck. This was so that throughout the full year many of the ice based players could train year round by using this ball.
When it did make its way to Canada, the players realized that this ball style puck would not work. It was because, the ball was to unpredictable on the ice and would fly into the stands and hit the spectators. This required a change in this part of the equipment, therefore, this ball was quickly changed to the puck that we know it to be today.
This puck and its weight is a variable at times, depending upon what it is being used for. The official professional and standard puck weighs six ounces and is black. It is sometimes marked with the home teams logo. For younger players in the kids leagues it is a four ounce version that is blue. For training, many players utilize a ten ounce red puck. This aids in developing the skills needed in both shooting and handling. Although, they also use a steel puck for training too. This type of puck is two pounds and is only used for the strengthening of the wrists. Shooting, or even attempting to shoot one of these style pucks is extremely frowned upon and basically a hockey taboo due to the increased injury potential factor.
While in action, this standard game puck can have the ability to go over one hundred miles an hour. It was this reason that many of the older goalies have missing teeth. It was, in the older days, a very common occurrence for the goalie to be hit in the face by this piece of game equipment, therefore, masks became a crucial part of the game for all goalies.
These flying pucks can be very dangerous. In nineteen ninety two, Brittanie Cecilo was killed when she was hit in the head by one during a professional game. This forced the incorporation of nets being installed above the protective Plexiglas panels.
Nonetheless, even though hockey pucks are probably the most crucial part of equipment in the game of hockey, they are also the most dangerous.
