HockeyStars Season Opener Contest

Over 100 prizes to be won!

There's two ways to win:

1. Win an iPod™ Shuffle

1. We're giving away up to six iPod™ Shuffles a week, beginning August 22nd, 2008 and ending October 24th, 2008
2. Sign up to HockeyStars.
3. Create a player profile
4. Post a profile photo
5. Add a bio
6. You’ll automatically be entered into a weekly draw to win an iPod™ Shuffle!

2. Win a HockeyStars Team Pack that includes a $100 Citizens Bank Visa* gift card to spend on your team!

1. We're giving away one HockeyStars Team Pack a week, starting September 19, 2008 and ending October 24th, 2008
2. Sign up your team on HockeyStars.
3. Create a team profile, with a schedule
4. Add 10 players (minimum) to your team
5. Each player must have a photo and bio posted to their unique profile
6. Qualifying teams will automatically be entered into a weekly draw

With weekly draws, the sooner you join, the more chances you have to win!

Contest closes October 24th, 2008. NEW DEADLINE! Contest extended untill OCTOBER 31, 2008.

See contest rules for full details.

^{™iPod is a registered trademark of Apple Inc. Apple is not a sponsor of, nor a participant in, this promotion.
*Visa Int./Citizens Bank of Canada, Licensed User.}

Looking back at where hockey got its start in last week's post, it's funny to see some of the old rules: all players played the entire game, there was no forward passing, the goalie had to stand the entire game, and whenever a goal was scored teams changed ends.

It's an ever-changing game but one thing stays the same: put the puck in the net. Over the years (and it seems like every year) rules are revised and rewritten, but what about some of those basics? Do you know what it means when the referee blows his whistle and with his arms? Is there more to the game than 5 players with a stick on each end trying to get the puck past the other team's goalie? Let's start with some of the basic rules:

Penalties are actually a way to keep the game safe for all by letting players know when they're not playing fair. Some of the most common penalties include: boarding, charging, checking from behind, cross-checking, elbowing, hand pass, high-sticking, holding, hooking, icing, interference, slashing, spearing, and tripping.

It's actually perfectly acceptable for a player to fire a puck all the way down the ice - but it all depends on what it runs into along the way. Icing is when a player sends the puck down the ice, from behind his own red line, and it cruises all the way past the other goal line - without going to the net.

Offside happens when a player heads over their opponent's blue line before getting the puck. If that puck follows and they make contact with it, offside will be called and a faceoff will take place outside of the zone.

These are some of the rules that make sure everyone on the ice has a nice clean game and by paying attention to them, you can help your team be successful by avoiding unneeded penalties.

Image courtesy of After The Whistle.

A while back I watched Hockey: A People's History and over the course of many chapters (and weeks) I fell in love with our nation's winter sport all over again. Its origins are rooted in some places you may not expect, and others are pretty obvious. Here are some unique tidbits that you can share with your friends:

As far back at 1800, a game called "Hurley-on-Ice" was played by students in Windsor, Nova Scotia at King's College. Hurley was an Irish field game of Gaelic origin that involved using a wooden axe-shaped stick, called a "Hurley" to hit a ball and score on the goalkeeper. The game took off in various forms but as a winter sport played on ice, its popularity grew and within only a few years, more ice rinks were being built in Eastern Canada. Equipment started to take shape as spring skates modified for ice hockey were invented and patented in 1866 and sticks carved by the Mi'kmaq first nation were the most popular for decades to follow.

When the young sport is introduced to Montreal at McGill university a few years later, it was played by rugby teams and actually resembled rugby; with no forward passing and lot of bodychecking. In 1892, a Canadian Governor called Lord Stanley of Preston purchased a silver cup and decided to present it every year to the best hockey team in Canada. Actually as the story goes, it was his hockey-loving children that convinced him to do honor the sport in this way.

If you live in Vancouver, there's a statue of Lord Stanley at the entrance to Stanley Park, which is also named after him.

And to think, if not for his children and their love of the sport - we wouldn't have the Stanley Cup.

Photo of McGill hockey match in Montreal, Quebec from Wikimedia Commons.

Last week while attending a networking event in downtown Vancouver I began chatting with a few people about non-profit organizations and charities that they support. One man said that the chance to play hockey basically changed his life and has made him forever grateful. He said he would have only had that experience if not for Kidsport™.

"KidSport™ provides support to children in order to remove financial barriers that prevent them from playing organized sport."

There are 173 Provincial and local chapters of KidSport across Canada and they supply grants up to $300 so that children can afford to buy equipment and join teams. They provide the opportunity to children to not only play on a team, but also gain valuable lessons and mentorship from the experience and the coaches. Last year over 49,000 kids are given the chance to play sports, from soccer to hockey, in their towns. It's such a trusted program that the Government of Canada has also invested funds in Kidsport™, committing to a three-year support plan.

Participating in community activities (offline, or online with Hockeystars) not only gets children involved in their sport and gives them a sense of belonging with a team, it keeps them active. You can find out more, donate, or locate your local chapter on the Kidsport™ website.

You can probably head to any region in Canada and one of the cities will be home to a Centennial Arena. These rinks aren't all named the same by coincidence, they are actually monuments to the dedication Canadian communities have to hockey.

When Canada celebrated its Centennial in 1967 (100 years of being a country) regions and organizations across the country were encouraged to hold events or to build a legacy, like a park, library or pool, in celebration of this milestone. The celebrations were to last the entire year and the legacies were a part of the "Centennial Project", funded by grants from various levels of government.

Some provinces got creative, like Ontario's "A Place to Stand (Ontari-ari-ario)" tune that was a Centennial Project, and others held events, like concerts and sporting tournaments.

However, it's rather clear that hockey was (as it is today) at the heart of many communities across Canada. There are over 130,000 results when I search for a "centennial arena" in Canada; from the Etobicoke Centennial Arena, to the Minto Centennial Arena Ice Skating Rink, across to the Centennial Arena Skating Rink in White Rock, around to the Watrous Centennial Arena in Saskatchewan, and over to the Brantford Civic Centre - coast to coast, Canadians love their hockey.

Although the rinks may now be old and outdated, this tradition, that started with a boost from the government to celebrate Canada's birthday, lives on today through all of those that have had the chance to skate on that "centennial" ice.

Creative Commons Attribution license