THE HISTORY OF HOCKEY EQUIPMENT

THE HISTORY OF EQUIPMENT Presented by the New York Americans, 1928-29 team [Photo: Hockey Hall of Fame] Uniform photography: Matthew J. Costa Cover photo: Frank Boucher, New York Rangers, ca. 1920 [Photo: Hockey Hall of Fame] s the game of hockey has evolved, so, on too has its equipment. In the game’s earliest days, when players skated on natu-ral ice and substitutions were rare, a hockey uniform’s most important job was to keep its wearer warm. Innovations in ice-making, skate design and coaching strategy would soon launch hockey on a century-long pro-gression that has led to today’s short shifts played at top speeds by bigger players who shoot the puck harder. Modern hockey equipment is asked to perform a multitude of complex jobs: maximizing performance and agility while offering protection, keep-ing the athlete dry and—paradoxically for this winter game—cool and comfortable. The pages that follow outline a detailed description of the history of hockey equip-ment, from the late 19th century to the present day. Hockey equipment has seen tremendous advancement over the past century, and now the new standard for the uniform will be established with the Rbk EDGE Uniform System. THE HISTORY OF EQUIPMENT A Timeline 1880s Players began to protect their shins from sticks and pucks by using strips of leather or felt, reinforced with thin lengths of cane. Leather gloves were worn less for protection than to keep a player warm from the outdoor elements. 1896 The first goaltender to wear leg pads was George Merritt of the Winnipeg Victorias in the 1896 Stanley Cup chal-lenge game against Montreal. Merritt strapped on a pair of cricket pads and posted a 2-0 shutout over the Mon-treal Victorias. Circa 1900 Players began to protect their kneecaps with a large square of leather or canvas, reinforced with felt. They also wore gloves that were made from leather and had padding consisting of animal hair and felt. Some gloves added thin sticks of bamboo or rattan positioned over the wrist portion to provide extra protection. 1910 Fred “Cyclone” Taylor, a star player in the early part of the century, is said to be one of the first players to protect his shoulders and back from injury. Taylor took some scraps of felt from a harness shop in his hometown of Renfrew, Ontario and sewed them into his undershirt around the shoulders and down the back. Players began to use elbow pads made from felt. 1920s Knee and shin pads were attached together to provide increased protection. 1930 1930 Circa 1931 1930s 1933 1937-38 After having his nose broken from a Howie Morenz shot, Montreal Maroons’ Clint Benedict became the first goal-tender to wear a mask in an NHL game on February 20, 1930. The leather facemask did not prove practical and Benedict abandoned it after just two games. Montreal Canadiens’ goaltending great Jacques Plante became the first netminder to use a mask on a regular basis in the NHL in November, 1959. On March 31, 1973, Pittsburgh’s Andy Brown played against St. Louis without a mask —the last appearance by a maskless goaltender in an NHL game. Beginning with the 1930-31 season, it became manda-tory for each player to wear a number on the back of his sweater, measuring at least 10 inches in height. After Montreal Maroons star Babe Siebert suffered a broken thumb, trainer Bill O’Brien put a shoehorn inside Siebert’s glove to provide reinforcement and protection to his thumb. This clever invention was the impetus for the reinforced fiber thumb which would become a staple on hockey gloves in the 1930’s. Players began to better protect their elbows by wearing leather pads on the outside of their sweaters. Players also began to protect their forearms, sewing felt pads onto to their long-sleeved undershirts. Toronto Maple Leafs’ star Ace Bailey suffered a ca- reer-ending head injury when he struck his head on the ice after a collision with Boston’s Eddie Shore. Shore became the first high profile player to wear a helmet regularly in the NHL after the collision. Helmets, though, were still not widely used in the NHL until the 1970’s. In 1959-60, only four players—Charlie Burns and Vic Stasiuk of the Boston Bruins, Warren Godfrey of the Detroit Red Wings and Camille Henry of the New York Rangers—wore helmets on a regular basis. As improvements continued to be made to all forms of equipment, the League passed a rule that prohibited the use of pads “made of metal or any other materials likely to cause injury to a player.” ... - tailieumienphi.vn