The Celebration of a Sport and a Culture

Today marks the start of the third annual Hockey Weekend Across America, presented by Reebok.  The event, which runs today through Sunday, pays homage to the game of hockey at all levels and seeks to expose new audiences to the sport.  The event was started in 2008 by USA Hockey.

"There are tremendous things happening in our sport in all parts of the nation," according to Dave Ogrean, executive director of USA Hockey, "and it's only appropriate that we utilize Hockey Weekend Across America to celebrate those accomplishments."

Each day of this monumental weekend has its own theme:
Friday (Jan. 29) – Wear Your Favorite Hockey Jersey
Saturday (Jan. 30) – Bring a Friend to the Rink
Sunday (Jan. 31) – Celebrate Local Hockey Heroes


With a veritable assortment of activities throughout the weekend, Hockey Weekend is a time to celebrate our hockey heritage by watching, playing or discussing the game.  In honor of the celebration of the sport which commands my undying devotion, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge a true hero to modern-day hockey.  

One-hundred and thirty-five years ago, James George Alwyn Creighton gave Montreal's Victoria Skating Rink--a ten-thousand square foot, covered ice surface which opened in 1862--the gift of indoor ice hockey and started a social revolution in Canada.

Creighton moved from his native Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Montreal in pursuit of an engineering career during the construction of the Lachine Canal.  A talented figure skater, he was regarded as an expert figure-skating judge in Montreal and upon his arrival, he taught his new friends his own version of hockey, imported from his home province.  Hockey skates in tow, Creighton ushered in the birth of the modern game and forever changed an entire nation and ultimately, the world.

Through connections at the Victoria Skating Rink and cash bribes, he was able to hold practices inside prior to the March 3, 1875, debut of indoor hockey.  Advertising in the March 3rd Montreal Gazette, Creighton wrote,

A game of hockey will be played at the Victoria Skating Rink this evening between two nines chosen from among the members.  Good fun may be expected as some of the players are reported to be exceedingly excellent at the game. 

To protect the spectators and calm fears of imminent danger associated with "the ball flying about in too lively a manner," Creighton replaced it with "a flat, circular piece of wood, thus preventing all danger of its leaving the ice" as reported in the Gazette.

In addition to this rudimentary puck, Creighton implemented his Haligonian rules to regulate the game, inhibited by the newly limited space (the Victoria Rink was 80 feet wide and 204 feet long).  The puck was not allowed to leave the ice, forward passing was forbidden and goalies were required to make saves without falling or kneeling.  The 60-minute contest was punctuated by one intermission halfway through the game.  Players skated the entire game, with no substitutions allowed, regardless of injury or penalty.

Beneath the glow of gas-lit lamps, Creighton, alongside his 17 friends and "a very large crowd" of 40 onlookers, braved a brisk Montreal night to partake in the genesis of a game and an entire culture.  At 8:00 p.m. on March 3, 1875, the world's first indoor hockey game began, with captain Creighton's side emerging victorious in a 2-1 decision.  Creighton and the 17 other men, all pioneers in their own right, took to the ice for a performance of what would eventually become theater--a spectacle of triumph and tragedy, heroes and villains and unscripted plot. 

And thus, I salute you, Mr. Creighton, for your innovation and valor in cultivating the game which plays so integral a role in my life.  We in the hockey community are forever indebted to you and celebrate your memory today, this weekend and forevermore.


(Photo credits:  USA Hockey, tmlfever.com)