Ice hockey 1,20 Special Stamp
Material number 0225030Ice hockey
Speed on ice
This time the series “Sport in motion” is dedicated to the sequences of motions involved in various sports played on ice. One such sporting activity is ice hockey.
Ice hockey is a very fast-paced and physical team sport. Games involving propelling a ball across ice using sticks were already being depicted in Dutch paintings from the 17th century, but modern ice hockey has its origins in Canada, where it remains the national sport to this day. In the course of colonisation, European soldiers imported games using balls and sticks to Canada, and it is from these that ice hockey as we know it today developed during the 19th century. The first verifiable indoor ice hockey match took place in Montreal in 1875. In 1877 the ball was replaced by a flat puck. The game also spread rapidly in Europe, especially once the first artificial ice rinks were built. The first official ice hockey match in Vienna was put on in 1900, and the Austrian Ice Hockey Association was founded in 1912. Ice hockey has been an Olympic discipline since 1920, with the first Ice Hockey World Championships being held in the same year. Women’s competitions, on the other hand, have only existed since the 1990s.
An ice hockey team is made up of five skaters and a goalkeeper on the ice, all of whom wear special protective equipment. A match comprises three periods of 20 minutes net, but frequent interruptions mean that it actually lasts much longer. The rapid progress of play, the physical altercations and the many goals make it a spectacular sport to watch.
Ice hockey
Speed on ice
This time the series “Sport in motion” is dedicated to the sequences of motions involved in various sports played on ice. One such sporting activity is ice hockey.
Ice hockey is a very fast-paced and physical team sport. Games involving propelling a ball across ice using sticks were already being depicted in Dutch paintings from the 17th century, but modern ice hockey has its origins in Canada, where it remains the national sport to this day. In the course of colonisation, European soldiers imported games using balls and sticks to Canada, and it is from these that ice hockey as we know it today developed during the 19th century. The first verifiable indoor ice hockey match took place in Montreal in 1875. In 1877 the ball was replaced by a flat puck. The game also spread rapidly in Europe, especially once the first artificial ice rinks were built. The first official ice hockey match in Vienna was put on in 1900, and the Austrian Ice Hockey Association was founded in 1912. Ice hockey has been an Olympic discipline since 1920, with the first Ice Hockey World Championships being held in the same year. Women’s competitions, on the other hand, have only existed since the 1990s.
An ice hockey team is made up of five skaters and a goalkeeper on the ice, all of whom wear special protective equipment. A match comprises three periods of 20 minutes net, but frequent interruptions mean that it actually lasts much longer. The rapid progress of play, the physical altercations and the many goals make it a spectacular sport to watch.