Hockey puck

A puck is a hard black disk of vulcanized rubber used in ice hockey. A standard puck is one inch thick (25.4 mm), three inches in diameter (76.2 mm) and weighs between 5.5 and 6 ounces (156-170 g). Pucks are often marked with team or league logos on one or both faces.

Ice hockey evolved from bandy which was played by field hockey players who wanted to continue to train during the European winters. Early forms of ice hockey, also once known as "Canadian rules bandy", used a ball rather than a puck when it first came to North America from Europe. Early players of the game found that the rubber ball used in field hockey was far too active on the hard ice surface, so they cut off the top and bottom of the ball to form the hockey puck. It is often said that the puck was first used in organized play to protect spectators from the highly active ball used previously. Today, pucks are frozen a few hours before the game to further reduce bouncing during play.

The origin of the word is obscure, but evidently not connected to Shakespeare's Puck or the mythical Puck. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests the name is related to the verb to puck (a cognate of poke) used in hurling for striking or pushing the ball from the Scottish Gaelic "puc" or the Irish "poc", meaning to poke, punch or deliver a blow. Reporter J. Clem Beauchamp wrote about this origin in the Montreal Star in September, 1943 citing the book "English as we Speak it in Ireland" by P.W. Joyce (1910)

PUCK, a blow. He gave him a puck of a stick on the head. More commonly applied to a punch or blow of the horns of a cow or goat! (Ask Little Britainers!) The cow gave him a puck (or pucked him) with her horns and knocked him down.

''The blow given by a hurler to the ball with his caman or hurley (stick) is always called a puck.

Also, a free shot in hurling is a free puck.

It is believed that Halifax natives, many of whom were Irish and played hurley, may have introduced the word to Canada. The first known printed reference was in Montreal, in 1876, just a year after the first indoor game was played there.

In some Southern states, and especially in the Dallas, Texas area, a "puck" is also referred to as a "disk" (see Dallas accent).

Hockey pucks are also referred to colloquially as a "biscuit" in published and broadcast media.

Types of puck

A number of variations on the standard black, 6 oz. hockey puck exist. One of the most common is a blue, 4 oz. puck that is used for training younger players who are not yet able to use a standard puck. Heavier 10 oz. training pucks, typically reddish pink or reddish orange in colour, are also available for players looking to develop the strength of their shots or improve their stick handling skills. Players looking to increase wrist strength for better stickhandling often practice with steel pucks which weigh 2 lb. These pucks are not used for shooting for obvious reasons. A hollow, light weight fluorescent orange puck is available for road or floor hockey. Other variants, some with plastic ball bearings or glides, are available for use for road or roller hockey.

The FoxTrax smart puck was developed by the FOX television network when it held NHL broadcasting rights for the U.S. The puck had integrated electronics to track its position on screen. A blue streak traced the path of the puck across the ice. The streak would turn red if the puck was shot especially hard. This was an experiment in broadcasting intended to help viewers unfamiliar with hockey to better follow the game by making the puck more visible. It was ill-received by traditional hockey fans and did not meet its intended objective of drawing new viewers to the game. The experiment was short-lived (1996-98).

Pucks in play

During a game, pucks can reach speeds of 100+ mph (160 km/h) when struck and are potentially dangerous to players and spectators. Puck related injuries at hockey games are not uncommon. This led to the evolution of various types of protective gear for players, most notably the goalie mask.

The most serious incident involving a spectator took place on March 18, 2002, when a thirteen year old girl, Brittanie Cecil, died two days after being struck on the head by a hockey puck deflected into the crowd at a National Hockey League game between the Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets in Columbus. This is the only known incident of this type to have occurred in the history of the league. Partly as a result of this tragedy, glass panels sitting atop the boards of hockey rinks to protect spectators have been supplemented with mesh nets that extend above the upper edge of the glass. During the 2005-06 season, a rule was implemented which penalizes any player intentionally shooting the puck out of the rink.

"Icing the puck" or "to ice the puck" is to shoot the puck from the defending player's half of the playing surface (their side of the center red line) across the opposing teams goal line on either side of the goal, as a delaying tactic or a (sometimes desperate) defensive play intended to shift the momentum of play away from the offensive team. It is a rule infraction that generally results in a stoppage of play to return the puck to the offending team's end of the ice for a faceoff.

Puck enters the language

The phrase "dumb as a hockey puck" is a form of a common idiom.

"What are you lookin' at, you hockey puck?!", became one of the stock insult phrases of Mr. Warmth, comedian Don Rickles.

"Hockey puck" is also a nickname for the small, round, mouse included with the original Apple iMac.

"Puck" may also refer to the cursor/mouse used with digitizer hardware or graphic tablets in CAD or desktop publishing applications.

Roller hockey puck

A hockey puck, similar to its ice hockey counterpart, although made from plastic causing it to be lighter and with small ribs that protrude from the top and bottom of the puck which limit the amount of contact with the surface. This allows for better sliding motion and less friction.

Roller hockey pucks are typically produced in light, visable colors such as red, orange, yellow, pink, or green. Red is the most popular color, although it is possible to find a roller hockey puck in almost any color.

Roller hockey pucks were created so inline hockey and street hockey players could play with a puck instead of a ball on a number of different surfaces including sport court, hardwood, concrete, or asphalt.

Underwater hockey puck

A puck is also used in underwater hockey. While it essentially looks the same as an ice hockey puck, the underwater hockey puck differs in that it has a metal core weighing approximately three pounds (1.5kg) within a plastic coating. This makes the puck heavy enough to sink to the bottom of the pool.

The game is then played by two teams of ten players (six in the water and four subs on the side of the pool). The two teams of in-water players, maneuver the puck along the bottom of the pool towards 3 meter wide submerged goals (called gulleys) at either end of the pool. The puck is dribbled or flicked with a short hand held 'pusher' and the teams use timing and teamplay to pass to each other to get the puck in the gulley. (Samples of moving image video and still images, that show the underwater hockey puck being played and flicked, are demonstrated well at: www.seethegame.info).

Ice hockey equipment | Ice hockey terminology

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Hockey puck

Types of puck

Pucks in play

Puck enters the language

Roller hockey puck

Underwater hockey puck