The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-02-16
ICE HOCKEY AN
AMERICAN SPORT
Game Becoming More and
More Popular in United
States.
Special to The Globe.


and more popular in the United States.
The growing interest in the game
which is being manifested in the col
Iege and school circles of the country
demonstrates a tendency on the part
OF the American intercollegiate athletic
world to make the imported spor& the
national winter game of America.
All the large colleges now have their
hockey teams, the members of which
are trained and drilled with almost
as much vigor as is deemed essential
for the varsity football elevens The
leading varsity teams are associated
IN a national intercollegiate league,
the championship of which is eagerly
contested for and zealously guarded
AS yet the college hockey hero does
not come in for as much popular glory
and feminine alteration and adulation
as IS bestowed upon his brother knight
OF the pigslxin spheroid. Exactly why
THIS Is, enthusiasts of the great lie
sport sorrowfully declare their inabii-
lty TO explain, for a hockey game is
certainly as thrilling in it's details and
spectacular in it's progress as is foot
BALL The ice game is even more
game of action, spirit, courage, dash,
vim and individual achievement than
is the battle Of the gridiron.
The friends of the former sport,
however, point with pleasure and sat-
enthusiastic crowds who throng to see
the great intercollegiate hockey
matches that are played in the various
big skating Kinks in the country.
Most of these big matches take place
at New York. the ST. Nicholas rink
being the principal battle ground Of
the country on account of it's great
size and superior accommodations.
Manager Phillips, of the ST. Nicholas
rink, told me the other day that the
audiences at the~great games that have
taken place at his rink this season are
twice the size of the audiences of past
years. What is particularly noticeable.
too, he says, is the vastly increased
proportion of the fair sex among the
spectators. Managers Of the big Kinks
OF other cities duplicate both these ex-
per1ences. This gratifying result shows
the growing popularity of the game
There is no stimulus more calculated
10 make college athlete an enthusiast
TIC deVotee Of sport than the fact that
the fair hero worshiper admires it.
therefore when hockey reaches the
zenith Of its popularity here it will
be one more institution that owes it's
vogue to woman.
Several big intercollegiate hockey
events have already been carried off,
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia
and Brown being the teams competing.
Harvard and Yale are fighting hard
for first place in the league at the
seasons end Columbia and Print<e-
ton are matched for third place, while
Brown will probably close the process
sion. Barring the final games which
will be held at the st. Nicholas rink.
New York, Feb. 25 and 20 and March
z, the most interesting colleeiate
games Of the season will be Prince
ton VS.. Columbia on Feb. II and
Yale VS.. Harvard Feb. 81. College men
art keenly anticipating both these
events.
But the colleges are not alone in
their recognition of the athletic and
sporting possibilities of hockey. The
Ice game has attained a considerable
vogue among American schooIboys.
Many big schools throughout the coun-
try now have their hockey teams
trained and drilled by skilled and ex-
pert instructors An interscholastic
hockey league now exists, and it is as
we'll organized and as extensive as is
the league of the adult seekers Of
knowledge Hockey is so closely tden-
titled with the boyish game of shinney
that 1t is hardly surprising to hear
that the former game is becoming
second to none in the list of pasttimes
for youngsters.
There Is also an Amateur Hockey
league composed of various big teams
throughout the country. The members
of each of those leagues plan among
themselves for championship of their
| respective leagues, but interleague
games have thus far never been held.
| The Crescent club Of the Amateur
| Hockey league recently achieved inter-
national fame by defeating the crack
| Canadian team after a spirited con-
| test. The members of the various clubs
| Of the Amateur Hockey league are
| mostly college graduates, and some of
| Americas best athletes are members
| of some amateur league team.
A brief description of the main fea-
| lures of the game of hockey may not
come amiss here.
| The main idea of the game is to
| score-that is, to lift, slide, push or
| knock the rubber disk through yollr
! opponents goals.
Seven Men on Side.
Seven men on a side make up a team.
| the positions being as follows: Goal
| keeper, point, cover point, right and
| left centerS and right and left wings
! The first three named are the defense
! While the centers and wings, or for
| wards, as the four players are also
| called, are the offense
During the last few years many i'm
| proVements have been made in the
skates used, particularly for match
| plays. The hockey skate should be
| Just high enough to prevent the plate
| or the sole of the boot from touching
! the ice when turning or cutting cor
| ners, because a low skate is not so
| Straining on the ankle as a high one
| The blade should be long enough and
| sufficiently fiat on the ice to admit Of
| great speed, but should not project
| at the toe or heel so much as to trip
| the skater on any occasion.
The blade should project about an
! inch in front of the toe of the boot
| the heel.
| In the matter of stick handling there
| are no we'll defined rules. Custom
| among players demands that the stick
| should be held in both hands, the right
hand at the end of the handle and the
| left lower down, according to the reach
OF the play. There are times, however.
when it is necessary to use but one
| hand, In Which case, holding the stick
| as above, the right hand is already in
| place without any change. The stick
| should be held in both hands because
| IN that position a man is always ready
| 70 snoot for the goals or pass the
! FuDDer. Besides, he can check bet
| Ter, dodge better, resist heavy check
| more easily and sustain his position
on MS skates more securely when he
| has the stick thus held upon the ice
one of the prettiest sights in good
| match, is the rush down the ice. four
ABREAST, OF the forwards. When a for
| ward, rushing down the ice. is we'll fol-
lowed by another of his side he should
not try to dodge the cover point. but
should draw out that man by inclining
10 the side and pass the rubber ia
his partner, taking care to then place
himself in the best possible position
10 receive 1t back If the latter cannot
shoot or lift.
A player should check his oppon-
heavily