Driving home from Mite practice my eight year old son, who I have never heard say a bad word ever, asked me, “Dad, you know puck rhymes with a bad word…….”
There was no way I was going to ask him what he was referring to.
“Yes, Cade I suppose it does……what is your point?”
“Well what does Puck mean anyway? Why is it a puck??? Why are some black, some blue and some heavier than others?? What do you really know about the puck?”
I have been around hockey for about forty years and I did not have an answer for him. It was time to do a little research. God bless the internet.
The origin of the word "puck" is obscure. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests the name is related to the verb "to puck" (a cognate of "poke") used in the game of Hurling for striking or pushing the ball, from the Scottish Gaelic puc or the Irish poc, meaning to poke, punch or deliver a blow.There was no way I was going to ask him what he was referring to.
“Yes, Cade I suppose it does……what is your point?”
“Well what does Puck mean anyway? Why is it a puck??? Why are some black, some blue and some heavier than others?? What do you really know about the puck?”
I have been around hockey for about forty years and I did not have an answer for him. It was time to do a little research. God bless the internet.
It is possible that Halifax, NS, natives, many of whom were Irish and played Hurling, may have introduced the word to Canada. The first known printed reference was in Montreal, in 1867, just a year after the first indoor game was played there.
A hockey puck is also referred to colloquially as a "biscuit". (Put the biscuit in the basket!!! I love that one!!! …..)
A standard ice hockey puck is black, 1 inch thick, 3 inches in diameter, and weighs between 5.5 and 6 ounces some pucks are heavier or lighter than standard.
There are several variations on the standard black, 6 oz hockey puck. 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 color, are also available for players looking to develop the strength of their shots or improve their stick handling skills.
Pucks are frozen before the game to reduce bouncing during play.
During a game, pucks can reach speeds of 100 miles per hour or more when struck. The current NHL record belongs to Zdeno Chara, whose slapshot was clocked at 105.9 miles per hour in the 2011 NHL All Star Game SuperSkills competition, breaking his own earlier record. The current world record is held by Denis Kulyash of KHL's Avangard Omsk, who slapped a puck at the 2011 KHL All Star Game skills competition in Russia with a speed of 110 miles per hour.
So I relayed all this important information on to my son thinking how much he would be impressed with my work. He just said, “Thanks Dad,…Cool! Good night….”
The next night coming home from a skills practice my son asked me, “Dad, you know stick rhymes with a bad word too…….”
I’ll save that one for another blog………..
