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Ice hockey has its roots in Europe. Several versions
of the sport were played for more than
100 years before they were introduced in North
America. British soldiers garrisoned at Kingston,
Ontario, were the first to play a form
of hockey, called shinny, in the mid-1800s.
Ice shinny, in conjunction with the various
other European forms of the game, evolved
into modern ice hockey. Prior to 1917 there
was one exclusively professional league, the
Ontario Professional League, and many amateur
leagues. The creation of the National
Hockey League (NHL) brought the sharpest
shooters, quickest goalies, and hardest hitters
into one league.
The Great Plains is the hotbed for ice hockey.
Two-thirds of all Canadian NHL players come
from the Prairie Provinces. Saskatchewan is the
province with the highest percentage of players
in the NHL, with Alberta and Manitoba also
having major representation. In the United
States, most of the American-born NHL players
hail from a core region extending from North
Dakota to New England. Many Plains cities
host or have hosted several NHL teams: Kansas
City, Missouri; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Calgary
and Edmonton, Alberta; and Denver, Colorado.
The World Hockey Association (WHA),
which lasted from 1972 to 1979, also included
teams in the Plains cities of Calgary, Edmonton,
and Winnipeg.
The Hockey Hall of Fame has inducted
many players from the Plains. Manitoba, with
eighteen, has the most inductees of the Prairie
Provinces. Hockey greats such as Mervyn
"Red" Dutton (1958 inductee), player and NHL
president (1943-46), and Terrance "Terry"
Sawchuck (1971 inductee), one of the greatest
goalkeepers in hockey history, top the list of
Manitobans in the Hall of Fame. Saskatchewan
boasts fifteen inductees, including one of
the most prominent players, "Mr. Hockey"
Gordie Howe (1972 inductee); longtime Detroit
Red Wings star Eddie Shore (1947 inductee),
the only defenseman to win the Hart Trophy
for most valuable player four times; and,
most recently, Bryan Trottier (1997 inductee),
who in the early 1980s led the New York Islanders
to four consecutive Stanley Cup victories.
Alberta has seven inductees in the Hall of
Fame, including John Bucyk (1981 inductee),
longtime star of the Boston Bruins, and Bill
Gadsby (1970 inductee), three-time first team
and three-time second team all-star. Kansas is
the only Plains state to have a hometown
player inducted into the Hall. Silas "Si" Griffis,
known during his hockey tenure as the fastest
man in hockey, was inducted in 1950 for his
play with the Kenora Thistles (1902-6) and
the Vancouver Millionaires (1911-18).
Amateur hockey has long been an important
part of Great Plains culture. Many high
school players from the core regions go on to
play collegiate hockey. The Western Collegiate
Hockey League (WCHA) is one of the foremost
college hockey leagues in the United States,
winning thirty national titles since 1951. The
University of North Dakota currently owns the
record for all-time winning percentage in National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
tournament play. The NHL drafts a large proportion
of players while they are still in high
school, or the players are drafted before they
graduate from college. The WCHA has produced
more than 275 NHL players and 140
Olympic hockey players. In 1997 the wcha
placed more than 350 players in the NHL, more
than any other collegiate league. Many wellknown
NHL players, including Jack McCarten,
the first U.S. NHL player, Tony Esposito, Ed
Belfour, and Brett Hull played in the wcha. In
Canada the Prairie Provinces host eleven of the
eighteen teams in the World Hockey League
(WHL). Manitoba supports the volunteer actions
of Hockey Manitoba, which promotes ice
hockey in the province at every age. Recently,
the organization began clinics for female
hockey players.
Local Plains culture has also been greatly
influenced by the sport. By 1905 ice hockey
had filtered into every corner of Canada, making
it a major component of winter activity.
Many leagues were set up, often with support
from local schools and churches because of
hockey's importance in the education of boys.
Everywhere in the Prairie Provinces boys are
found practicing their skills year-round and
watching NHL games, aspiring to be the next
Gordie Howe or Wayne Gretzky.