I recently announced my upcoming book On His Own Side of the Puck: The Early History of Hockey Rules. This book focuses on the rules of organized hockey beginning in 1875, where they came from, and where they went from there. Following is an excerpt from chapter six, which discusses the authorship of the original Montreal rules, or rather the various claims of authorship.
Authorship of the Montreal Rules
We have previously discussed the importance of James Creighton to the organization of the game, though so far as we know he did not claim any special importance to the game for himself during his lifetime. Although Creighton made no claim himself that we know of, several claims have been made in the past as to the authorship of these rules.
There is no shortage of Creighton's fellow McGill students from the late 1870s to claim authorship of the rules. Two of these were Richard Smith and William "Chick" Murray, both of whom played with the 1883 McGill side that won the first Montreal Winter Carnival hockey tournament. These men related stories about the early years of organized hockey, many years after the fact. Their reports contain a number of inconsistencies and errors, which is to be expected from decades-old memories. These inconsistencies and errors, I submit, are sufficient to disregard the claims, especially in light of the information presented in this book as to the origin of organized hockey rules. We will discuss their claims momentarily.
William Fleet Robertson is another McGiller who later made claims about the origin of these rules. His statements seem more trustworthy than Smith and Murray's in some sense, but still suffer from a critical problem of inconsistencies.
Smith's report was written in the January 18, 1908 edition of the Montreal Daily Star. He claimed that he and two other students drafted the rules of the game in September 1878, and that they were then submitted to a group of students the following September. Smith suggests that he took some rules from field hockey, designed a few of his own, and also used some rugby football rules.
One problem with Smith's story is, of course, the date. The first organized hockey match was played in March of 1875, so his suggested date is about five years too late. Creighton and his chums had been playing organized hockey for several years before Smith claims to have invented the rules. He also claimed that the first hockey game was played in December 1879, which we know to be untrue as well.
Then there is the issue of the rules themselves. We know what the earliest recorded rules of organized hockey look like. To say that these rules borrowed something from field hockey is an understatement. We have seen how these first rules were largely an edited version of the [English Field] Hockey Association rules. There is little in the first rules that could be said to have been invented rather than borrowed from another sport, be it field hockey or lacrosse. The one original invention is the requirement for players to always be on their side of the ball. This could be seen as an influence of rugby, at least to modern eyes and indeed Smith does claim rugby influenced "his" rules. But in fact the rules of rugby in the 1870s had no requirement for players to always be on their own side of the ball. The rules actually stated that all players were onside unless they took certain actions, and one of these actions was not simply being on the wrong side of the ball.
Smith's dates and characterizations of the rules of early organized hockey both cast doubt on the accuracy of his recollections. There is ample reason to be skeptical of them, and there is no reason to accept these claims over the records of rules and matches that we have, which were written at the time, rather than 30 years later as in the case of Smith's claims.
Smith's claims are likely the source of the idea that early organized hockey rules were influenced by rugby, since he specifically refers to that sport in his story. This, in turn, has likely led to the idea that early organized hockey's offside rules were akin to rugby, and thus many modern authors report that passes were strictly lateral in nature. As we'll see in the discussion of offside rules in Appendix I, this is not the case. And since this idea is based on an uncreditable report, it should not be surprising that it is incorrect. Smith cannot be taken at his word.
Robertson's claims come from an undated letter of his. He claims that he witnessed a match of field hockey in England, and upon his return to McGill used his experience with that game to help organize the game there. This does have a degree of plausibility to it; after all, we know that the first organized hockey rules were based on field hockey. But again, the dates don't make sense. Robertson returned from his England trip on November 9, 1879, which would put his input into the organized hockey rules around the same time as Smith's claim, which we know to be several years too late.
Murray's claim does have the advantage of reconciling Smith's and Robertson's claims with each other, all the while inserting himself as the original creator of the rules. Given that these claims were made many years after Smith and Robertson had made theirs, they should be expected to be consistent with the earlier claims. This means, unfortunately, that Murray's claims have precisely the same problems as the earlier ones. Internally consistent does not mean true.
Murray claims to have himself drafted the first rules of organized hockey on November 10, 1879, over four-and-a-half years after the first match of organized hockey was actually played. He then claims to have discussed the rules with Smith the following day, and that these two, plus Robertson, revised the rules on November 12, 1879 and decided that Smith should write them down. These claims, while internally consistent, are untenable given the historical evidence we have of when organized hockey began.
Showing posts with label James Creighton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James Creighton. Show all posts
Monday, 20 January 2014
Thursday, 16 January 2014
"On His Own Side of the Puck" Excerpt: The Montreal Rules
I recently announced my upcoming book On His Own Side of the Puck: The Early History of Hockey Rules.
This book focuses on the rules of organized hockey beginning in 1875,
where they came from, and where they went from there. Following is an
excerpt which discusses the original
Montreal rules used in the first organized hockey games in Montreal in the mid-1870s.
The Original Rules of Organized Hockey
We're going back to 1875 in Montreal. The first game of organized hockey that we have record of was played on March 3rd of that year, between two nine-man teams captained by Montrealer Charles Torrance and Haligonian James Creighton respectively, the latter of which led his team to victory in a close-fought match. Creighton is the key man here, one whose importance to the development of organized hockey in Canada likely cannot be overstated. He is now generally credited with the organization of the game, and was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in 1993 for that reason.
It is unknown, however, exactly what set of rules were used for this first game, or for the second game played later that same month. We do not have any direct references to the rules. However, we do know they used a puck, as reported in the Montreal Gazette of March 4, 1875.
The game report in the March 17, 1875 edition of the same paper specifies that the puck was a “little circle of wood”, indicating that it had a flat, circular shape. Other than the material from which it was made, it was very similar to what we now know as a puck. This is a crucial bit of information, since the presence of a puck is key in defining the game as organized hockey.
As we'll see, with respect to the origin of the uncertain rules used in these two games, a great deal of importance is to be placed on whether this game was played using some kind of offside rule. In its essential form, an offside rule states that a player who is ahead of the puck or ball (that is, closer to his opponent's end than the puck or ball is) is out of play. Such a rule does not allow forward passing, in the sense of passing the object to a player closer to the opponent's goal than you are.
The Montreal Gazette of February 7, 1876 contains the first reference to an actual set of rules that were used in the third recorded game of organized hockey, reporting that the game “was conducted under the 'Hockey Association' rules.” We will address the Hockey Association in more detail later, suffice it to say it was an association of English field hockey clubs formed in 1875. Finally, a report in the February 27, 1877 edition of the same paper finally provided complete details of the rules themselves. These rules have since become known as the Montreal Rules, and are as follows:
The Montreal Rules - 1877
Rule 1: The game shall be commenced and renewed by a Bully [faceoff] in the centre of the ground. Goals [ends] shall be changed after each game [goal].
Rule 2: When a player hits the ball, any one of the same side who at such moment of hitting is nearer to the opponents’ goal line is out of play, and may not touch the ball himself, or in any way whatever prevent any other player from doing so, until the ball has been played. A player must always be on his own side of the ball.
Rule 3: The ball may be stopped, but not carried or knocked on by any part of the body. No player shall raise his stick above his shoulder. Charging from behind, tripping, collaring [grabbing the sweater], kicking or shinning [slashing on the shins] shall not be allowed.
Rule 4: When the ball is hit behind the goal line by the attacking side, it shall be brought out straight 15 yards, and started again by a Bully; but, if hit behind by any one of the side whose goal line it is, a player of the opposite side shall hit it out from within one yard of the nearest corner, no player of the attacking side at that time shall be within 20 yards of the goal line, and the defenders, with the exception of the goal-keeper, must be behind their goal line.
Rule 5: When the ball goes off at the side, a player of the opposite side to that which hit it out shall roll it out from the point on the boundary line at which it went off at right angles with the boundary line, and it shall not be in play until it has touched the ice, and the player rolling it in shall not play it until it has been played by another player, every player being then behind the ball.
Rule 6: On the infringement of any of the above rules, the ball shall be brought back and a Bully shall take place.
Rule 7: All disputes shall be settled by the Umpires, or in the event of their disagreement, by the Referee.
Note that these rules refer to a ball rather than a puck. This is because they are an edited version of English field hockey rules. The fact that these rules say “ball” rather than “puck” does, however, strongly suggest that these rule predate the first playing of organized hockey in 1875. Creighton and his mates seem to have settled upon the rules before deciding that a ball would not be used. As such, these rules appear to predate the first recorded match on March 3, 1875. Note that the writers of these rules did change references from the field to the ice, so if they were already using something other than a ball when they were written, the references to a ball would most likely have been changed as well. This is not conclusive, but is very suggestive that these were the rules from the beginning of organized hockey in 1875.
The Original Rules of Organized Hockey
We're going back to 1875 in Montreal. The first game of organized hockey that we have record of was played on March 3rd of that year, between two nine-man teams captained by Montrealer Charles Torrance and Haligonian James Creighton respectively, the latter of which led his team to victory in a close-fought match. Creighton is the key man here, one whose importance to the development of organized hockey in Canada likely cannot be overstated. He is now generally credited with the organization of the game, and was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in 1993 for that reason.
It is unknown, however, exactly what set of rules were used for this first game, or for the second game played later that same month. We do not have any direct references to the rules. However, we do know they used a puck, as reported in the Montreal Gazette of March 4, 1875.
The game report in the March 17, 1875 edition of the same paper specifies that the puck was a “little circle of wood”, indicating that it had a flat, circular shape. Other than the material from which it was made, it was very similar to what we now know as a puck. This is a crucial bit of information, since the presence of a puck is key in defining the game as organized hockey.
As we'll see, with respect to the origin of the uncertain rules used in these two games, a great deal of importance is to be placed on whether this game was played using some kind of offside rule. In its essential form, an offside rule states that a player who is ahead of the puck or ball (that is, closer to his opponent's end than the puck or ball is) is out of play. Such a rule does not allow forward passing, in the sense of passing the object to a player closer to the opponent's goal than you are.
The Montreal Gazette of February 7, 1876 contains the first reference to an actual set of rules that were used in the third recorded game of organized hockey, reporting that the game “was conducted under the 'Hockey Association' rules.” We will address the Hockey Association in more detail later, suffice it to say it was an association of English field hockey clubs formed in 1875. Finally, a report in the February 27, 1877 edition of the same paper finally provided complete details of the rules themselves. These rules have since become known as the Montreal Rules, and are as follows:
The Montreal Rules - 1877
Rule 1: The game shall be commenced and renewed by a Bully [faceoff] in the centre of the ground. Goals [ends] shall be changed after each game [goal].
Rule 2: When a player hits the ball, any one of the same side who at such moment of hitting is nearer to the opponents’ goal line is out of play, and may not touch the ball himself, or in any way whatever prevent any other player from doing so, until the ball has been played. A player must always be on his own side of the ball.
Rule 3: The ball may be stopped, but not carried or knocked on by any part of the body. No player shall raise his stick above his shoulder. Charging from behind, tripping, collaring [grabbing the sweater], kicking or shinning [slashing on the shins] shall not be allowed.
Rule 4: When the ball is hit behind the goal line by the attacking side, it shall be brought out straight 15 yards, and started again by a Bully; but, if hit behind by any one of the side whose goal line it is, a player of the opposite side shall hit it out from within one yard of the nearest corner, no player of the attacking side at that time shall be within 20 yards of the goal line, and the defenders, with the exception of the goal-keeper, must be behind their goal line.
Rule 5: When the ball goes off at the side, a player of the opposite side to that which hit it out shall roll it out from the point on the boundary line at which it went off at right angles with the boundary line, and it shall not be in play until it has touched the ice, and the player rolling it in shall not play it until it has been played by another player, every player being then behind the ball.
Rule 6: On the infringement of any of the above rules, the ball shall be brought back and a Bully shall take place.
Rule 7: All disputes shall be settled by the Umpires, or in the event of their disagreement, by the Referee.
Note that these rules refer to a ball rather than a puck. This is because they are an edited version of English field hockey rules. The fact that these rules say “ball” rather than “puck” does, however, strongly suggest that these rule predate the first playing of organized hockey in 1875. Creighton and his mates seem to have settled upon the rules before deciding that a ball would not be used. As such, these rules appear to predate the first recorded match on March 3, 1875. Note that the writers of these rules did change references from the field to the ice, so if they were already using something other than a ball when they were written, the references to a ball would most likely have been changed as well. This is not conclusive, but is very suggestive that these were the rules from the beginning of organized hockey in 1875.
Monday, 1 October 2012
Hockey's First Hat Trick
You might know that the first recorded, organized indoor hockey game was played at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal on March 3, 1875. You might also know that less than two weeks later, on March 16, the first such game played between two clubs; the March 3 match was made up of two sides of Victoria rink skaters while March 16 featured the Victorias versus the Montreal Football Club.
But do you know who scored hockey's first recorded hat trick? It happened on February 26, 1877. There are at least three matches before that date that might have featured a hat trick, but we don't know who scored all the goals in these games, so we have to satisfy ourselves with the first such recorded event. Who accomplished the feat? Would you believe a 37-year-old stockbroker?
Charles Geddes was involved in the creation of the Montreal Stock Exchange in 1874. But more importantly (for our purposes, anyway), he played hockey with James Creighton, the father of the organized game, who captained many a side and played back while coaching his players.
Creighton was captaining the Metropolitan club against the St. James squad on that February day. The Mets won the match 3 games to nil, Geddes taking each goal himself. The Montreal Gazette covered the game in some detail in their February 27, 1877 edition. Geddes' goals are described thusly:
"...Geddes soon came to the rescue, and toying with the ball in his particular and graceful way, succeeded in putting it through the goal and scoring the first game for the Metropolitans. Time, 15 minutes."
"...unfortunately for the St. James' men, Creighton made some admirable play into Geddes' hands, who put the ball through in a twinkling, thus scoring the second game for the Metropolitans. Time, 3 minutes."
"...and Geddes again took the ball...and sent it through the goal for the third time, making the third game for his side. Time, 7 minutes."
So Charles Geddes can be considered hockey's first scoring star. But, this game was also the last recorded game we have of him playing. In the 1870s we only have records of a few matches per season, and with a player of this age it's probably not surprising.
Side Note: The description of the second goal above suggests that James Creighton, besides being father of the game, should be credited with hockey's first recorded assist. Not bad considering he was a defenceman.
Credit goes to hockey historians and SIHR members Pat Houda and Carl Giden for the source of this information.
But do you know who scored hockey's first recorded hat trick? It happened on February 26, 1877. There are at least three matches before that date that might have featured a hat trick, but we don't know who scored all the goals in these games, so we have to satisfy ourselves with the first such recorded event. Who accomplished the feat? Would you believe a 37-year-old stockbroker?
Charles Geddes was involved in the creation of the Montreal Stock Exchange in 1874. But more importantly (for our purposes, anyway), he played hockey with James Creighton, the father of the organized game, who captained many a side and played back while coaching his players.
Creighton was captaining the Metropolitan club against the St. James squad on that February day. The Mets won the match 3 games to nil, Geddes taking each goal himself. The Montreal Gazette covered the game in some detail in their February 27, 1877 edition. Geddes' goals are described thusly:
"...Geddes soon came to the rescue, and toying with the ball in his particular and graceful way, succeeded in putting it through the goal and scoring the first game for the Metropolitans. Time, 15 minutes."
"...unfortunately for the St. James' men, Creighton made some admirable play into Geddes' hands, who put the ball through in a twinkling, thus scoring the second game for the Metropolitans. Time, 3 minutes."
"...and Geddes again took the ball...and sent it through the goal for the third time, making the third game for his side. Time, 7 minutes."
So Charles Geddes can be considered hockey's first scoring star. But, this game was also the last recorded game we have of him playing. In the 1870s we only have records of a few matches per season, and with a player of this age it's probably not surprising.
Side Note: The description of the second goal above suggests that James Creighton, besides being father of the game, should be credited with hockey's first recorded assist. Not bad considering he was a defenceman.
Credit goes to hockey historians and SIHR members Pat Houda and Carl Giden for the source of this information.
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Thoughts on Hockey's Origins
If you follow hockey history, you'll know that there's often been a lively debate about the "birthplace" of hockey. Several locales in Canada have laid their claims to this honour, amongst them Montreal, Kingston, Halifax and Windsor, Nova Scotia. These claims all have varying degrees of evidence supporting them (Windsor, for example, bases its claim on a passage in a work of fiction which is misrepresented as a "memoir"), but nothing has ever really been resolved. It always strikes me that part of the reason for the conflict is that people don't really define what they mean by "hockey" when they want to claim their home town as its birthplace.
Hockey can mean a number of things. Its original usage simply meant the activity of hitting a thing with a stick, and also referred to the stick with which you hit the thing. No ice need be involved, nor skates, nor teams. So finding a reference to "hockey" in the 17th century isn't enough to establish that hockey, as we know it today, was played then. You need more than that. That didn't stop the Fostys from making that mistake, of course. If you're going to quote a source talking about "hockey", you need to make sure they mean what you mean by the term. Otherwise any analysis is moot.
I have previously defined hockey (adding the qualifier "modern" for extra clarity) as follows:
I can't agree with that, since even today we have two separate words to describe these games: hockey and shinny. If informal games of hockey played on natural ice are the very same thing as the hockey played in the NHL, then why do we have a seperate term for the outdoor game? Any line you draw between "modern" hockey and "pre-modern" hockey will be at least somewhat arbitrary, but the delineation between modern, organized hockey and simple, informal hockey does seem appropriate. At the very least, it might help people to stop talking past each other when discussing the origins of the game.
The only thing that might approach general agreement among hockey historians is that the modern, organized version of hockey has its roots in Montreal, with the game played on March 3, 1875, organized by Halifax native James Creighton and played between two sides of nine men apiece, which a 2002 report by the Society for International Hockey Research calls "the earliest eyewitness account known ... of a specific game of hockey in a specific place at a specific time, and with a recorded score, between two identified teams." But I'm not sure that even this is sufficient to be recognized as "modern" hockey. The main differentiator between this game and earlier ones is that it was played indoors in the Victoria Skating Rink, rather than simply on a frozen lake, pond or river.
I've been of a mind lately that 1883 may be a better date for the beginnings of modern hockey, with the first Montreal Winter Carnival Tournament, which was arguably the first truly competitive hockey event. That is, I think "competitive" is a very important aspect of the definition of modern hockey, which is why informal games of shinny on frozen ponds should not be considered "modern" hockey.
Of course, just because something isn't modern, doesn't mean it's not important. I'm certainly not advocating that modern hockey is the only game we need concern ourselves with. I'm just trying to add a little perspective to the discussion, to help it along. You can't discuss the origins of hockey without first defining what you mean by hockey, and that crucial first step is often omitted entirely.
Hockey can mean a number of things. Its original usage simply meant the activity of hitting a thing with a stick, and also referred to the stick with which you hit the thing. No ice need be involved, nor skates, nor teams. So finding a reference to "hockey" in the 17th century isn't enough to establish that hockey, as we know it today, was played then. You need more than that. That didn't stop the Fostys from making that mistake, of course. If you're going to quote a source talking about "hockey", you need to make sure they mean what you mean by the term. Otherwise any analysis is moot.
I have previously defined hockey (adding the qualifier "modern" for extra clarity) as follows:
Modern hockey is a competitive game that is played on an ice rink by two teams made up of an equal number of players wearing skates, who play using a codified set of rules, and use sticks to try to propel a puck though their opponents' goal.I still don't know if that's a sufficient definition or not. By modern hockey, I want to mean the earliest formalized version of the game that we can trace back directly from the version of the game we know today. Some historians, when advocating for a particular birthplace of hockey, will argue that the current game we know, and the informal game mid-19th century folks played on their ponds and rivers, are the same thing.
I can't agree with that, since even today we have two separate words to describe these games: hockey and shinny. If informal games of hockey played on natural ice are the very same thing as the hockey played in the NHL, then why do we have a seperate term for the outdoor game? Any line you draw between "modern" hockey and "pre-modern" hockey will be at least somewhat arbitrary, but the delineation between modern, organized hockey and simple, informal hockey does seem appropriate. At the very least, it might help people to stop talking past each other when discussing the origins of the game.
The only thing that might approach general agreement among hockey historians is that the modern, organized version of hockey has its roots in Montreal, with the game played on March 3, 1875, organized by Halifax native James Creighton and played between two sides of nine men apiece, which a 2002 report by the Society for International Hockey Research calls "the earliest eyewitness account known ... of a specific game of hockey in a specific place at a specific time, and with a recorded score, between two identified teams." But I'm not sure that even this is sufficient to be recognized as "modern" hockey. The main differentiator between this game and earlier ones is that it was played indoors in the Victoria Skating Rink, rather than simply on a frozen lake, pond or river.
I've been of a mind lately that 1883 may be a better date for the beginnings of modern hockey, with the first Montreal Winter Carnival Tournament, which was arguably the first truly competitive hockey event. That is, I think "competitive" is a very important aspect of the definition of modern hockey, which is why informal games of shinny on frozen ponds should not be considered "modern" hockey.
Of course, just because something isn't modern, doesn't mean it's not important. I'm certainly not advocating that modern hockey is the only game we need concern ourselves with. I'm just trying to add a little perspective to the discussion, to help it along. You can't discuss the origins of hockey without first defining what you mean by hockey, and that crucial first step is often omitted entirely.
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