The More You Know Monday - Hockey Trivia

Hey guys, happy Monday! 

Just want to give one more shout out to all of ya'll that linked up to the Storytellers Blog Hop this weekend. What a great turn out, once again! 

I am behind on getting to all of ya'lls links, so I am on that today. Don't worry, I promise to make the rounds. :)

Feels like I haven't written about hockey in a while now. You might not feel the same way, though, lol. I'll have to give ya'll an update on our schedule and heading back to Europe sometime this week. The season is approaching quickly, and I am already excited for the adventures it brings with it. 

Anyways, will get to that later in the week. For now, another edition of 'The More You Know Monday'! This week, featuring good ol' random hockey facts. Hope you enjoy!

- There are more professional hockey teams in Texas than any other state in the union. Way to go, cowboys!

Hey, it is catching on! (source)

- According to legend, hockey was the first team sport to place numbers on the backs of sweaters. It's said that the idea came from Joe Patrick, an organizer of the Pacific Coast Hockey League in 1911. He saw a photograph in a newspaper from England showing a cross country runner wearing a number pinned to his back. Joe thought it was a good idea that should be tried in hockey. His two sons, who ran the Vancouver and Victoria teams, agreed. On opening night of the 1911-12 season, all players in the league wore numbers and within three years, numbered sweaters were adopted by teams in all leagues.

Ya'll remember these awful jerseys, right?!

- The English Governor general of Canada, Lord Stanley of Preston, was so impressed by the growing popularity of hockey in Canada in the late 1800s, that in 1892 he bought a silver bowl with a gold interior finish and decreed that it be given each year to the best amateur team in Canada.

Your generosity has left your name in history! (source)

- Total Number of Individuals Engraved on Cup: 2,163 (not actually sure if this includes Boston from this year?!)

- There are actually three Stanley Cups: the original bowl, the authenticated Cup, and the replica at the Hall of Fame. The original bowl was awarded to the champion until 1970, and is now displayed in the vault room at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

The Montreal Hockey Club (Montreal Amateur Athletic Association) win the first Stanley Cup (source)

- The authenticated version or "Presentation Cup" was created in 1963. The NHL at the time felt that the original bowl was becoming too thin and fragile, and thus requested a duplicate trophy as a replacement. The Presentation Cup is the one currently awarded to the champions of the playoffs and used for promotions. Although the heads of the NHL felt that they needed to keep this 'new' trophy under wraps. This version was made in secret, and its production was only revealed three years later.

- The Zamboni was invented, not in Canada or some other cold climate, but rather in California. Frank Zamboni, a California rink operator, came up with the idea. The machine grew out of an experiment he conducted with a tractor pulling a sled across the ice at his rink. The one-driver Zamboni made its debut in 1949 and soon became the norm at rinks all over the world!

Don't know why they didn't stick with this original fancy design!? (source)

Hope you enjoyed this hockey tid bit. Even you non-hockey loving southerners!