Trusty Narrator (2:20)

Okay, let me get set. Alrighty, Gui, Go for it. I got this.

Chet (2:25)

I got this.

Trusty Narrator (2:26)

I got this.

Commentator (2:29)

He shoots, he scores.

Chet (2:33)

I don't got this.

Commentator (2:34)

Oh, that's another bad goal given up by the trusty narrator. I don't even know why the coach is leaving him in the net. They could probably just put a road cone or a pylon in front of the goal and have a better chance of stopping the puck.

Trusty Narrator (2:49)

Thanks, Chet. But it's not easy stopping a small, flat disc made of hard, vulcanized rubber flying at you at 100 miles per hour.

Guy (2:55)

Oh, that was just a wrist shot. Eh, more like 85 miles per hour.

Trusty Narrator (3:01)

Oh, thanks, Guy.

Commentator (3:02)

Well, you won't see me in the net or on the ice. I'm good up here in the broadcast booth. So helmets off to you for trying, Trusty.

Trusty Narrator (3:11)

Appreciated, Chet, but while I'm not very good at stopping pucks, I am good at asking and answering questions like how, where, and when did ice hockey originate? What are some basic rules? And is it true the first hockey pucks were made from cow poop?

Guy (3:30)

Now that I did not know. Eh?

Trusty Narrator (3:32)

Then get ready for another whiff of science and history.

Commentator (3:35)

On who smarted. Who's smarted? Who's smart? Is it you? Is it me? Is it science or history? Listen up, everyone. We make smarting lots of fun. On who's smarting.

Trusty Narrator (3:58)

You know, when I was a kid.

Chet (3:59)

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Trusty Narrator (4:42)

The box is open.

Chet (4:43)

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Trusty Narrator (5:06)

So, Guy, I'm noticing lots of flags from other countries hanging from the rafters here. Hockey must be a very popular sport worldwide.

Guy (5:13)

Oh, you Betcha. There's around 80 different countries that participate in international competitions.

Trusty Narrator (5:20)

That's pretty high considering it's primarily a winter sport.

Guy (5:23)

Yeah, it definitely helps to have cold weather. My grandpa told me when his family migrated to Canada from Europe, all his kids would play hockey as soon as the ponds froze.

Trusty Narrator (5:33)

Smarty pants. True or false? Hockey originated in Canada. The answer is surprisingly false.

Parent/Survey Announcer (5:40)

Nope.

Guy (5:41)

Hockey didn't come over to North America until the late 1800s, when British soldiers made their way to eastern Canada.

Trusty Narrator (5:48)

So hockey started in Europe, supposedly During.

Guy (5:51)

The the 1600s in Scotland, there was a game called shinty where folks used branches from trees to pass a ball around on frozen ponds.

Commentator (6:00)

He shoots. He shinties.

Guy (6:03)

Then, in the mid-1700s, a similar game called bandy was played in England. It wasn't until the mid-1800s when royalty began taking interest as they bandied about on a frozen lake at Windsor Castle.

Trusty Narrator (6:20)

So when did things start to get organized on this side of the pond? On frozen ponds?

Guy (6:25)

Oh, depends who you ask, eh? The first organized game in Canada was played in 1875 with nearly two dozen fellas from the Victoria Skating Club in Montreal. They'd go on to establish some basic rules of the game. And they played with a puck, not a ball.

Trusty Narrator (6:42)

Oh, the puck. You mean the thing that flies past. Anywho, what new rules did they establish?

Guy (6:50)

For starters, they used nets so goals could be scored and counted. They also established the number of players that should be on the ice for each team.

Trusty Narrator (6:58)

Smartypants, how many players does each team line up with to start? Is it A, 6 players, B 8 players, or C 11 players? If you said B 6 players for each team, you're right.

Guy (7:12)

In today's modern game, those six players consist of two defensemen who mostly protect their goal, three forwards who try to score goals, and one goalie whose job it is to keep the puck out of the net.

Commentator (7:29)

Ooh, kick save and a puke.

Trusty Narrator (7:32)

Yeah, that was the other team's goalie. How long does a hockey game last?

Guy (7:36)

A hockey game is 60 minutes long. Eh? However, it's broken up in a way that's unique in sports. Unlike other timed games like soccer, AKA football, which is broken up into two halves, or American and Canadian football, or basketball, which is broken up into four quarters, hockey is broken up into.

Trusty Narrator (7:54)

Wait, let's see if the smarty pants can guess. Smarty pants, how is a 60 minute hockey game broken up? Is it one hour long game, three 20 minute periods, or six 10 minute frames?

Guy (8:07)

The answer is three 20 minute periods, eh? Good job, smarties.

Trusty Narrator (8:13)

But the time doesn't just keep running.

Guy (8:15)

Nope. There are many stoppages of play due to penalties or rule violations, or when the goalie has control of the puck. And of course, when a goal is scored. Eh?

Trusty Narrator (8:32)

I see lots of lines drawn on the ice. Those all mean something, right?

Guy (8:35)

Yep. The lines separate the ice into three zones. The blue lines mark each team's defensive zone and the red line is the center of the ice. There are very specific rules associated with each of those lines. For example, the puck has to cross the blue line before an offensive player. Otherwise the play is offsides. Eh?

Trusty Narrator (8:54)

And the dots?

Guy (8:55)

Those are face off dots. Whenever play is stop, like if the puck leaves the rink, the teams will line up and the referee will drop the puck on the dots between one player and from each team.

Trusty Narrator (9:07)

And what about scoring?

Guy (9:09)

Well, a goal is worth one point, eh? The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. In some ways, hockey is a lot like soccer. Ah, nice.

Commentator (9:21)

Go.

Trusty Narrator (9:32)

Besides playing three periods, another unique feature of hockey versus other sports is it doesn't use a ball. Smarty pants. We've mentioned the puck several times now, but what exactly is a puck?

Guy (9:43)

Way back in the early days of the sport, they used a square piece of flat wood as a puck. After that, they took solid rubber balls, sliced them into thirds, and used the middle section. Today they use a disc made of vulcanized rubber or rubber that's been heated and hardened.

Trusty Narrator (10:08)

I feel like you're leaving something out, smarty pants. True or false? Before vulcanized rubber or sliced rubber balls or wooden squares, did hockey players actually press cow poop into discs and let them freeze to be used as pucks for outside games? Believe it or not, that's true.

Commentator (10:28)

He poops, he scores.

Trusty Narrator (10:32)

Okay, now that we know a little.

Chet (10:34)

Bit more about the origins of this.

Trusty Narrator (10:35)

Sport, what can you tell us about the origins of the professional hockey league known as the NHL?

Guy (10:40)

Oh, geez. A lot, actually.

Trusty Narrator (10:43)

Great. I can't wait to hear it. Right after this quick break. Who Smarted?

Chet (10:50)

Is brought to you by Squarespace. Now, you know I'm good about creating new adventures and episodes of who Smarted. But you don't know that I procrastinate on other stuff, like a website for one of our new projects.

Parent/Survey Announcer (11:02)

Oops.

Chet (11:02)

When the website builder Squarespace reached out about sponsoring who Smarted, I decided to test it out. And now I feel silly for putting.

Trusty Narrator (11:09)

Off building that website.

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Squarespace's blueprint AI thing literally built me a custom website in minutes. I just told it a few details about the project and boom, it generated everything. And everything you need is right there. I can schedule guest interviews, send email campaigns, even sell merch, all from one dashboard. Now it's your turn to stop procrastinating and start building.

Trusty Narrator (11:35)

You can use Squarespace to launch that.

Chet (11:37)

Business site or any site that you've been dreaming about.

Trusty Narrator (11:39)

But putting off today, there's no excuse anymore.

Chet (11:43)

Especially since you can head to squarespace.com smarted for a free trial.

Trusty Narrator (11:48)

And when you're ready to launch, you.

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Trusty Narrator (11:53)

For free or domain. That's squarespace.com smarted code smarted autumn is.

Chet (12:00)

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Trusty Narrator (12:15)

While giving you the flexibility that homeschool families need.

Chet (12:18)

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Trusty Narrator (12:57)

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Chet (12:59)

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Trusty Narrator (13:03)

IXL membership when you sign up today at IXL.com smarted that's 20% off at IXL.com smarted now back to who Smarted Smarty pants, I'm with my hockey player friend Guy who's about to tell us how the Professional Hockey League started.

Guy (13:26)

Technically, the professional league started in the early 1900s with four teams, but it was in 1942, what's referred to as the Original Six era, that the NHL truly began.

Trusty Narrator (13:36)

Smarty pants, do you know what NHL stands for? If you said National Hockey League, you're right.

Guy (13:44)

There was the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins. And all are still playing today.

Trusty Narrator (13:55)

Just six teams, huh?

Guy (13:56)

Oh yeah, you betcha. Believe it or not, those original six teams were the only ones in the league for 25 years until six more were added in 1967. Today there's 32 teams in the league, Eh? The newest, the Seattle Kraken, were just added in 2021. Over the course of the league, several teams have moved cities gone extinct or have been added. But every team is in it for just one reason to win the most famous trophy in all of sports.

Trusty Narrator (14:23)

Smarty pants, do you know what the trophy for winning the NHL is called? Is it A the Stanley Bowl, b the Stanley Plate, or C the Stanley Cup? If you said The Stanley Cup. You're right. But why Stanley? Who's Stanley?

Guy (14:40)

The trophy is named after Lord Stanley, the Governor General of Canada who donated the cup to the league.

Trusty Narrator (14:45)

Oh, I see. And what makes it so special?

Guy (14:49)

Oh, gosh, it's a magical object. If you could see it, you'd understand.

Trusty Narrator (14:54)

Yeah, well, I don't think there's any.

Chet (14:56)

Way I'm ever gonna win a Stanley Cup.

Guy (14:58)

That's true. But we could just go to the Hockey hall of Fame in Toronto and see it.

Trusty Narrator (15:03)

Oh, that's easy. Hold on. Thanks to my teleportation app, here we are.

Guy (15:13)

Whoa.

Trusty Narrator (15:14)

Is that the Stanley cup in that glass case? It's huge.

Guy (15:19)

Oh, yeah. Don't you know? It's nearly 3ft or 1 meter tall and weighs nearly 35 pounds or 16 kilograms. It's a big silver bowl or cup sitting atop a base. It's been awarded to the championship team every year for over 100 years. But that's not what makes it so special.

Trusty Narrator (15:37)

Eh, smarty pants? Do you know what makes the Stanley cup different than other sports trophies? Yeah, me neither. Hey, wait a sec. Are people's names written on the trophy?

Guy (15:48)

You betcha. When your team wins the Stanley cup, your name gets engraved right on the trophy.

Trusty Narrator (15:53)

I see. Is that all the winning teams ever?

Guy (15:56)

Oh, gosh, no. They did that. The trophy would be taller than this room. Every 13 years, they remove a section or band of metal with names on it and slide the other bands up. This leaves room at the bottom for new names to be added. The band they remove is retired and put on display here in the hall of Fame.

Trusty Narrator (16:13)

Nice.

Guy (16:14)

Another cool tradition going back decades is after winning the championship, every player, coach and staff member gets to take the Stanley cup home with them for a few days to share with friends and family.

Parent/Survey Announcer (16:25)

Eh?

Trusty Narrator (16:26)

Aw.

Guy (16:27)

The Stanley cup has traveled all around the globe.

Commentator (16:31)

Lord Stanley's cup has been used as a flower pot, a candy dish, and a cereal bowl. One player had his daughter baptized in it, and both dogs and horses have eaten out of it.

Guy (16:47)

The Montreal Canadiens hockey team have won the Cup 23 times, more than any other team. Who knows, Trusty? Maybe with some practice, you can win one, too. Sure.

Trusty Narrator (16:57)

Go ahead, take another shot. I'm stopping this one.

Commentator (17:01)

Do you believe in miracles? Not today.

Chet (17:11)

A big body check of a shout out to Carter in Cedar Grove.

Trusty Narrator (17:14)

We hear you love listening with your.

Chet (17:16)

Family and that you especially love the fart sound effects.

Trusty Narrator (17:19)

Guilty as charged.

Chet (17:21)

Thanks for letting us make learning fun.

Trusty Narrator (17:23)

For your whole smarty family. This episode, Ice Hockey was written by Dave Double Miner Davis and voiced by Justin Drop the Puck Dodd, Adam Checks Davis and Jerry Colbert. Technical direction and sound design by Josh High Sticking Hannah who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios. Our associate producer is Max Kroczyk Komaski. The theme song is by Brian Slashing Suarez with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis. Who's Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colberg. This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.

Commentator (17:59)

Who's Smarted?

Parent/Survey Announcer (18:02)

Hey parents. We'd like to know more about what your child listener thinks about our podcast. And we'd like to know a little bit about about you, the parent. So we're asking you to fill out our short survey with your child. As a thank you. We'll give you a chance to win one of three $100Amazon gift cards. Fair deal. Check out the survey at starglowsurvey. Com. That's StarglowSurvey. Com.