How much does the hockey puck weigh? Hockey washer weight. Size of hockey puck

Hockey - a game of real men! Of course, what kind of "not real" man foolishly will jump out on the ice and chase after the puck in the hope of throwing it into the opponent's gate or, in the worst case, getting it in the teeth? This kind of sport is quite tough, and it's not even how much the hockey puck weighs, but how fast it develops during the game.

A short excursion into the history of hockey

One of the most contested kinds of sports began its existence in Montreal in 1763. At this time, Great Britain had just annexed Canada, having won it from France. Initially, British soldiers practiced only hockey on the grass, but since the winters on the newly-conquered area were very severe, this sport soon became winter.

The official date of the first ever hockey match is March 3, 1875, when two teams of 9 players converged on the Montreal ice rink "Victoria". Of the equipment they had only a gate, wooden washers and a baseball protective form. The game was so popular with the audience that in two years the first 7 rules of the game in hockey were approved, and soon the rubber washers were put into play.

The game, already considered popular among the people, fell in love with the Canadian Governor-General Frederick Stanley. He in 1893 came up with a legendary cup named in his honor, for which the National Hockey League participants are still fighting today.

How did hockey become a primordially Russian game

The beginning of the history of Russian hockey is December 22, 1946. This day Moscow, Leningrad, Riga, Kaunas and Arkhangelsk hosted the debut games of the first in the Soviet Union ice hockey championship. "Our" already in 1954 for the first time reached the world level and in no time became leaders, defeating the team of the then world champions of Canadians with a score of 7: 2.

The unstable situation of the 90s forced the stars of Russian hockey to relocate to more generous foreign clubs, where they still show the upper class.

After 1993, when the Russian team became once again world champion, a series of setbacks followed, and only in 2008 she managed to regain her former glory and rank.

"Family tree" washers

Before describing in detail how much the hockey puck weighs, and "with what it is eaten", let us look into the past, in those years when hockey only gained its momentum. So, the "ancestor" of the fact that today we proudly call the puck was

An ordinary ball that was chased along the grass. Somewhere in the middle of the nineteenth century, a stone came to replace it ... and, you know, such a weapon of the game could cripple anyone. But, strangely enough, to the lightened variant of the hockey shell people went for almost a century, and somewhere in 1975, as a material for the puck began to use wood. And only in 1979, one of the fans of this sport, not having anything better at hand, took an ordinary rubber ball and cut it off from opposite sides. The resultant disk was even more convenient than its wooden predecessor, and therefore became widely used in sports.

Neo-washers

Of course, today nobody makes hockey shells in such an artisan way. Technologies have stepped far ahead, and modern washers are mainly made of either rubber or, as it is also called, vulcanized rubber, or plastic. Such materials manufacturers have not chosen by chance: such raw materials have advantageous characteristics that do not allow the puck to jump up during the game. Such a shell, no matter how much the hockey puck weighs, turns out to be very durable and can withstand enormous loads, which in hockey are more than enough: it does not bother with kicks, constant glide on the ice and powerful strikes against the fence.

To achieve this density, the puck must be placed in a special refrigerator room at least 10 days before the start of the game. Under the influence of low temperatures rubber and plastic lose their elastic capabilities.

And that the game shell does not merge with the white surface of the ice, when making it, soot can be used. Although there are several types of washers, depending on its color. For standard matches use the usual black washer, for training players - orange or blue (depending on how much the hockey puck is), and for training goalkeepers - white.

Jewelry work

The process of manufacturing the washer is quite simple, especially since it is almost completely automated. Long rubber bars are cut into small discs by the machine, which later can be heat treated and pressed. As a result of all manipulations, a shell must be obtained that meets all international standards: the diameter of the hockey puck must be 7.62 cm, its thickness should not exceed 2.54 cm, and the weight varies between 154 and 168 grams. The shell of such parameters is then painted, the necessary logos are applied to it using the method of screen printing.

A properly made washer can reach speeds of up to 190 km / h, of course, if the hockey player is well attached to the stick.

Hand-made masterpieces

But not everything is so simple. Professional, as well as souvenir hockey pucks need a more careful finish, so they are all done by hand. For this, the wizard of the washer business mixes the rubber with hands (at this stage it looks like granules) with a special viscous raw material. The resulting mixture is filled with two complementary halves of the same shape, and then a standard version of the hockey shell is produced by cold pressing.

Each club has its own symbolism, which must certainly be knocked out on the puck. Therefore manufacturers with the help of silk-screen methods and multi-colored rubber ink put the emblems ordered by them on earlier prepared washers.

Sometimes in the production process a defective product is obtained, which is fairly easy to determine. All the shells necessarily pass the rebound test and if the speed developed by the tested sample does not correspond to the speed of the standard washer, then it returns for revision.

Unsuccessful modification

In the already distant 1994 of FOX-TV, which constantly broadcast NHL matches across America, they allowed to create their own modification of a hockey shell, which would be more visible to viewers when watching matches. The size of the FoxTrax hockey washer (this was how the novelty was started) did not change, but inside it was placed a special chip and power supply, and along the perimeter placed sources of infrared light. On the border of the hockey site, there were 16 sensors, which, interacting with radiation sources on the washer, signaled to the computer of the TV center about the movement of the projectile.

Such an invention really pleased the viewer, as the FoxTrax was highlighted on the screens in different colors: red meant that the speed of the puck at the moment had reached 80 km / h, green - 120 km / h. And everything would be fine if not for the high cost of such a device ($ 400) and the need to recharge the device every 10 minutes. And, in addition, the players began to notice that the FoxTrax behaves on the ice is not the same as a regular puck. Therefore, since 1998, their production has been banned.

Deadly Throw

Although the weight of the ice hockey puck is not so great, it can inflict irreparable harm. And not only to the players. To protect spectators from danger, the hockey field is protected by special high sides made of a stable protective glass, and the stands, which are located directly behind the goalkeeper, are also protected by a grid. But in the history of this sport there were cases when fans became victims of a washer overboard.

For example, in 2002, a 13-year-old girl named Brittany Cecil, who watched the development of the match between the Canadian "Calgary Flames" and the American "Columbus Blue Jackets", received a fatal injury. Espen Knutsen's fierce blow instantly carried the puck over all the fences, and she flew to the 15th row, where the unfortunate woman sat.

As you can see, it does not matter how much the hockey puck weighs, the main thing is the speed with which it rushes all over the field. So, take care of yourself!