1.
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
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Marie /ˌsuː seɪnt məˈriː/ is a city in, and the county seat of, Chippewa County in the U. S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the end of Michigans Upper Peninsula, on the Canada–US border. Marie, Ontario, by the St. Marys River, the city is relatively isolated from other communities in Michigan and is 346 miles from Detroit. The population was 14,144 at the 2010 census, making it the second most populous city in the Upper Peninsula, by contrast, the Canadian Sault Ste. Marie is much larger, with more than 75,000 residents, based on more extensive industry developed in the 20th century and an economy with closer connections to other communities. Marie had been settled by Native Americans more than 12,000 years ago and was a crossroads of fishing and trading of tribes around the Great Lakes, French colonists later established a fur trading post, which attracted trappers and Native Americans on a seasonal basis. Both Métis men and women were active in the trade and among the elite in the community, a fur-trading settlement quickly grew at the crossroads that straddled the banks of the river. It was the center of a route of 3,000 miles that extended from Montreal to the Sault. The settlement was a community under French colonial and later British colonial rule until 1817. The American and Canadian communities of Sault Ste, Marie were each incorporated as independent municipalities toward the end of the nineteenth century. Sault Sainte-Marie in French means the Rapids of Saint Mary, the Saint Marys River runs from Lake Superior to Lake Huron, what are now the twin border cities are located on either side. No hyphens are used in the English spelling, which is identical to the French. Anglophones say /ˌsuː seɪnt məˈriː/ and Francophones say, in French, the name can be written Sault-Sainte-Marie. On both sides of the border, the towns and the vicinity are called The Sault or The Soo. The two cities are joined by the International Bridge, which connects Interstate 75 in Sault Ste, Marie, Michigan, and Huron Street in Sault Ste. Shipping traffic in the Great Lakes system bypasses the rapids via the American Soo Locks, smaller recreational and tour boats use the Canadian Sault Ste. The citys downtown was developed on an island, with the locks to the north, Marie Power Canal to the south. People come from around the world to view shipping traffic pass through the locks, the largest ships are 1,000 feet long by 105 feet wide
2.
Michigan
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Michigan /ˈmɪʃᵻɡən/ is a state in the Great Lakes and Midwestern regions of the United States. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, Michigan is the tenth most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area. Its capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit, Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is noted to be shaped like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, the two peninsulas are connected by the Mackinac Bridge. The state has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, as a result, it is one of the leading U. S. states for recreational boating. Michigan also has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds, a person in the state is never more than six miles from a natural water source or more than 85 miles from a Great Lakes shoreline. What is now the state of Michigan was first settled by Native American tribes before being colonized by French explorers in the 17th century, the area was organized as part of the larger Northwest Territory until 1800, when western Michigan became part of the Indiana Territory. Eventually, in 1805, the Michigan Territory was formed, which lasted until it was admitted into the Union on January 26,1837, the state of Michigan soon became an important center of industry and trade in the Great Lakes region and a popular immigrant destination. Though Michigan has come to develop an economy, it is widely known as the center of the U. S. automotive industry. When the first European explorers arrived, the most populous tribes were Algonquian peoples, which include the Anishinaabe groups of Ojibwe, Odaawaa/Odawa, the three nations co-existed peacefully as part of a loose confederation called the Council of Three Fires. The Ojibwe, whose numbers are estimated to have been between 25,000 and 35,000, were the largest, French voyageurs and coureurs des bois explored and settled in Michigan in the 17th century. The first Europeans to reach what became Michigan were those of Étienne Brûlés expedition in 1622, the first permanent European settlement was founded in 1668 on the site where Père Jacques Marquette established Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan as a base for Catholic missions, missionaries in 1671–75 founded outlying stations at Saint Ignace and Marquette. Jesuit missionaries were received by the areas Indian populations, with relatively few difficulties or hostilities. In 1679, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle built Fort Miami at present-day St. Joseph, in 1691, the French established a trading post and Fort St. Joseph along the St. Joseph River at the present day city of Niles. The hundred soldiers and workers who accompanied Cadillac built a fort enclosing one arpent, cadillacs wife, Marie Thérèse Guyon, soon moved to Detroit, becoming one of the first European women to settle in the Michigan wilderness. The town quickly became a major fur-trading and shipping post, the Église de Saint-Anne was founded the same year
3.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
4.
Ice hockey
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Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponents net to score points. Ice hockey teams usually consist of six each, one goaltender. A fast-paced, physical sport, ice hockey is most popular in areas of North America, Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada, where the game enjoys immense popularity. In North America, the National Hockey League is the highest level for mens hockey, the Kontinental Hockey League is the highest league in Russia and much of Eastern Europe. The International Ice Hockey Federation is the governing body for international ice hockey. The IIHF manages international tournaments and maintains the IIHF World Ranking, worldwide, there are ice hockey federations in 74 countries. Ice hockey is believed to have evolved from simple stick and ball games played in the 18th and 19th century United Kingdom and these games were brought to North America and several similar winter games using informal rules were developed, such as shinny and ice polo. The contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained to this day. Amateur ice hockey began in the 1880s, and professional ice hockey originated around 1900. The Stanley Cup, emblematic of ice hockey club supremacy, was first awarded in 1893 to recognize the Canadian amateur champion, in international competitions, the national teams of six countries predominate, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States. Of the 69 medals awarded all-time in mens competition at the Olympics, in the annual Ice Hockey World Championships,177 of 201 medals have been awarded to the six nations. In Russia and the Ukraine, where hockey can also refer to bandy, the name hockey has no clear origin. The English historian and biographer John Strype did not use the word hockey when he translated the proclamation in 1720, the 1573 Statute of Galway banned a sport called hokie—the hurling of a little ball with sticks or staves. A form of this word was thus being used in the 16th century, though much removed from its current usage. According to the Austin Hockey Association, the word derives from the Scots Gaelic puc or the Irish poc. The blow given by a hurler to the ball with his caman or hurley is always called a puck. Stick-and-ball games date back to pre-Christian times, in Europe, these games included the Irish game of hurling, the closely related Scottish game of shinty and versions of field hockey. IJscolf, a game resembling colf on a surface, was popular in the Low Countries between the Middle Ages and the Dutch Golden Age. It was played with a curved bat, a wooden or leather ball
5.
Defenceman
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Defence in ice hockey is a player position whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners, a good defenceman is both strong in defensive and offensive play and for defenceman pairing also need to be good at defending and attacking. In regular play, two defencemen complement three forwards and a goaltender on the ice, organized play of ice hockey originates from the first indoor game in Montreal in 1875. In subsequent years, the players per side were reduced to seven per side, positions were standardized, and two correspond to the two defencemen of current six-man rules. These were designated as cover point and point, although they lined up behind the center, decades later, defencemen were standardized into playing left and right sides of the ice. According to one of the earliest books on ice hockey, Farrells Hockey, Canadas Royal Winter Game, Mike Grant of the Montreal Victorias and he should not stray too far from his place, because oftentimes he is practically a second goal-minder. Although he should remain close to his goal-keeper, he should never obstruct that mans view of the puck, in his capacity of a defence player, he should linger around his goals as long as the puck is near. It is by playing far up under these circumstances that a clever cover-point can chine to the advantage of his team. If he has an opening he should shoot well for the goals. Each year the NHL, the ice hockey league in the world. Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins – an eight-time Norris Trophy recipient – is often considered to be the greatest defenceman in NHL, in addition to his Norris Trophy honours, he is the only defenceman in NHL history to capture the Art Ross Trophy as the leagues leading scorer. In 1998, Orr was selected as the best defenceman of all-time in The Hockey News Top 100 NHL Players of all-time, conversely, according to the IIHF Centennial All-Star Team, the greatest defencemen to play in IIHF-sanctioned international competition are Vyacheslav Fetisov and Börje Salming. Defence players are often described by the amount they participate in the offence, the extreme of non-participation in offence is a Stay-at-home defender, who takes few risks and does not score much, instead focusing on defending against the opposing team. The extreme of participation is a defenceman, who gets aggressively involved in the teams offence. To accomplish this, the defence player often pinches in to keep the play from going offside and moves towards the halfboards. This makes it difficult for the team to protect their net from being scored upon if the team can maintain control of the puck. However, this can lead to more odd man rushes and breakaway opportunities for the team if the defender does not succeed. Bobby Orrs end-to-end rushing allowed him to defend effectively as well as attack, by contrast, Paul Coffey enjoyed high offensive production but his defensive play was considered mediocre for most of his career
6.
New York Rangers
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The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. They are members of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League, the team plays its home games at Madison Square Garden, located in the borough of Manhattan. The Rangers are one of three NHL franchises in the New York metropolitan area, along with the New Jersey Devils, the club is also one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise. They are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six, along with the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Rangers were the first NHL franchise in the United States to win the Stanley Cup, the new team was quickly nicknamed Texs Rangers. Rickards franchise began play in the 1926–27 season, the first team crest was a horse sketched in blue carrying a cowboy waving a hockey stick aloft, before being changed to the familiar R-A-N-G-E-R-S in diagonal. Rickard managed to get future legendary Toronto Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe to assemble the team. However, Smythe had a falling-out with Rickards hockey man, Col. John S. Hammond, Smythe was replaced by Pacific Coast Hockey Association co-founder Lester Patrick. The new team Smythe assembled turned out to be a winner, the Rangers won the American Division title their first year but lost to the Boston Bruins in the playoffs. The teams early success led to players becoming minor celebrities and fixtures in New York Citys Roaring Twenties nightlife and it was also during this time, playing at the Garden on 48th Street, blocks away from Times Square, that the Rangers obtained their now-famous nickname The Broadway Blueshirts. In only their season, the Rangers won the Stanley Cup. One of the most memorable stories that emerged from the Finals involved Patrick playing in goal at the age of 44, an angry Patrick lined up between the pipes for two periods in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, allowing one goal to Maroons center Nels Stewart. Frank Boucher would eventually score the goal in overtime for New York. The Rangers would spend the rest of the 1930s playing close to 0.500 hockey until their next Cup win, Lester Patrick stepped down as head coach and was replaced by Frank Boucher. In 1939–40 season, the Rangers finished the season in second place behind Boston. The two teams would meet in the first round of the playoffs. The Bruins gained a series lead from New York, but the Rangers recovered to win three-straight games. The Rangers first round victory gave them a bye until the finals, the Detroit Red Wings defeated the New York Americans in their first round best-of-three series two games to one, and the Toronto Maple Leafs ousted the Chicago Black Hawks two games to none
7.
Chicago Blackhawks
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The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League and they have won six Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926. The Blackhawks are one of the Original Six NHL teams along with the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, since 1994, the clubs home rink is the United Center. The club had played for 65 years at Chicago Stadium. The clubs original owner was Frederic McLaughlin, who owned the club until his death in 1944, under McLaughlin, a hands-on owner who fired many coaches during his ownership, the club won two Stanley Cup titles. The club was owned by the Norris family, who as owners of the Chicago Stadium were the clubs landlord. At first, the Norris ownership was as part of a syndicate fronted by long-time executive Bill Tobin, after the senior James E. Norris died in 1952, the Norris assets were spread among family members and James D. Norris became owner. Norris Jr. took an active interest in the team and under his ownership, after James D. Norris died in 1966, the Wirtz family became owners of the franchise. In 2007, the club came under the control of Rocky Wirtz, who is credited with turning around the organization, under Rocky Wirtz, the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup three times within six seasons. On May 1,1926, the NHL awarded a franchise for Chicago to a syndicate headed by former football star Huntington Hardwick of Boston. However, only one later, Hardwicks group sold out to Chicago coffee tycoon Frederic McLaughlin. McLaughlin had been a commander with the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Division during World War I and this Division was nicknamed the Blackhawk Division after a Native American of the Sauk nation, Black Hawk, who was a prominent figure in the history of Illinois. McLaughlin named the new team in honor of the military unit. The Black Hawks began play in the 1926–27 season, along with new expansion franchises Detroit Cougars, McLaughlin took a very active role in running the team despite having no background in the sport. McLaughlin hired Bill Tobin, a goaltender who had played in the Western league, as his assistant. He was also interested in promoting American hockey players, then very rare in professional hockey. The Hawks first season was a moderate success and they played their first game on November 17 when they played the Toronto St. Patricks in the Chicago Coliseum. The Black Hawks won their first game 4–1, in front of a crowd of over 7,000 and they ended up finishing the season in third place with a record of 19–22–3
8.
United States men's national ice hockey team
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The United States mens national ice hockey team is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with its U18 and U17 development program in Plymouth, Michigan. The team is controlled by USA Hockey, the body for amateur. The US team is ranked 4th in the IIHF World Rankings, the current head coach is John Tortorella. The United States won gold medals at the 1960 and 1980 Winter Olympics and more recently, the teams most recent medal at the World Championships came with a bronze in 2015. They won the tournament in 1933, United States is a member of the so-called Big Six, the unofficial group of the six strongest mens ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, and Sweden. As of 2014, the US has an ice hockey population of 611,926 with USA Hockey. USA Hockey is the largest governing body for ice hockey in the United States and is considered the best representation of the number of playing ice hockey in the US. Though hockey is not a popular sport in the United States. The United States also won the medal in the 1960 Games at Squaw Valley, California, defeating the Soviet Union, Canada, Czechoslovakia. However, since this victory is not as known as the 1980 win. Although the United States finished no higher than fourth in any World or Olympic event from 1981 through 1994, but by 2006, many of these NHL All-Stars had retired or lost their skill with age. Though the 2006 Olympic team finished a disappointing 8th, it was more of a team, featuring young NHL players like Rick DiPietro, John-Michael Liles. The team also had a group of veterans that included top NHL goalie Ryan Miller top defenseman Brian Rafalski. The U. S. team upset team Canada 5–3 in the phase of the tournament and went into the single elimination phase of the tournament as the number-one seeded team. After beating Finland 6–1 the United States advanced to the medal game. The gold medal game between Canada and the United States was watched by an estimated 27.6 million U. S. households. This was the most watched game in America since the 1980 Miracle on Ice game. However, several months later at the IIHF World Championship, the U. S. team posted the worst record in its history by losing all three of its games in the preliminary round, the losses eliminated the United States from medal contention and dropped them below 12th place
9.
Ice hockey at the Olympic Games
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Ice hockey tournaments have been staged at the Olympic Games since 1920. The mens tournament was introduced at the 1920 Summer Olympics and was transferred permanently to the Winter Olympic Games program in 1924, the womens tournament was first held at the 1998 Winter Olympics. The Olympic Games were originally intended for amateur athletes until 1988, from 1924 to 1988, the tournament started with a round-robin series of games and ended with the medal round. Medals were awarded based on points accumulated during that round, the games of the tournament follow the rules of the International Ice Hockey Federation, which differ slightly from the rules used in the NHL. Several players have tested positive for banned substances since the 1972 Winter Olympics, in the mens tournament, Canada was the most successful team of the first three decades, winning six of seven gold medals. Czechoslovakia, Sweden and the United States were also competitive during this period, between 1920 and 1968, the Olympic hockey tournament was also counted as the Ice Hockey World Championship for that year. The Soviet Union first participated in 1956 and overtook Canada as the dominant international team, the United States won gold medals in 1960 and in 1980, which included their Miracle on Ice upset of the Soviet Union. Canada went 50 years without a medal, before winning one in 2002. Other nations to win gold include Great Britain in 1936, the Unified Team in 1992, Sweden in 1994 and 2006, other medal-winning nations include Switzerland, Germany, Finland and Russia. In 1986, the International Olympic Committee voted to allow all athletes to compete in Olympic Games starting in 1988, however, NHL players were allowed to compete starting in 1998. The tournament format was changed again in 2006, every team played five games with the full use of NHL players. In July 1992, the IOC voted to approve womens hockey as an Olympic event, the Canadian and American teams have dominated the event, typically losing only to each other. The United States won its first tournament in 1998, while Canada won in 2002,2006,2010 and 2014, the first Olympic ice hockey tournament took place at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. At the time, organized ice hockey was still relatively new. The International Ice Hockey Federation, the governing body, was created on May 15,1908. At the 1914 Olympic Congress in Paris, ice hockey was added to the list of sports that Olympics organizers could include. The decision to include ice hockey for the 1920 Summer Olympics was made in January, several occurrences led to the sports inclusion in the programme. The IIHF considers the 1920 tournament to be the first Ice Hockey World Championship, from then on, the two events occurred concurrently, and every Olympic tournament until 1968 is counted as the World Championship
United States