Fun and Games
This page is a compilation of interesting facts, humorous anecdotes, and amusing pictures. Enjoy!
Did You Know
This section is a collection of interesting and sometimes obscure facts about hockey around the world.
Did you know that...
...that in the 1800s, Bury Fen Bandy Club had supposedly been unbeaten for over a century?
...that there was an ethnic German Championship played in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s?
...that Roger Van der Straten-Ponthoz scored the first known goal by a European goaltender on February 27, 1910?
...that a game between DEHG Prag and Olmützer EV in 1934 was stopped by the police as it was "disturbing the nighttime peace"?
...that an ice hockey championship was played in Tajikistan in the 1950s?
...that the brothers Mezzi, Zacchi, and Gianni Andreossi played together on the Swiss National Team at the 1922 European Championship?
...that in Belgium, it was common for players to play in long trousers, white elegant shirts and bow-ties during the early 1900s?
...that in 1926, Budapesti Korcsolyázó Egylet became Slovak champions in bandy, and Troppauer EV Opava became Slovak champions in ice hockey, despite neither club being from Slovakia?
...that the New Niagara Challenge Cup was the first indoor tournament to be played in Great Britain, and Europe as a whole, when it was contested in 1897?
...that a Challenge Cup between SC Lyon and Club des Patineurs de Paris was played in France in 1902-03?
...that the Tebbutts from England donated the Wanderpokal to be competed for in Germany in 1901?
Photographs
Find interesting historical photographs here!
The 1934 German National Team does the Hitler Salute after a game.
This 1937 photo shows Jack Milford of the Wembley Monarchs skating with his wife and... Their baby strapped up between them.
Caricatures
Caricatures of famous players were commonplace in the European newspapers prior to World War II. Check out some of them below:
Wolfgang Dorasil, the best ethnic German player in Czechoslovakia (and a card-carrying Nazi).
The "giant" of pre-war European hockey, Josef Malecek, literally dwarfs his opponents here.
The 1931 American National Team
C.S. Smith, the American coach of SK Slavia Praha.
Canadian Blake Watson was quite the sensation during his time in Europe.
Mr. Kenzir - Czechoslovakia.
Players from the 1933 Canadian National Team - the Toronto Nationals.
A caricature of the meeting of the National Bandy Association. Look at those bandy legs!
Published in the Montreal Gazette on November 18, 1939, the Maginot Line held up far better on paper than it did in practice.
A brawl took place in a friendly match in Lithuania in 1932-33. The Kūno kultūra ir sveikata sketched a humorous depiction of the melee.
Caricatures from the 1931 World Championship.
Caricatures of the top members of Wiener EV in 1931.
Hermann Weiss stood tall in net for WEV.
A caricature denoting HC Tatry as Slovak champions in 1935-36.
A caricature depicting Rudi Ball, Herbert Bruck, and Gustav Jaenecke (left-right).
A caricature of Jozef Stogowski
A caricature of Franciczek Glowacki
A caricature depicting the ice beginning to melt in the middle of a match.
