A new study by an academic historian shows that hockey has not always been a violent sport, and that 110 years ago, organizers actually tried to remove violence from the game.
Taylor McKee, 30, is a history instructor at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. On Aug. 21, he successfully defended his doctoral thesis in history from Western University called Born of a Spirit That Knows No Conquering: Innovation, Contestation, and Representation in the PCHA, 1911-1924.
B次元官网网址淢ost of the research was spent looking at newspapers with an eye to the way they looked at violence,B次元官网网址� McKee said. B次元官网网址淭he research is focused on early attempts to mitigate violence in hockey, and there were many.B次元官网网址�
The Pacific Coast Hockey Association was run by entrepreneurial brothers Lester and Frank Patrick in Victoria, Vancouver, New Westminster, Seattle and Portland.
| Taylor McKee |
B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e literally in the game itself, as owners, as entrepreneurs, and also as practitioners who are physically involved,B次元官网网址� Mckee said.
B次元官网网址淥ther leagues did try things, but the PCHA was obsessed with trying to make the game safer and safer every year. It was the middle of the leagueB次元官网网址檚 life and it was very experimental.B次元官网网址�
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While the modern sentiment is that violence has been part of the game since the sport became popular in the 1890s, McKeeB次元官网网址檚 research shows that the attempt to mitigate violence goes back just as far. ItB次元官网网址檚 an extension from McKeeB次元官网网址檚 masterB次元官网网址檚 thesis, which he did at the University of Victoria, that studied hockey and violence in early 1900s Kootenay ice hockey games.
While the brothers are widely credited as key innovators who shaped many of the rules for the modern game (line changes, the forward pass), the brothers also took an unprecedented step. In 1914, they painted a black line in the ice of the hockey rink about 10 feet from the boards. It circled the entire rink, creating a no-contact zone along the walls.
It didnB次元官网网址檛 last, and many of their innovations didnB次元官网网址檛, as the brothers constantly used the PCHA as a testing ground. And thatB次元官网网址檚 something that should be celebrated in the face of push-back by B次元官网网址渢raditionalistsB次元官网网址� who believe violence is in the fabric of hockey, McKee said.
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B次元官网网址淚t was upon reading the rule changes and seeing how insistent they were upon clean hockey. A lot of these leagues [from that era] were using the pursuit of clean hockey to market the sport.
B次元官网网址淓specially now. The NHL is at a crisis point. We know fighting isnB次元官网网址檛 right. We know it isnB次元官网网址檛, but some still like it.B次元官网网址�
The research was done online, using the University of B.C.B次元官网网址檚 online archive, B.C. Historical B次元官网网址papers. He also visited Oak Bay Archives for a period in 2017. It was there McKee was overwhelmed by the hospitality of former archivist Caroline Duncan, and the team of volunteers.
B次元官网网址淎s a historian, you sometimes search for archives other historians havenB次元官网网址檛 picked over, and Oak Bay is a gem,B次元官网网址� McKee said. B次元官网网址淵ou go in there and youB次元官网网址檙e helpless. The staff at Oak Bay Archives is a dream come true. I was torn, B次元官网网址楧o I tell people about this?B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址�
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One of the big surprises McKee found at the Oak Bay Archives was the original blueprints for the Patrick Arena that once stood on Cadboro Bay Road (across from Oak Bay High) from 1911 until it burned down in 1929.
B次元官网网址淭he blueprints are in immaculate condition and you can see what they were trying to build was a palace,B次元官网网址� McKee said.
Considering that this was such an opulent stadium with stained glass, the anti-violence sentiment made even more sense, said McKee, adding theyB次元官网网址檙e bringing the game indoors where there are atriums and ballrooms on top of the rinks.
B次元官网网址淭his is not a space where you go to see someone die. People try to paint this era as gladiatorial, as brutal and bloody, but itB次元官网网址檚 not.B次元官网网址�
