英语翻译
A game like hockey must have been played in ancient Greece.Paintings that show a game using hockey sticks have been found from this time.Games much like hockey were also played by the Celts and Native Americans.
The modern form of hokey began in the late 1800s.University students in Canada began forming teams and playing against each other.The first official hockey game was held on March 3,1875 in Montreal.Some students from McGill University in Montreal wrote up the rules for this game.The general rule of this game were taken from rugby.
In no time,the game grew to be the most popular sport among university students in Canada.All the excitement stirred up by hockey resulted in having Lord Stanley,who was Canada’s governor general from 1888 to 1893,offering a silver cup to the best college team each year.This silver cup later became the Stanley Cup,which is given to the best professional hockey team each year.
Hockey became a professional sport in 1904.The first professional hockey organization,the International Ice Hockey Federation,began in 1908.Hockey also became an official sport of the winter Olympics in 1920.When hockey has been played at the Olympics,Canada and Russian often have had the best teams.
The National Hockey League (NHL) is now made of 24 teams from Canada and the United States.Even though the US teams represent cities in the United States,quite a number of the players on these teams are actually Canadian.The NHL plans to add more teams,up to 28 in total,as hockey enters the 21st century.