Can You Get 29/35 on This Hockey Knowledge Quiz?

Wayne Gretzky is generally considered to be the best NHL player of all time, and it is easy to see why. During his career, Gretzky scored 2,857 points, which is nearly 1,000 more than the next closest player.

The first official and organized indoor ice hockey game in the world was played on March 3, 1875, in Montreal. Two teams of nine players each played on the rink, and they used a wooden puck.

If a player is all alone in the attacking zone of their opponent with no defensemen in their way, they are on a breakaway. This lapse in defense often makes it easier for the player on the breakaway to score.

If a hockey player scores three goals in a game, it is called scoring a hat trick. Fans will often throw hats onto the ice after a hat trick is scored, a tradition which dates back many decades.

While hockey had already been around for decades, the NHL officially began play in 1917. The league began with only four teams and has now grown to more than 30 teams across the USA and Canada.

The first-ever Stanley Cup was awarded in 1893 to the Montreal Hockey Club. Early on, the Stanley Cup was only awarded to amateur teams. In 1906, professional teams were allowed to win it.

In hockey, a minor penalty is 2 minutes long, and the offender must sit in the penalty box for that amount of time. There are a number of different types of minor penalties, including tripping, roughing and interference.

When a player jabs his stick (either the blade or the butt-end) at an opposing player, it is a spearing penalty. It is often done in the stomach or chest region and can be incredibly painful.

During even-strength play, there are five players and one goalie on the ice for each team. There are two defensemen, a center, a right winger and a left winger. This, of course, can change during penalties or when a goalie is pulled.

While Jacques Plante was not the first-ever goalie to wear a mask, he was the one who first wore one on a regular basis. He first wore one during practice in 1956, before ultimately using it in games in 1959.

Teams often wear a variety of colored uniforms, and their helmets normally match their uniform. In order to remain consistent and be able to easily be identified, all hockey referees wear a black helmet.

The most games ever won in an NHL season is 62, and it has been done twice - by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1995-96 season and then again by the Tampa Bay Lightning, just recently, in the 2018-19 season.

Many players have won multiple Stanley Cups, but no one has won as many as Henri Richard. He won a total of 11 in his playing career with the Montreal Canadiens, which is incredibly impressive since only a few teams have won more Stanley Cups than that.

All of the aforementioned teams were a part of the NHL's "Original Six," except for the Vancouver Canucks. They officially joined the NHL in 1970, along with the Buffalo Sabres.

The attacking zone is a name given for the area beyond your opponent's blue line. It is where nearly all scoring chances develop and where most goals are scored in a hockey game.

There have been many successful franchises in the history of the NHL, but none have been more successful than the Montreal Canadiens. In their rich history, they have won 24 Stanley Cups.

The very first time that ice hockey was played as an Olympic sport was at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. But in an interesting twist, this was at the Summer Olympics, not the winter.

In an NHL game, each period is 20 minutes long. This is actual game time, and most periods actually come in at about 45 minutes or so of real time. Other hockey leagues and tournaments have different time lengths for periods or halves.

The Art Ross Trophy is given to the player who scores the most points in a single NHL season. The player who has won the award the most times is Wayne Gretzky, who won it 10 times in his career. The award was first presented after the 1947-1948 NHL season. Art Ross was a former player, general manager and head coach.

The most goals by a single player in an NHL season is 92, and it was scored by Wayne Gretzky in the 1981-198282 season. What is even more impressive is that he was only 21 years old when he accomplished the feat.

While NHL rinks are 85 feet wide, all international rinks are much wider at 98.4 feet. This provides a much different game flow and allows for much more space for players to work.

In ice hockey, a major penalty is worth 5 minutes in the penalty box. While fighting might be the most common major penalty, there are other examples such as boarding and cross-checking. Some minor penalties can also be upgraded to major penalty status if they are serious enough.

A saucer pass is when a player passes the puck to another by lifting it into the air, making it harder to stop. The reason it is called a saucer pass is that it resembles a flying saucer as the puck sails through the air.

The Canadian women's national ice hockey team is one of the most dominant in the sport and has consistently won many of the major tournaments they have entered. The team has won four gold medals and two silver medals in six trips to the Olympics.

The most points ever scored in a single NHL hockey game is 10. In 1976, as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Darryl Sittler scored six goals and got four assists in a single game.

The five-hole is the space in between a goalie's leg pads. It is a common place for goals to be scored as the pads the goalies wear don't cover the five-hole, so they must use their stick to block pucks shot in that area.

If a player is tripped or taken down during a breakaway, a penalty shot is often awarded. This gives the player who got tripped a chance to take a free hot on the goalie without any defensemen present.

To begin a hockey game, both teams will go up to center ice and participate in a face-off. The ref will drop the puck between the two centers, and each will try to pass the puck back to their team.

While some junior and international ice rinks vary when it comes to size, the official length of the ice rink in the NHL is 200 feet. This allows a lot of room for players to skate and show off their speed and skills.

While the start of each period begins with a face-off at center ice, there are nine different places where face-offs can happen on a standard NHL rink. There are four on each side of the the rink and the one at center ice.

The leader of a hockey team will have a jersey with a "C" on the chest. This means they are the captain and considered the leader of the team. Most teams also have a few alternate captains. These players have an "A" on their jersey.

Despite the fact that hockey is very popular in Canada, it is not the country's only national sport. Of the countries listed, hockey is the sole national sport for Latvia. This small nation has been playing hockey since the 1930s.

Most of the high-level hockey leagues on the planet, including the NHL, use the four-official system. This means that every game will have two referees and two linesmen on the ice at all times.

A player is assessed a match penalty when they deliberately try to hurt another player or succeed in hurting another player. They are kicked out of the game and will often have to pay a fine and could also face suspension.