Lacrosse and Ice Hockey do might not fit together in your head, but do you know that both sports are a part of the national sports in Canada? But that is not the only aspect, that the two team games have in common. Do you want to know what ice hockey and lacrosse combines? What other people think about it or how Ice Hockey skills help you at your lacrosse game? Then you are exactly right here, because these are the topics of our article.
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is one of the national sports in Canada. It was first played by the Native Americans and developed increasingly over the years, just like the rules and also the equipment. Gradually, the sport spread around the world.
Basically two opposing teams try with a lacrosse stick and a hard rubber ball to play the ball in the net of the stick and then shoot it into the goal of the other team. It is considered the fastest team sport on two feet. Many further information about lacrosse can be found in all other posts on our blog.
Ice Hockey
Ice Hockey is the second sport of the two national sports of Canada. It came into being circa 1840 – 1875 in Canada. British soldiers played the Scottish game Shinty on ice and snow.
Ice Hockey is essentially a team sport with five field players and a goalkeeper, played on an ice surface. Just like at field hockey they have all hockey sticks and try to shoot the so-called puck, a small hard rubber disk, into the opponent’s goal.
Similarities between the two sports
Basically lacrosse and ice hockey three common characteristics: It takes many sporting skills at the same time, it requires countless hours of training to master the practice and the great similarity of the games is the task to be handled. Namely to collect points by shooting the ball or puck into the opposing goal. Whereby these are very similar too.
In both sports there is a lot of physical contact with other players, it helps that the players are not only physically but also mentally strong. The team members try to snatch the ball from the opponents or to check other players, which want to check his team partner. For the hard tackles there are strict rules. Due to the high risk of injury they have to wear extensive equipment.
The so-called face-off, where two opposing players fight for the puck or the ball, is played in Lacrosse and Ice Hockey. Also the goalies at both sports have their goalie crease, which was designated by the same rules.
There are also many other features, that the two sports have in common. But this is the basic information. What similarities do you notice?
Differences of lacrosse and ice hockey
Probably the biggest difference between the two sports is generally the field. Namely the lacrosse field is field/grass and ice hockey is played on ice. In addition the lacrosse field is rectangular, while the ice hockey field has an oval shape.
The number of fielder differ at both sports. While 10 players are on the field at lacrosse, there can only 6 players be found on the ice at ice hockey, therefore the game units do also have different lengths. In ice hockey it takes two or three minutes and in lacrosse ten or twelve.
Lacrosse and ice hockey are usually played in different seasons. Lacrosse is preferably played in spring, while ice hockey is mainly played in winter.
Of course there are also other differences. But this was the basic information. What differences do you notice?
What do people think about the sports?
Have you ever observed the reaction when people see lacrosse or ice hockey for the first time? It is quite interesting, because these people can generally give their opinion about both sports and it is also really funny. This is why we have picked out two videos, in which you can see how Irish people see a lacrosse or an ice hockey match for the first time and you can find out what they think about both sports.
Which ice hockey skills help you with lacrosse?
As you have already read in one of the upper sections, lacrosse and ice hockey have some characteristics in common, which is why the trained skills of the players are similar. One could say a lacrosse player, provided he can do ice-skating, is perfect for ice hockey and vice versa. Especially, the following skills may be adopted from ice hockey to lacrosse and vice versa:
- Explosive power
- Checking and physical presence
- Deke and fakes
- Acceleration and speed
- Positional play
- Lateral movement and foot speed
- Core strength and endurance
- Avoiding hits
- Passing and setting up plays
- Hand-eye coordination
- Shoot and aim /accuracy
Some well-known ice hockey players played lacrosse in their youth, for example: Wayne Gretzky, Brendan Shanahan, Doug Gilmour, Cliff Ronning, Jow Sakic, Steve Larmer, Collin Patterson, Tim Hunter, Paul Kariya, Don Cherry, Gary Roberts, Adam Oats, Paul Coffey, Joe Nieuwendyk and some more.
A qoute of Wayne Gretzky: “I could not wait for hockey season to end so I could pick up a lacrosse stick again.”
Ice hockey vs. lacrosse – Which sport is better?
Ice hockey vs. lacrosse. In our opinion lacrosser is the winner of course as lacrosse is the world’s best sport! But I picked out a pretty funny video, that shows the different advantages of both sports. It is really funny, click it and watch which of the two sports wins.
