Constructing a Cultural History of Canadian Hockey

Abstract

This essay explains how the collection of papers in this volume contributes to the growing scholarly literature dealing with hockey’s role in Canadian society and culture. In particular, this project explores aspects of hockey – and its connection to the sports media – which have not been sufficiently examined by historians. The cultural history of hockey in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has not been researched thoroughly by those working in the fields of sport history, Canadian history or cultural studies. This study addresses this deficiency by assessing key elements of the media-constructed ‘world of hockey’ during the early years of Stanley Cup competition. It examines local and national newspaper coverage of championship hockey games between 1894 and 1907 in order to understand interurban and regional rivalries, the national scope of the sports media, violence and gender construction and community representation. As local and national audiences were exposed to similar media texts and narratives about hockey, they developed shared understandings of the cultural meanings of the sport throughout Canada.