A regular hockey puck is made of six ounces of black vulcanized rubber. It really is round, using a three-inch diameter
and it is 1 inch thick. Youth players (Mite level, or 8-years-old and under) sometimes use blue pucks which weigh
four ounces in order to aid in their early skill development. These pucks are easier to stick handle, shoot, and
lift for younger players. There are also training pucks which can be ten ounces or more, as much as two pounds. These could
differ colors, typically orange, and therefore are utilized to build wrist strength and puck handling speed. Street and
floor hockey use a large selection of colors, materials, and puck designs with respect to the surface being played
upon or even the rules of each game. Most of these different pucks have something in keeping, however. They all evolved
in the same simple origins ages ago.

The initial hockey pucks were considered to be slices cut from tree branches. These pucks had no standard size or
diameter requirements. Ice hockey is believed to possess evolved from few different early games, one similar
to field hockey, called hurley ball. Ice hockey and its precursors such as hurley continued to utilize balls until
the late 1800s. The ball was later adapted into a puck after the game gone to live in the ice. Players cut the ball on
both ends to create a flatter puck-like shape to increase the risk for ball more manageable on the ice surface. The initial
vulcanized rubber flat hockey pucks were utilized in 1886. These early pucks were more crude than modern pucks,
as they was without the identical smooth, round circumference. Improvements to these first vulcanized models
continued through the years, until they reached the shape we know today.

The foundation with the word puck is uncertain. Some feel that the term relates to the verb ” to puck,” which can be
accustomed to describe the action of striking or pushing a hurley ball. This word, based on the phrase poke, could be
linked to the Scottish Gaelic word “puc,” or the Irish word “poc,” meaning to poke, punch, or deliver a blow.
It's believed that Halifax natives, lots of whom were Irish and played hurley, might have originally introduced
the phrase in Canada. The very first known printed mention of the phrase puck was at Montreal in 1867, per year after
the first indoor game was played there.