Hockey

In Detroit, last week, men skated out with sticks and began to play hockey. Likewise, in Montreal, in Pittsburgh, in Ottawa and Toronto. Likewise, in Manhattan, when the smell of horses no longer pervaded Madison Square Garden, and likewise, after a suitable interval, in Chicago and Boston. Thus the professional hockey season began.

Professional hockey is a somewhat synthetic sport in the U. S. Publicity from newspapers, which have not many games to write about in winter, and the inherent virtues of the sport have made it popular; so much so that last year 1,350,000 persons paid to see games. The organization of hockey resembles that of professional baseball except that, rather than an arbitrary distinction between two leagues, there is a real distinction between two "groups" of a single league. The teams play intergroup games during the season; at the end of the season the leaders in each group play each other, the two second-place teams play each other, the two third-place teams play each other. Then the third-place winner plays the second-place winner. The winner of this series plays the first-place winner; the winner of this final series is, for what reason it is difficult to tell, the World's Champion and the possessor of the Stanley Cup.