Title: Comparison of the factors determining the granting status of CSLH academy with academies in other countries. Goal: The aim of the thesis is structure of the training process, players selection, conditions and testing, comparison of ice hockey academies in the Czech Republic, North America and Norway. Methodics: File for research: Five hockey academies from different countries were selected. Representative of the Czech Republic was the HC Sparta Praha, HC Energie Karlovy Vary and HC Rytiri Kladno who holds status adept for academy of CSLH. The Notre Dame Academy was observed in Saskatchewan, and the fifth academy was Norwegian Lillehammer. The conditions, running and testing of players were explored. Questioning was done orally or by correspondence. Conclusion: Although the compared results have their limits, it showed that Canadian Notre Dame is the most effective model for developing hockey players. Key words: Ice hockey, academy, talent selection, testing, educational process

Head injuries are a major health concern for sport participants as 90% of emergency department visits for sport-related brain injuries are concussion related (Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2016). Recently, reports have shown a higher incidence of sport-related concussion in female athletes compared to males (Agel et al., 2007). Few studies have described the events by which concussions occur in women’s hockey (Delaney et al., 2014, Brainard et al., 2012; Wilcox et al., 2014), however a biomechanical analysis of the risk of concussion has not yet been conducted. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the riskiest concussive events in elite women’s hockey and characterize these events through reconstructions to identify the associated levels of peak linear and angular acceleration and strain from finite element analysis. 44 head impact events were gathered from elite women’s hockey game video and analyzed for impact event, location and velocity. In total, 27 distinct events based on impact event, location and velocity were reconstructed using a hybrid III headform and various testing setups to obtain dynamic response and brain tissue response. A three-way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted to determine the influence of event, location and velocity. The results of this study show that head-to-ice impacts resulted in significantly higher responses compared to shoulder-to-head collisions and head-to boards impacts however, shoulder and boards impacts were more frequent. All events produced responses comparable to proposed concussion threshold values (Zhang et al., 2004). This research demonstrates the importance of considering the event, the impact characteristics, the magnitude of response, and the frequency of these impacts when attempting to capture the short and long term risks of brain trauma in women’s hockey.

The thesis "Be fit, build your homeland, defend peace" or Physical Education and Ice Hockey in Post-February Czechoslovakia looks at thema of this popular winter sport by sociocritical discipline optics through sport's sociology. This unconventional approach focus on social practise rather than tables of results ice-hockey teams. The czechoslovak stalinism did not display itself only over repressions and polical demagogy. It strived for a creation of new social order that should have been better than previous were. It is appropriate to remember this, in order to understand behavior and motives of then people. The thesis perceives nature of czechoslovak physical education and ice hockey after 1948 as an integral part of European physical education systems through which modern state applies biopower claims.

At focus in this study are six professional ice hockey players experiences and thoughts on sexual norms in ice hockey and how these are expressed. The aim was to illuminate values and attitudes towards sexuality in Swedish ice hockey – a sport which characterized by a masculine label that affects it in terms of diversity and norms. Qualitative data was gathered by interviews with six professional ice hockeyplayers, women and men between 20-30 years old, which together had a wide background in the organisation of Swedish ice hockey. These informants reflected on their own views of the sport itself and how it has an impact on inclusiveness, norms and tolerance towards different sexualities. The results showed that the informants experienced a clear norm in Swedish ice hockey that incused womens icehockey to be more open to different sexualities rather than mens icehockey. The female informants testified that womens ice hockey players often were associated with stereotypes of being lesbians. The informants experiences also indicated how heterosexuality is normative in mens ice hockey. According to the informants, this norms may have an impact on the tendency of men, in terms of being open with their sexuality. In addition, this study also highlights the players attitudes towards future work with questions concerning values and inclusiveness in Swedish ice hockey. The informants in this study showed oppenness in ways of changing norms, so eventually, in the future, ice hockey players shouldn’t feel excluded in the organisation of ice hockey because of their sexuality.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (DPhil (Human Movement Science))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences / DPhil / unrestricted

To create a successful development in sports, gender equality is required. The lack of gender equality within the sport as an organization is therefore a problem and historically, sports is characterized by a gender structure where women is subordinate to men. The purpose of this essay is therefore to increase the knowledge of  the position of women within the field of ice hockey, and to open up for an analyzis of the gender equality within the rules of ice hockey using the theory of social constructionism. The theory makes it possible to highlight the meaning of commonly used concepts within the gender equality debate such as masculinity and femininity as social constructions depending on culture and history and how they change over time. This leads to the question of how the level of gender equality in the rules of ice hockey can be understood by using a social constructive theory. In order to achieve the purpose, the essay has the legal analyzis method as a basis to make the analyzis more nuanced. Interwiew as a method has also been used to create additional support for the conclusions. The study shows that there are significant differences in the rules of ice hockey that causes a problem with gender equality, but if you look under the surface, you could find that what seems to be natural, really is not. The rules of ice hockey, and the problem of gender equality are social constructions that changes under influence by the social environment.

En novembre 2013, une entente de 12 ans pour les droits de diffusion de hockey au Canada, d’une valeur de 5,32 milliards de dollars, entre Rogers Communications Inc. et la Ligue nationale de hockey marque un point de bascule pour la Société d’État. CBC doit alors renoncer au contrôle éditorial de son émission à succès Hockey Night in Canada et désormais gérer un manque à gagner d’environ 130 millions de dollars en revenus publicitaires annuels que lui procurait l’émission. Onze ans plus tôt, Radio-Canada perdait les droits de diffusion en français du hockey, lesquels passaient aux mains du RDS. Notre recherche étudie les défis de la Société sous la perspective de la théorie de l’économie politique des médias. Nous soulevons la question principale suivante : Qu’ont en commun et comment se distinguent les réactions de Radio-Canada et de CBC, des médias et de Patrimoine canadien à l’annonce de la disparition du hockey – d’abord en 2002 puis en 2013 – des ondes de la Société? Pour y répondre, nous avons privilégié l’approche qualitative de l’analyse de contenu. Au final, alors que la perte des droits en 2002 relève d’une question plus culturelle, en 2013, elle est généralement perçue comme étant le résultat d’un cumul de compressions budgétaires.

Ice hockey is a sport known for its speed and skill. However, its intensely physical nature is associated with the potential risk of injury, which has become a major public controversy in Canada (Cusimano, Sharma, Lawrence, et al., 2013; Emery et al., 2010). Epidemiological research has adequately documented the frequency and severity of injury (King & LeBlanc, 2006; Yard & Comstock, 2006). Yet, because of methodological limitations and the lack of systematic and mandatory injury prevention strategies implemented nationwide, injuries remain high (Cusimano, Nastis, & Zuccaro, 2013; Emery et al, 2010). An alternative methodology, combined with broadening injury definitions can provide a more detailed assessment of the risks of, and circumstances, around injury. A methodology, based primarily on observational techniques, was utilized to examine injury in body checking hockey when it is first introduced to youth players. Injury was defined as ‘any physical trauma that has occurred as a result of participation in an organized competition’ including four categories of injury severity. In a comparison of Ontario Peewee (ages 11-12) with Québec Bantam (ages 13-14) boys hockey, no significant differences were found in overall injury (χ2: 0.22; p:0.64), however, there were significant differences in frequency of body checking related injury; 76% versus 59% (χ2:4.76; p:0.03). The odds of being injured due to body checking are 2.158 times higher in Peewee (βex 2.158; 95%CI: 1.07-4.34; p:0.03) indicating no increased risk of injury when body checking is introduced later while delaying introduction reduces the frequency of body checking related injury. Ongoing public debate in Canada concerning safety in youth hockey is understood through the theoretical lens of discourse (Foucault, 1972, 1990). The dominant discourse in Canada around hockey is based in a traditional, physically dominant model, where intense physical contact is not only inevitable but desirable. The reverse discourse prioritizes the safety of participants over the potential of lessening the intense physicality of the Canadian style of play. These competing discourses create tension and ambivalence amongst safety advocates and conservative hockey practitioners and enthusiasts. The emotionality of hockey stakeholders often overwhelms logic regarding safety decisions, ultimately impacting progressive injury prevention initiatives.

This thesis focuses on creation and comparison of ice hockey matches prediction models with the view on ice hockey world championship matches. The first part is dedicated to collecting theoretical knowledge needed for solving this problem and the second to applying this set of knowledge. The model creation approach is intertwined with the CRISP-DM data mining methodology, which also defines several chapters of this work. As input data for the models I used performance statistics of individual ice hockey players -- this brought me to implementing a script capable of automatic downloading and aggregating of player data from the Internet. Downloaded data were arranged so as they would represent ice hockey matches that were played during the championships (team A consisting of players X against team B consisting of players Y) with result of the match added to the data row. Data were also analyzed to detect any quality issue prior to the model creation and transformed into an integrated view. Result assessment consists of two parts, in the first the technical evaluation of models using data from the testing data set takes place. The first part also points out practical usefulness of the models. The next part is about comparing result data with the betting odds -- the business relevance of the model. This part uses open source data about betting odds listed on the corresponding matches. Finally, the outcome model is used for predicting matches of the group phase of the world championship taking place in Prague, 2015.

This Master's Thesis is focused on sports marketing of professional ice hockey club, which plays the highest league in the Czech Republic. It is ice hockey club called Pirates Chomutov. The aim is to show the status of marketing in a professional hockey club and describe it, analyze the process of changing club's identity and the relocation of this club into a new arena, analyze the marketing environment and create own proposals and recommendations that could be used in future. The theoretical part is based on knowledge of the issues and describes the specifics of the sports marketing and management, marketing environment, marketing mix of this club and the current trends in marketing. The practical part is focused on the process of changing club's identity, organizational and budget structure, analysis of marketing environment and marketing mix with an emphasis on communication. Own proposals, ideas and recommendations are presented at the end of this part. Contribution of this work is revelation of the issues and trends that relate to sports area, studying the topic in one of the fastest growing ice hockey clubs in the Czech Republic. All is completed by own proposals and recommendations.