SHINNY - SHINNEY

Shinny - Shinney - Shinnie - Pick-Up Hockey is an informal type of Hockey played on ice or paved surfaces such as a roadway or street. A type of Hockey played casually with friends. It is often associated with pick-up Hockey or pond Hockey. There are no formal rules or specific positions, and generally, there are no goaltenders, and the goal area has many different styles of nets or boxes. Objects are sometimes placed in front of the goal area as a goalie.

Bodychecking and lifting or "roofing / raising the puck" (shooting the puck or ball so it rises above the ice or paved surface) are often forbidden because the players are not wearing protective equipment.

Shinny is a game that all levels of Hockey enthusiasts can play because it requires no rink, requires no skills except the ability to hold a stick and try to hit or shoot the puck or ball when it goes by. Shinny may be completely non-competitive and recreational - scoring irrelevant - or competitive and scores kept.

Teams are initially formed in shinny when all players throw their sticks into a pile. A person is chosen to divide the sticks into two groups. Players then retrieve their own stick, and form a team with other players whose stick was in the same grouping. The two resulting groups become the opposing teams.

Ice Hockey sticks are used, or broomsticks, tree branchs, as long as it is rigid and can be used for hitting the puck. The puck can be a ball, foam puck, tin can or piece of fruit or some sturdy object that can stand a beating. In the history of Canada, a special kind of makeshift puck used in shinny was frozen horse droppings, which were commonly referred to as road apples. A tin can is also frequently used, as after several games the shape will begin to resemble a real metal ball through repeated pummeling by sticks. The goal boundaries can be either naturally demarcated or makeshift.

 
 

HISTORY

Shinny was first played on frozen ponds and rivers with makeshift Hockey sticks, such as tree branches, poles, long sticks and even broom handles.

Pucks were made from frozen farm animal manure droppings, and called frozen road apples. Old cans, small square wooden blocks and anything that could slide on the ice was used.

Nets were two rocks set on the ice.