I would like to ask you all a question: what is flat and black and can move up to 100 miles per hour? If you answered a burnt cookie on a jet plane you and I are on a different wave length. But if you answered a hockey puck, you're ready for my speech. Honorable judges, teachers, fellow students and guests. Today, I would like to talk to you about hockey pucks.
In the early days, hockey players didn't care what they used for hockey pucks. They would often use a piece of wood, a piece of coal , or even, get this, a piece of manure! But after many years they started using a ball similar to the lacrosse ball.
Now what is a speech without a little story? Here's one that I enjoy.
In the 1860s, when hockey games started to be played in Montreal's indoor Victoria Rink, the ball broke so many windows that the fed-up arena manager grabbed it, sliced off the top and bottom and threw what was left back on the ice.
Two standard hockey pucks
Hockey puck
Ice Hockey World Championships 2003 commemorative ...The players quickly discovered that the new shape reduced bouncing and made passing easier.
Ever wonder how hockey pucks are made? Well I'll tell you. First the company pours the ingredients into an automated mixer called a Bunbury. Then it is pushed through a form in a process called extrusion. After all of this one gets logs of rubber that are roughly 3 feet long.
After this they are cut into pre-forms, which is the same size as a puck but is a little thicker. They're not done yet, though because it's not hardened so the pre-forms are placed into molds and are set to 150C for 22 minutes, to solidify
22 minutes later the puck comes out with dimpled...
Hockey pucks
I don't really see why people are marking this so badly. Obviously, this was a presentation of some sort, and not an essay, and its not very formal or particularly informative, but I don't think it deserves a bad mark.
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