Welcome to Chemistry Connections, our names are Lucy and Jack and we are your hosts for episode 11 called The Chemistry of Ice Hockey.

Ice hockey is one of the greatest sports to both play and watch. It features extremely fast-paced and physical gameplay because it's played on ice. Hockey originated in Canada during the early 1800s and comes from the French word “hocquet” meaning stick. The game involves one goalie and five other players who skate around trying to score goals. One of the greatest sporting achievements ever, The Miracle on Ice, was an Olympic ice hockey game when the underdog US men’s team beat the top seed USSR team. This illustrates the elusive nature of hockey and the unpredictability surrounding it drawing fans from all around the globe.

Both of us adore sports. Hockey has been a key aspect of my childhood and a way I have connected with my family. And I hope to become a professional sports commentator, so it was only natural for both of us to research the chemistry and science behind hockey.

Lets pause here to talk about some chemistry at work. We will be covering the most important aspect of hockey, the ice (but put a pin in that)! First, though, we will discuss the pucks that slide across the ice.

Pucks are made out of vulcanized rubber. Vulcanized rubber is used to create o-rings, tires, and much more. Its unique properties make it a useful tool in not just ice hockey. Before the process of vulcanization was developed rubber was susceptible to changes in temperature, too hot and the rubber would quickly melt, too cold and the rubber would become extremely brittle. This would be ineffective as an ice hockey puck because it is a sport played in the cold on ice, it would lose all of its strong yet elastic properties. Vulcanization is a process that involves heating rubber and combining it with sulfur to improve its elasticity and strength.

Vulcanization works by forming chemical cross-links or covalent bonds (attractive force between nonmetal atoms) between long isoprene molecules (a natural rubber monomer aka a carbon chain) using sulfur. This when diagramed looks like long carbon chains parallel to each other, connected by perpendicular bonds with sulfur. This forms a net-like structure which contributes to the hockey puck’s key characteristics (resistance to extreme temperatures and strength). This allowed Alexander Riazantsev, from the KHL (Russian pro league) to hit a slap shot at 114.27 MPH.

Maybe even more important to...