Street hockey (also known as road hockey, shinny, dek hockey, ground hockey, ball hockey, or cosom hockey) is a variation of the sport of ice hockey where the game is played on foot or with inline skates or roller skates. The object of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by shooting a ball or puck into the opposing team's net. In its most pure form, street hockey is always played on an outdoor surface (very often a street, parking lot, tennis court or other asphalt surface), thus the genesis of the name street hockey. In more organized forms, it is played in rinks which often were designed for roller hockey and can be indoor or outdoor rinks. There are also rinks built specifically for hockey played on foot, and these are referred to as dek hockey or ball hockey rinks. These rinks can also be used for roller hockey games. Street hockey in pickup form is generally played under the following guidelines, since there are no "official rules" for local pickup hockey:

The term street hockey was started in Canada^{[citation needed]} and is also used in the United States. This wording is very closely related to the Canadian terms dek hockey or ball hockey. Some regions in North America use street hockey in reference to roller hockey, where inline or roller skates are worn to play otherwise the same game. Street hockey is generally played on foot, and when players use inline or roller skates to play, the sport becomes roller hockey. All this terminology can seem confusing to non-players and the general public, but ultimately is a simple case of semantics. General consensus amongst players of the sport is as follows:

Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob. Although primarily known for the View Askew film series, Smith also wrote, directed and produced films such as the buddy cop action comedy Cop Out, as well as the horror film Red State. His first several films were mostly set in his home state of New Jersey, and while not strictly sequential, they frequently feature crossover plot elements, character references, and a shared canon in what is known by fans as the "View Askewniverse", named after his production company View Askew Productions, which he co-founded with Scott Mosier.

Smith is also the owner of Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash comic book and novelty store in Red Bank, New Jersey. He co-hosts several weekly podcasts that are recorded at various locations around the world and released on SModcast Internet Radio. Smith is well known for participating in long, humorous Q&A sessions that are often filmed for DVD release, beginning with An Evening with Kevin Smith.

Walter Gretzky, CM, O.Ont (born October 8, 1938) is a Canadian who is best known as the father of NHL legend Wayne Gretzky. The elder Gretzky is well known in his own right for his contributions to minor hockey in Canada, and for his dedication to helping many local, provincial, and national charities, for which he has been honoured and recognized.

Prior to World War I, Gretzky's father Anton (Tony) Gretzky immigrated along with his family to Canada via the United States from the Russian Empire (what is now Grodno, Belarus). Following the war, Anton would marry his wife, Mary, who immigrated from Pidhaitsi, interwar Poland (now Ukraine). Gretzky's ancestry is typically described as either Belarusian, Ukrainian, or Polish. In interviews, Walter Gretzky has stated that his parents were Belarusians, while on other occasions he has mentioned his family's Polish ancestry. The Gretzky family were landowners in the Russian Empire, and supporters of Tsar Nicholas II. However, according to Walter Gretzky, whenever anyone would ask his father if they were Russian, he would reply, "Nyet. Belarus." His father, Anton Gretzky, has also been described as having "been born in Russia with Ukrainian forebears". In addition, "the only Slavic language spoken in the Gretzky family [was] Ukrainian," of which Walter was a fluent speaker.