There are a number of terms that you should become familiar with in order to better understand and enjoy the game of hockey. Once you know these terms, the game will be easy to understand. To begin with, the track surface is delimited by a series of lines. The line that divides the ice into two halves equal in width is the “center line.” It is more commonly called the “red line”. This line runs directly through the middle of the “faceoff circle”, where faceoffs occur at the beginning of each “period” and after a “goal” is scored. There are three periods in hockey, each 20 minutes long.
A “head off” occurs when each team lines up with the referee dropping the puck in front of the “centers” of both teams, who fight for control of the puck. There are also two matchup circles in each team’s “defensive zone” where matchups can also occur. The offensive or defensive zone of each team is the area within the two blue lines. The blue lines are the most important in determining “offside” calls. A player is offside if he crosses the ice into his team’s offensive zone (over the blue line) before the puck does. If this happens, play is stopped and the puck is carried off the blue line, where a faceoff occurs.
There are also two lines at each end of the ice that mark the area behind the net, called “goal lines”. In addition to offsides, there is another time in ice hockey when play is stopped, called “icing”. Icing occurs when a player on the offensive team shoots the puck from behind the red line and across the blue line and goal line without anyone else touching it. When this happens, the referee whistles, play stops, and the puck is lowered to the faceoff circle at the other end of the ice.
Each team has six players on the ice at a time in ice hockey, one goalie and five skaters. There are three forwards: The left, the right and the center. There are also two defenders on the ice at a time, the “left defender” and the “right defender”. A professional hockey team is made up of four forward lines and three defensive pairs for a total of 18 players. A goalkeeper and a substitute goalkeeper complete the 20-player squad.
Penalties are another important component of ice hockey. There are several different ways a player can be penalized. The most common are “tripping”, “hooking” (with the stick), “interfering” (blocking another player from reaching the puck), “catching”, “crossing” (hitting a player with a stick when held by hand). two hands in front of you), “high hit” (making contact with a player’s head or face or hitting the puck when it is above the height of the hockey goal), and illegal hits. “Slams”, also known as “checks”, are legal in hockey and occur when one player knocks another down, or to the side, also known as “knocking the puck player down”. A hit is illegal if it is made from behind, from the “blind side” (when a player cannot see it coming), hitting a player when they are several feet from the boards (“tackling”), or with an elbow for the head (“nudges”). Minor penalties like these will result in a player being sent to the “penalty bench” for two minutes.
When a penalty occurs, the penalized player’s team must play with only four players. Your team is then on “death penalty” and the opposing team is on a “power play”, so named because they have a two-minute one-man advantage. “Serious penalties” are less common, taking a player five or ten minutes “in the box.” These are awarded to players for certain types of penalties, such as fighting, or when a high stick or illegal hit injures a player or causes a serious injury, such as a cut that requires medical attention. Players can also be banned from games for major penalties in some cases, and can be suspended for serious offenses. Multiple penalties may be called at any time for both teams, but the number of players on the ice for each team (other than the goaltender) may not be reduced to less than three players.
Other common hockey terms are “wrist shots” which are the standard type of shot taken in hockey, “slap shots” which are a very hard and fast shot usually taken from the “spots” or the area on the ice between the top of the circle and the blue line, and “snap shots”, which are halfway between a wrist shot and a slap shot. A shot that scores, or that goes past the goalkeeper and into the net, is called a “goal.” If the goalkeeper saves the shot, it is considered a “shot on goal” or a “save”. The ratio between saves and shots on goal is the goalkeeper’s “save percentage”. The two players on the team who hit the puck before the goal are credited with “assists”. The scoring player is credited with a “goal”.
If a game is tied after 60 minutes or three periods of play, there is a five-minute overtime period where the teams play four on four. This is “sudden death” overtime, where the first team to score wins the game. If neither team scores during the extra time period, there is a “tie-break”, where players from each team can shoot the goalie one at a time until the team with the most tie-break goals is declared the winner. However, during the playoffs, teams play 20-minute overtime periods until a winner is declared, with no penalties.
After a season of more than 80 games, the sixteen teams with the best win-loss record (eight in each conference) enter the playoffs in a best-of-seven series. After three rounds of play, two conference champions (Western Conference and Eastern Conference) are declared, and the remaining two teams play in a best-of-seven series to determine who will win the National Hockey League Championship trophy, the “Stanley Cup”.
