The game of Hockey – Hockey Resource

The game of hockey is simple, try and put a puck into the opponent’s net using a stick. There are 6 players per team on the ice, 1 goaltender per team and 5 players. This article will explain various aspects of the game such as the rink, goaltender equipment, player equipment and other facts

• The Rink
• Equipment
  • Goaltender equipment
  • Player equipment
  • General equipment
• Other Facts
  • Timing of a hockey game
  • Line change
  • Timeouts

The rink

The ice hockey rink consists of an ice surface surrounded by boards. Plexiglass sheets of varying height are used to extend the height of the boards while giving spectators visibility of the ice surface. In some rinks there is netting placed above the plexiglass to prevent pucks from hitting spectators.

The rink is divided into three distinct zone by two blue lines and a red centre line. There are two nets, one at each end of the rink. Standard dimensions in North America are 61 meters by 26 meters (200ft x 85 ft) and a corner radius of 8.5m (28ft). International dimensions have a wider rink (30 m or 98ft) and a smaller corner radius (4.2 m or 14ft). The location of the blue lines is also different in International and North American rinks.

• The Rink
• Equipment
  • Goaltender equipment
  • Player equipment
  • General equipment
• Other Facts
  • Timing of a hockey game
  • Line change
  • Timeouts

The equipment

Each player on the ice wears protective equipment. The goaltenders use bigger protective equipment than players since they have to stop the puck from entering the net.

Goaltender (Goalie) pieces of equipment

• Goalie Athletic support (Also called “Jock”)

• Socks (Optional)

• Goalie Pants

• Goalie skates

• Goalie Knee pads (Optional, highly recommended)

• Goalie pads

• Goalie chest protector

• Neck guard (Optional for most men’s leagues)

• Goalie Jersey

• Goalie catcher (Also called “glove”)

• Goalie blocker

• Goalie Helmet (also called “Mask”)

• Goalie Stick

• The Rink
• Equipment
  • Goaltender pieces of equipment
  • Player piesces of equipment
  • General equipment
• Other Facts
  • Timing of a hockey game
  • Line change
  • Timeouts

Player pieces of equipment

Usual order of putting the equipment on:

• Athletic support (Also called “Jock”) – this one has an integrated sock holder with velcro

• Player shin pads (Vintage model shown)

• Socks

• Player Pants

• Player Skates

• Player shoulder pads

• Player elbow pads

• Player Jersey

• Neck guard (Optional for most men’s leagues)

• Player Helmet (shown with clear full visor. Half visor and metal cages are also options)

• Player Gloves

• Player Stick

General equipment

Puck – hard rubber disk

• The Rink
• Equipment
  • Goaltender equipment
  • Player equipment
  • General equipment
• Other Facts
  • Timing of a hockey game
  • Line change
  • Timeouts

Other Facts

Timing of a hockey game

A hockey game is usually consists of 3 periods of play. Although nowadays some men’s amateur hockey league have reduced the play to 2 periods of play. This is done to increase the actual playing time since there is only 1 break between the first and second period instead of 2 breaks between the three periods. The length of the periods depend on the league you are playing in. In the National Hockey League (NHL) and in international hockey, the periods are 20 minutes each. For youth leagues the periods can vary from 10 to 20 minutes each.

There is also two types of timing in hockey: stop-time and straight-time (running time). In stop-time, the clock is stopped whenever there is a stoppage of play. This means that no time is lost when the referee blows the whistle. In straight-time, the clock continues to count down even when there is a stoppage of play. This means that if for a reason or another the play is stopped for a long time, there is less playing time for the game. This is similar to a soccer (or football for our European friends) where the entire period (or half in the case of soccer) is played within the specific amount of time displayed. But contrary to soccer, there is no extra time at the end of the game to compensate for the stoppage time that occurred during the game.

Line change

Hockey is a very demanding sport physically. Players usually do 45-90 seconds shifts on the ice. After their shift, the players then do a line change and a rested player jumps on the ice. The line change works as follow: a player on the ice approaches his teams bench, the player that is going to replace him either jumps on over the board or goes on the ice through a door in the boards, the player that was on the ice exits the ice either by jumping over the boards on the bench or by going through the door in the boards. Hockey is one of the only sport where line changes can occur on the fly, i.e. during game play. A line change can also be done when the referee calls a stoppage of play. The teams are kept in check by the referee who can call a too-many-men penalty if a player is not close enough to the bench when his replacement steps on the ice (or either player in the process of changing touch the puck in an advantageous way).

Pulling the goalie

Teams can also “pull the goalie” and take their goaltender out of play in exchange for another regular player. This is highly risky as the opposing team can score much more easily but in cases where there is a delayed penalty (the whistle will be blown if the opposing team touches the puck) or the team is losing with not a lot of playtime left, a team may opt to have the extra player on the ice.

Timeouts

During a hockey game, each team can take one “timeout”. This timeout can be called at any point in the game and has a duration of 30 seconds. The timeout is usually used by a team to either give the players that are on the ice a rest or to explain a certain play/strategy that the coach want his players to execute when the game resumes.

• The Rink
• Equipment
  • Goaltender equipment
  • Player equipment
  • General equipment
• Other Facts
  • Timing of a hockey game
  • Line change
  • Timeouts