After over fifteen years of watching the game I love, Ice Hockey, it still baffles me that my mom cannot for the life of her tell the difference between an ice-ing call and off-sides. When a group of us watches the Bruins, people are shocked that I can actually tell what the refs are calling and why the team did a certain play. When I came to UNH, a division one hockey school, again I was shocked by the fair weather fans who knew nothing about the game. Nothing drives me crazier than a fair weather fan. As my coaches always said, Hockey is a game of mistakes, whichever team makes the most, is the team that loses.
The first rule of hockey is that only five players are allowed on the ice at one time, the sixth player allowed, is the goalie. If there are more than these six players on the ice, you will get a penalty called “too many men.”  The puck, which is what the whole game is based on, is comparable to the biggest sale in Bloomingdales, whoever gets it in the net, or whoever gets to the store first, wins. If a player enters the zone before the precious puck, the whistle is blown and there is a penalty. This penalty results in the stop of the game, similar to if a shopper forgets to sign the receipt she will not get her purchase! Then are there lines in the middle of the ice, the two blue lines are used for off-sides calls which we talked about earlier, and the red line deals with a penalty known as “icing” which I will talk about later on.
So what are these “penalties” that I have been talking about anyways? Penalties are similar to time outs when you misbehave. They can occur for many instances, but too name a few prime examples would be, tripping the opponent with your stick, using body to body contact from behind, hitting the opponent with your stick in any area purposefully and maliciously, and lastly physically fighting. These penalties can result in various punishments such as being suspended from the game entirely which could continue over to the next game or a two minute timeout from the game. When a team has a player in the penalty box, they put out their “penalty kill” squad, which are usually the strongest players on the team who can prevent the other team from scoring a goal. On the opposite end of that, when your team has a one –man advantage , the team will put out a squad called the “Power Play” which are again the strongest offensive players who will put the puck in the net. If the other team scores while you have a player in the box, then your team is allowed to again have 5 skaters, but the person with the penalty still has to remain in the box until their timeout is up.
In high school nothing would frustrate me more then when my mom continually badgered me about “that thing when the puck goes from one end to the other.” Formally known as “Ice-ing” this play is basically used to relieve a team who is panic stricken in their own zone. It occurs when the other team is heating up and seems as if they’re going to score. By Ice-ing the puck, or literally throwing the puck (with your stick of course) from your zone (the end where the goalie is) to the other zone, the ref signals the whistle and a faceoff takes place in your zone. By signaling the whistle, your team is able to regroup, and get players with fresh legs to restart the game. There are three periods in a hockey game, and if the score is tied by the end of these three periods then the game will go into something we like to call overtime. Overtime lasts until one of the team’s scores, and if no one scores the game will then go into double overtime. After double over time if there is still no score, the game will then go into a “shoot-out” which will determine the games winner. Players from opposing team alternate taking turns going “one on one” with the goalie trying to put the puck in the net. If a player from Team A goes and scores and the next two players from Team B   do not, then team A will win.
Hockey is a very simple game, and easy to understand if you know the rules. I could go on for hours with more of the logistics, but to keep it simple just remember the key parts of the game: 6 players, 3 periods, and get to the puck first! Oh and what’s also important: a cute fleece to keep warm, cozy Uggs, a warm scarf and maybe a light pair of mittens. Hey, a girl has gotta look good while she explains the rules to everyone around her!Â
(photos: Facebook)Â