Since the hockey season has kicked off, Merrimack men’s ice hockey has been on a hit, and with that, climbing up the rankings. For instance, they swept Notre Dame and Minnesota State back-to-back, and played a really close game against the University of Connecticut a few weeks back. The more they continue to be on a heater like they have been, the more people are likely to come out to games. But for those who may be nervous to go because of a lack of understanding about hockey, or those who go despite not understanding what is happening, this guide might just do the trick by providing a pretty in-depth, comprehensive guide to all things hockey. For some background , I play on the women’s club ice hockey team and have been a hockey fan my entire life! I have attended hundreds of hockey games across multiple different levels, so I have seen a lot of hockey, and that’s not even including the amount of games I have watched online.
Positions In Hockey
In hockey, there are typically ten players on the ice at a time, with five players and one goaltender for each team. The goaltender position is self-explanatory; they are there to stop pucks from going into the net. Goaltenders can also be very helpful with communicating their concerns to their teammates.
On the other hand, there are 2 defensemen on the ice and 3 forwards. Defensemen are typically split based on whether they are right- or left-handed, and they will typically get more assists than goals when in the offensive zone. They help goalies a lot by blocking shots, and sometimes will even stand in place of the goalie if their goalie gets out of place in the defensive zone.
Forwards are split into 3 separate positions: center, left wing, and right wing. Right and left wing typically have similar jobs, and, most of the time, it depends on their handedness or preference. In the offensive zone, they will usually set up to score, or will help the center with getting the puck. In the defensive zone, they are typically covering the opposing team’s defense.
Centers are kind of an all around player. They are usually the ones who try to win the faceoffs at the start of periods, after goals, or any time a whistle is blown. Centers are known to constantly be chasing after the puck, especially in the offensive zone, and cover the front of the net in the defensive zone.
The Ice Markings
Now, let’s get into what all the shapes mean on a typical ice hockey rink. A hockey game will always start with a puck drop at center ice. This happens on the small blue dot that is in the center of the blue circle of the neutral zone.
In hockey, there are considered to be three sectors of the ice; since I have already mentioned all of them, let’s explain what they mean. Between the two blue lines is the neutral zone. This typically means that a player is simply just going for the puck or trying to set up a play. In the neutral zone, the puck can really be anybody’s game.
Next, the defensive or offensive zone. This depends on what team you support because when the zone is considered offensive for your team, it’s defensive for the opponents. The offensive zone is whichever way your team’s goaltender is NOT; in simpler terms, the side your team is trying to score on. The defensive zone is the side your team’s opponents are trying to score on and where your team is trying to protect their goalie and help ensure the other team does not score. One thing to note is that after each period finishes, the side your team is shooting on swaps to the other side.
Next, you may notice the big and small circles on the ice. These are to specify where faceoffs happen after the initial puck drop to start each of the three periods, or after a goal is scored. Any other time a whistle is blown, the faceoff will likely happen at one of these spots. The four small dots inside the neutral zone are typically where faceoffs happen after an offsides call (which I will get into later). The way the linesmen decide which dot will be used is whichever side a player was closer to when the play was called dead, and if there is no conclusive call, sometimes they will have a center-ice faceoff.
The attacking (offensive) or defending (defensive) zones are often recognized by the massive red circles on the ice. Just like the neutral zone dots, the dots in the middle of these circles are where the centers will line up to face off. The four corner lines around the dots are there to represent how the centers should be standing when they face off. If a linesman thinks they are encroaching too much while waiting for the puck to be dropped, they may be asked to swap out (typically with a winger). The lines on the outsides of the circle are to represent where the wingers might stand (not always) and make sure they are also not too close to each other.
Next, you may notice the blue semi-circle on either end of the ice. This is the goaltender’s crease. It is to establish a sort of personal bubble for the goalies. If a player crosses through the crease and interferes with the goalie, goaltender interference will be called, especially if a goal was scored when the goalie was incapable of making a stop.
The next is the three red lines that span across the ice. These are in place to help with icing (another term I will explain later). The two that are on opposite ends of the rink from each other are both known as the goal lines. They help determine whether or not a goal is considered a goal. The puck has to completely cross the goal line to be called a goal, so in situations where the puck is just millimeters on the goal line but never fully crosses, this would be called a no goal.
The last marking on the ice is the small semicircle in the neutral zone. This isn’t necessarily important for fans, but it is the referees’ circle. If a call was to be reviewed, this is where they would stand to review the play. Players can not enter the circle when a call is under review. They can’t even talk to the officials unless they are given permission. Violation of this would result in the officials calling a penalty on the person who violated the rule.
Offsides & Icing
As I previously mentioned, offsides and icing are a very common occurrence in a hockey game, but a lot of new viewers don’t typically understand these rules.
Offsides occur when a player who is going into the offensive zone crosses the blue line before the puck does. Similarly to how the puck must cross the goal line to count, the puck has to fully go over the blue line to be considered in the attacking zone. If a player goes offsides, the officials will blow the whistle and a faceoff will happen in the neutral zone.
Some small things to consider are that a player can have their stick in the zone and not be offside as long as their body stays out, which basically means they have at least one of their skates on the blue line, or in the neutral zone.
Many levels of hockey (including college) utilize the delayed offsides rule. This means that if a player was in the offensive zone and the player’s teammate had the puck in the neutral zone, they could shoot the puck into the offensive zone while staying in the neutral zone, as long as the player already in the offensive zone would come back into the neutral zone before re-entering.
Icing is an infraction that occurs when a player shoots the puck from behind the center-ice red line, or their half of the ice (including their defensive zone), and it goes all the way past the offensive zone’s goal line without anybody touching it. If a team ices the puck, the officials blow the whistle, and there is a faceoff in that team’s defensive zone. The team that iced the puck is also not allowed to make a line change, while the other team can, meaning the team that committed the infraction could end up more tired than the other team.
In most leagues, hybrid icing is adopted to protect players. This basically means that if an attacking player can beat the defending player to the faceoff dots, the icing is waved off, and there is no whistle to take the faceoff back to the other end of the ice. In certain situations, icing is not called as well. When a team is short-handed (playing with fewer players), they can ice the puck. When a goaltender leaves the crease to play the puck, there is no icing called.
Penalty Terms
Since I just mentioned short-handed teams, let’s go over penalty kills and power plays. A penalty kill is when your team is down one or more players compared to the other team, for example, a 5-on-3. This happens after one or more penalties are called on your team.
On the other hand, when your team has an advantage on players over the other team, your team has a power play. If your team scores/gets scored on while a typical penalty (2 minute minor) is still being served, the penalty ends early and whichever player was in the box comes out of the box. Something similar to a power play without actually being one is when a team is down with a short amount of time remaining in a game and they decide to take their goalie off the ice to swap them out with either a forward or defenseman to have a 6-on-5, and a better shot of scoring.
To go into a little more detail about penalties, there are 6 different types of penalties with different subsections inside each part. Penalties are often called on a delayed penalty situation which means a team can have a temporary power play if their goalie makes it to the bench for an extra attacker. This lasts up until the other team gains possession of the puck, ultimately stopping the play.
The most common form of penalties are 2 minute minors, which are called on the person who directly committed the act, with common examples being tripping, hooking, and cross-checking.
Next is the double minor penalty which lasts 4 minutes and is typically called after a player high-sticks another player and draws blood. This penalty works differently, where if a player scores, only half of the penalty is taken off. So if the other team scores during the first 2 minutes, the player has 2 minutes left to serve. If it happens during the last 2 minutes, the penalty ends.
The next is a 2 minute bench minor, which is called against a team as a whole. The most common example is too many players on the ice (commonly known as too many men), and any player that is on the ice can serve it, as long as they aren’t also getting called for a separate penalty.
Moving on to the 5 minute major penalties which are called when more dangerous infractions happen. Common examples are fighting and boarding. With this penalty, a player has to serve the entire 5 minutes and, if the opposing team scores, they don’t come out of the box. There is also a high chance of getting a misconduct penalty alongside major penalties.
Misconduct penalties are 10 minutes long, and typically are called if a player shows unsportsmanlike conduct or verbal abuse of officials. The player is in the box the whole time, but there is no power play for the other team. On a similar note, there are game misconducts which result in an ejection from the game. They are given when a referee determines a player showed clear intent to injure, and along with ejecting the player from the game,the offenders team must send an additional player to the penalty box to serve a 5-minute penalty.
In some situations, a penalty is not called and a penalty shot is awarded instead. This happens when a player is illegally impeded on their clear scoring chance. They get an opportunity that is similar to a shootout, where a player is 1-on-1 versus the goalie. They get one chance to score and if they don’t, play resumes as usual after a faceoff is held.
Overtime & Shootouts
Finally, let’s get into situations that happen post-regulation. Regulation is the entire 60 minute block of time that is split into 3 periods of 20 minutes each, but if both teams are tied at the end of regulation, the game goes into overtime.
Overtime is a 5 minute, 3-on-3, sudden-death situation where once a team scores, the game ends. When penalties are called in overtime, your team doesn’t drop below 3 players, so the other team adds players to have a 4-on-3. In most games, if overtime ends and both teams are still tied, the game goes into a shootout. An additional rule for NCAA hockey states that the game is officially ruled a tie if this happens and the shootout is only played if it is a conference matchup to play for an “extra point.” In playoff hockey, overtime is just like an additional period, where players play 5-on-5 for 20 minutes. The difference here is that there is NO shootout if the game is tied at the end of the first overtime, and additional periods are continuously added until a team scores.
Since I mentioned shootouts a lot in that paragraph, let’s go over that briefly. When going into a shootout, a team chooses 3 players to take the first and potentially only shots of the shootout. A shootout is a player versus the goalie with no defenders to stop them. A player starts at the center ice dots and skates in on the goalie. The home team typically decides who shoots first and the teams alternate shooters after each turn. If the score is tied after 3 rounds, the shootout continues into sudden-death rounds, with one player representing each team so each team has a fair chance, until a winner is determined. To help understand this better, if one player scores in the first round and the other player doesn’t, the team that scored is up 1-0. If the other team scores during the second round and the first scorer does not, the score is tied 1-1. In the final round if no team scores, a fourth round is played. If in the fourth round, the team that shoots first misses and the team that shoots second scores, the game ends with a 1-2 shootout score.
I know that this all seems like a LOT of information, but repetition with watching games and studying one portion of the sport at a time can make it a lot easier to understand hockey. I hope despite how extensive this guide was, this helps you understand better so the next time you go to a hockey game, you can not only share some information, but have an overall better understanding of the game as a whole!