ICE HOCKEY 101

A Guide For New Fans

The Basics of Ice Hockey

If you are like many other fans in Utah, then you may be new to watching the NHL. In order to enjoy the game, it’s crucial you understand the game, or at least the basics.

Imagine trying to watch a Jazz game with no understanding of fouls, free throws, or the 3-point line…never mind traveling, double dribble or all the other potential violations. You’d get confused in a hurry.

So it is with ice hockey. Watch a game for the first time and your head might spin trying to figure out what is going on.

Not to worry! This quick, helpful guide has been compiled to cover the basics without overwhelming you with advanced strategies and tactics. So let’s dive right in!

The Rink And The Players

This diagram shows you the basic set up for a game. You’ll see several lines and circles, and they all mean something important.

The red line going down the center is called the red line or the center line. The two blue lines denote where the offensive zone begins. The two red lines toward the ends of the rink are the goal lines.

The circles and dots exist for faceoffs. Depending on the reason for the faceoff, it will take place in different locations on the ice.

The curved line in front of each goal is called the crease. If the goalie is in his crease, then players trying to score on that goalie cannot touch or impede him in any way in that crease. It’s the goalie’s safe zone of sorts.

Each team plays with five skaters and a goalie. The two defensemen primarily focus on defending, while the two wings and the center primarily focus on offense. However, all the players contribute significantly to both the overall defensive and offensive effort regardless of their specific position on the ice.

All About Penalties

Penalties play a huge role in ice hockey. They happen consistently every game, just like fouls in basketball. Here are the most common penalties:

  • Tripping: trip another player with your stick
  • Slashing: hit another player by swinging your stick
  • Cross Checking: hit another player with shaft of your stick between two hands
  • Interference: checking or impeding a player who does not have the puck
  • Boarding: checking a player dangerously into the boards
  • Hooking: snagging a player with the blade (curved end) of your stick
  • High Sticking: hitting someone in the face with your stick

There are others, but these are your most common minor penalties you will see in a game. A minor penalty lasts 2 minutes, during which time the penalized player will sit in the penalty box and his team will play short-handed (4 skaters on the ice).

This is called a power play for the other team. The short-handed team attempts to kill the penalty while the offensive team tries to set up their power play and score. If a team on the power play scores, the penalty immediately ends, the penalized player leaves the box, and 5v5 play resumes.

These are referred to as special teams, and they are critical for a team’s success. A poor power play or a poor penalty kill are hallmarks of poor teams. Likewise, a strong power play and a strong penalty kill are hallmarks of strong teams.

There are other penalties called major penalties. These last for 5 minutes and do not end if the team on the power play scores. These are for more serious infractions like severe aggression and direct attempt to injure. You won’t see them often.

The Common (And Controversial) Infractions

Infractions are like traveling or double dribble in basketball. There’s no penalty or power play, but play stops and a faceoff takes place. The location of that faceoff is favorable for the team that did not commit the infract.

The most common infraction is called icing. If a player clears the puck from his end and is behind the center red line, then icing occurs and a faceoff happens next to that player’s goal, back in their end.

This is why you often see players dump the puck in after they cross the center red line. There are times when icing is prudent if you’re in a bind and just need to clear it out. So you will see this one happen a lot.

The other common and often controversial infraction is off side. Remember those blue lines? Well if your team has the puck and you’re trying to score, you aren’t allowed to cross that blue line and enter the offensive zone until the puck does.

If you cross first, and then the puck crosses, you have committed an off side infraction and a faceoff will happen outside of the offensive zone. This is controversial because goals get challenged regularly by coaches who feel like the play should have been whistled dead because of an off side player.

These reviews are like football when trying to determine where the ball was when the player was down. They can take a while, they can be subjective, and there is often complaining from the losing side. Off side will happen about as frequently as icing, and so when you hear a whistle it’s usually for one of those two infractions.

The other common whistle is when a goalie covers the puck. This will result in a faceoff to the side of that goalie.

There is one other to know about that is more controversial than the rest…goalie interference. You cannot impede a goalie in his crease. Doing so is a penalty (not an infraction). But it is a penalty called very inconsistently from one game to the next.

What if a defender pushes you into his own goalie? Are you at fault? What if the puck is already in the crease and you’re just going in after it? No season is complete without a bunch of very controversial goalie interference calls.

That’s A Wrap

A game is divided into three periods, each 20 minutes long, rather than halves or quarters. Whoever scores more goals wins. In the event of a tie, there is a 5 minute overtime in which teams play 3v3. This opens up a lot of space on the ice and leads to some pretty exciting hockey.

If the game is still tied after overtime, a shootout takes place. Teams send 3 skaters to go 1 on 1 with the opposing goalie. The team whose 3 skaters get more goals wins. If it’s still tied, the shootout continues as many rounds as necessary with each round consistent of just one skater per team.

A win gets you 2 points in the standings. Losing in overtime or a shootout gets you 1 point in the standings. And losing in regulation gets you 0 points. At the end of the season, the top three teams in each division are in the playoffs. Two more wild cards make the playoffs, and they are the two remaining teams in the conference (from either division) that had the most points.

Win every round of the playoffs and you win the Stanley Cup, the greatest trophy in all of sports.

Obviously there is a lot more to the game of hockey than this. But knowing the difference between a slap shot and a snap shot hardly seems necessary to enjoy the game. Keep watching, keep attending, and you’ll start to catch on to more nuance in the game and more advanced strategies used by coaches and players.

But as a new fan just getting into the game, this should give you what you need to be able to follow along and know what’s happening without feeling lost.