If you are new to ice hockey, it can seem a little complicated. Its fast-paced nature is exciting and fun, but The rules, regulations, and procedures can be difficult to understand. From basic rules to player positions and roles, This guide will break down everything you need to know about hockey to start watching or playing.
How to play Hockey
At its core, Ice hockey is a simple game. The objective of the game is to score more goals than your opponent. Simple enough right? A normal game of hockey is played with 6 players on the ice for both teams (12 total). 3 forwards, 2 defensemen, and 1 goaltender. Both teams will work together to work the puck around the ice attempting to score more goals than their opponents. Games are divided into 3 periods, each 20 minutes long. In youth hockey, the length of periods can depend on the level of hockey being played. According to USA Hockey, periods can be between 12 minutes for younger age groups and 17 minutes for older age groups.
The Ice Surface
Hockey is played on a rectangular ice rink, with boards and glass to keep the puck in play. If the puck goes over the glass, or into the team’s benches the referees will stop the play and drop the puck at the closest faceoff dot. A standard ice rink is 200 feet long by 85 feet wide, and covered in lines and markings like faceoff dots to help regulate the game:
Red Line (Center Line): This line splits the ice in half and is used to measure “icing”
Blue Lines: The blue lines split the ice into 3 equal zones, the offensive (where your team tries to score), defensive (where your team defends), and neutral zone ( a zone in between). These lines are used to call offside when the puck is entering the offensive zone.
Goal Lines: The goal line is a thin red line that runs the width of the ice in either team’s zone. The line aligns with the goal posts, and crossbar to help determine if a puck entered the net, and is counted as a goal.
Faceoff Circles and Dots: There are 9 faceoff circles and dots on the ice. 2 circles in each team’s zone, and one at center ice. The 4 faceoff dots are located in the 4 corners of the neutral zone. Each faceoff dot/circle marks a location where a faceoff can occur to restart the hockey game.
Equipment Needed To Play Hockey
Before stepping foot on the ice, players should have all of the proper equipment necessary to play the game. Players should have a pair of good skates to glide around the ice. A good pair of skates should have good ankle support to limit the risk of ankle or foot injuries. Players should use a stick suitable to their size. When standing vertically, the stick should come up to a players eyes to mouth while wearing skates.
Hockey can be a physical and dangerous game at times, meaning protective gear is essential to staying safe on the ice. A hockey skater bag typically has:
Skates
Shin Pads
Pants
Chest Protector
Elbow Pads
Gloves
Neck Guard
Mouth Guard
Helmet
Undergarments (Protective cup or girdle)
Goaltenders use an entirely different set of equipment. Goalies use a special stick and skates to help them effectively defend the goal. They also wear big goalie pads on their legs to help them stop pucks and direct rebounds. Goalies wear a special chest protector to protect themselves from the hard rubber puck, and a blocker and catching glove on their hands.
Hockey Positions
Hockey teams are made up of a collection of forwards, defensemen, and goaltenders. Each hockey position has its own unique skillset and responsibilities. Every player on the ice should complement one another, working to defend scoring chances, and scoring more goals.
The forwards can be split into 3 positions. Left winger, Center, and Right winger. Winger’s main responsibility is to generate offense. These players are usually the most offensively gifted players on the ice. Centers are responsible for taking faceoffs for their team. They are also considered “two-way” players, playing a mix of both defense and offense.
Defensemen are responsible for defending their team’s goal and preventing scoring chances. Defensemen use their physical presence, intelligence, and skating skills to defend shooting chances on their net.
What position should you play? It can be difficult to choose what position to play when first starting out. Young players should try every position on the ice before settling on one to focus on.
Faceoff Rules
The game begins with a faceoff at center ice. A faceoff is where the official drops the puck between 2 opposing players. The centers will use different strategies to swipe the puck to their teammates to gain possession. Faceoffs can occur for a variety of reasons, but generally, a faceoff occurs as a result of the stoppage of play. This can be because of offsides, icing, the goalie covering the puck, the puck going out of play, or because of a penalty.
The location of the faceoff can vary depending on the reason for the stoppage of play. For an Offsides, the faceoff occurs at the neutral zone faceoff dot closest to where the puck crossed the blue line. For an icing, the puck gets brought back to the defensive zone of the offending team. This is done to give the icing team a disadvantage. If the puck goes out of play, the puck gets dropped at the closest faceoff dot. When a goal is scored or at the start of the period, the puck is dropped at center ice.
During any faceoff on the ice, there are a few rules that both teams must follow. When lining up for the faceoff, players should be on their side of the faceoff circle. For example, your player cannot line up behind the opposing team’s center, or next to their defenseman. Where the players should stand is marked on the ice by the Center Red Line and hash marks around the faceoff circles. When taking the faceoff, the center cannot swipe at the puck too early or they may get thrown out of the faceoff dot. This means another player has to fill in for the center to take the faceoff.
What is Offsides?
One of the most important rules to understand when getting into hockey is the offsides rule. The rule states that a player cannot enter the offensive zone (cross the offensive blue line) before the puck does. If both of a player’s feet are in the offensive zone before the puck crosses the blue line, the play will be whistled dead, and a faceoff will occur outside of the zone.
At the youth levels of hockey, offsides is automatic. That means once the puck enters the zone with a player in an offside position the play is dead.
At the NHL level, they play by ‘delayed offsides’ rules. This means a player can dump the puck into the zone with a player offside, without the play being called dead. The play is only blown dead if it is carried in offsides, or an offside player touches the puck.
What is Icing?
Icing can be a confusing rule for new hockey players and fans to understand. Icing occurs when a player shoots the puck down the ice from their own half of the center ice line. If the puck crosses the opposing team’s goal line without touching anyone, the officials will blow the play dead and drop the puck in your own zone. Icing is often left up to the official’s discretion. If the ref thinks an opposing player could have touched the puck, or a teammate out-skates the opponent to the puck, they can wave off icing.
Hand Pass
Hockey has a unique set of rules regarding the use of hands when playing the puck. In hockey, it is acceptable to handle the puck with your hands when the puck is in the air. In the NHL, you might see players grabbing the puck out of the air and placing it down in front of them. This is allowed as long as players do not close their hands on the puck, or pass the puck to another player. If a teammate touches the puck before you do, this is considered a hand pass. The play will be stopped and a faceoff will occur.
Players CANNOT play the puck with their hands while it is on the ice, with special exceptions in the defensive zone. Batting the puck down the ice, or away from danger is allowed in the defensive zone.
Line Changes and Substitutions
Hockey can be a very fast and intense game. Because it can be very tiring, lines can change very frequently during the play. Unlike many other sports, substitutions in hockey can be made “on the fly”, meaning the players are continuously changing while the play is ongoing. Prior to the game, players are assigned lines by their coaches, playing with the same players most of the game. When all of the players come off of the ice, this is called a “line change”.
A typical shift for a hockey line lasts between 30-60 seconds, or once up the ice and once down the ice. Shifts are kept short so that players can continue to give their maximum effort throughout the entire game. If players get stuck on the ice for longer than 30-60 seconds, it is very easy to get tired and make mistakes.
One rule, unique to hockey, that can be confusing is pulling the goalie. Pulling the goalie in hockey means substituting your goalie for a 6th skater on the ice. Teams often do this at the end of the game when they need to score a goal (ex. Home Team: 4 Away Team: 3). In this situation it doesn’t matter if you get scored on again, you are already losing. To try and tie the game up, teams will pull their goalie in a desperate attempt to score 1 more goal to force overtime.
Penalties
Like in many other sports, if a player breaks the rules (and gets caught) they get penalized. If a player commits a penalty, their team will be at a disadvantage and will have to “kill the penalty”. The opposing team is now on the “power play”, while your team is on the “penalty kill”. The player who commits a penalty will be taken to the penalty box, and their team will have to play down 1 player until the penalty is up. In hockey, there are 2 basic categories of penalties – Minor penalties and Major penalties.
Minor penalties are the least severe of infractions. For a minor penalty, a player will serve 2 minutes in the penalty box, leaving their team shorthanded. If the team on the power play scores a goal during the penalty, the player is released from the penalty box and the penalty is over. Some of the most common minor penalties are:
Tripping: Causing your opponent (often the puck carrier) to trip/fall using the stick or parts of the body
Slashing: Striking an opponent, or the opponent’s stick with your stick. Particularly up on the hands or arms of a puck carrier.
Roughing: A catch-all penalty used at the official’s discretion. Roughing is often a penalty given out if the referee believes unfair play occurred but was not severe enough to warrant a major or match penalty. (Ex. 2 players get physical in a scrum, both get roughing minors)
Hooking: Using the stick to impede or hold back an opposing player. Typically using the blade of the stick
High-Sticking: Hitting an opponent with the stick, typically in the face or above the shoulders. If blood is drawn, or contact is severe, a double minor can be assessed (a 4-minute penalty).
Major penalties are more severe than minor penalties, carrying a 5-minute stay in the penalty box. On top of the longer duration, this penalty cannot end early like a minor penalty. This means the opponent can score as many goals as they want in 5 minutes, and the penalty won’t end. For a penalty to become a major, there must be some intent to injure the opponent, or an excessively dangerous action has been taken. This could be intentionally hitting your opponent in the head, or accidentally hitting a player from behind. If the play is dangerous, and done without regard for player safety, it could be a major penalty.
Special Teams (Power play, Penalty Kill)
When a team takes a penalty, it creates a special team scenario. One team is now on the power play, and the other is on the penalty kill. The Power Play unit will look to possess the puck and create dangerous scoring chances on the penalty kill. The penalty kill job is to protect the net at all costs.
On the penalty kill, some special rules can be taken advantage of. While down a man, the penalty-killing unit is allowed to ice the puck. This effectively kills the power play momentum and allows the penalty kill to drain time off of the clock. Power play and penalty kill performance can greatly impact the outcome of a game. Teams need to use special power play strategies and game plans to capitalize on their advantaged opportunities.
Overtime and Shootout
At the end of the game, if the score is still tied the teams will play an overtime period. In hockey, overtime is sudden death, the next goal wins the game. The overtime periods can vary depending on the level of hockey. In the NHL, teams play 5 minutes of 3on3 hockey. If neither team can score in overtime, they will go to a shootout. The shootout consists of 3 rounds of alternating penalty shots. The teams take turns shooting on the opposing goalie, the best of 3 rounds wins. If after 3 rounds there is still a tie, the next team to win a round (1 team scores, the other does not) will win the game.
