Hockey University

Hockey Terminology

A - Letter worn on the uniform of the alternate captain or alternate captains.
Assist - Point awarded to the last one or two players to handle the puck before a goal.
Backhand - Effective shot employing a more sweeping motion. This term is used more often when there is no time to shift the puck to the natural shooting side.
Backcheck - Forwards in the attacking zone skate back to their own end to protect their own net and prevent opponent's shots on goal.
Blue line - The line, one-foot wide, that extends across the ice at a distance of 60 feet from each goal. These lines divide the ice into teams' attacking, neutral and defensive zones.
Boards - The walls enclosing the ice surface.
Body check - Use of the body on an opponent, a legal option when the opponent has possession of the puck or was the last player to have touched it.
Breakaway - An offensive rush in which a player has broken behind the opposition defense and is one-on-one against a goaltender.
Breakout - When the team in possession of the puck proceeds out of its defending zone to begin an offensive rush.
C - Letter worn on the uniform of the team captain.
Carom - A rebound of the puck off the boards or any other object.
Center red line - The line that divides the ice in half, width-wise.
Clearing the puck - When the puck is shot way from the front of the net or a congested area, or when the puck is shot out of the defensive zone.
Corners - The four curved areas, two in each end, behind the goal line.
Crease - Semi-circular area with a 6 foot radius drawn in front of the goal. No attacking player may enter into this area unless pushed in.
Defensive zone - The area that contains the goal a team defends. The defensive zone spans from sideboards to sideboards and from the blue line to the endboards.
Deke - To fake an opponent out of position.
Delayed penalty - When a player has been fouled, the referee signals a foul has been committed but allows play to continue until the offending team gains possession of the puck and the offending player is ordered to the penalty box. During that interim, the fouled team may replace its goaltender with a skater, because play will be stopped as soon as the offending team takes the puck, so there is no danger of the puck being shot into the unguarded net.
Drop pass - An offensive maneuver that occurs when the puck carrier skates ahead and leaves the puck to be picked up by a trailing teammate.
Faceoff - The dropping of a puck between a player from each team to start play or resome play.
Five hole - The space between a goaltender's leg pads, a favored shooting target of attacking players.
Flip Pass - A shot in which a player cups the puck to his stick, then flips it with his wrists up off the ice toward the goal; this sometimes makes the puck harder to block.
Forecheck – To check an opponent in his end of rink, preventing an offensive rush.
Freezing the puck - To stop play by pinning the puck against the boards or, in the case of the goaltender, to smother the puck in his equipment.
Goal cage - A steel frame 4 feet high and 6 feet wide, enclosed at the back by nylon netting designed to retain any puck shot into it, placed at the center of the goal line.
Goal crease - The area directly in front of the goal, marked by a semicircular area painted a different color from the ice surface. Offensive players may not enter this area prior to the puck's arrival in it.
Goal line - A red line, 2 inches wide, that runs between the goalposts and extends in both directions to the sideboards. It is located no more than 13 feet from the endboards.
Goalmouth - The area directly in front of the goal and goal crease.
Hat trick - Three goals by one player during one game, an achievement that, in a prior era, earned the scorer a new hat.
Headmanning the puck - An offensive maneuver in which one player passes ahead to a teammate.
Icing the puck - Intentionally delaying the game by shooting the puck past your opponent's goal line from behind the defending side of the center line. Territorial punishment for the offense is a faceoff deep in the defensive zone of the team that committed the infraction.
Kick Save - A move a goalie uses to prevent a low shot from finding the corner of the net by flicking his leg out to the side at the last possible instant.
Kicked goal - A goal kicked into the opponent’s net intentionally. It is disallowed.
Line change - Occurs when a coach replaces tired players with fresh ones. Line changes may take place during play stoppages or while play is in progress, which is referred to as "changing on the fly."
Neutral zone - The area between the two blue lines that create the offensive and defensive zones.
Offsides - When an offensive skater precedes the puck into the attacking zone, play is halted and re-started with a faceoff in the neutral zone. Also occurs when the puck is passed ahead, across the two zone lines, to a waiting player. When this infraction occurs, the faceoff is conducted at the point from which the pass originated.
Off-Side Pass (or Two-Line Pass) - Occurs when an attacking player passes the puck from behind his own blue line and the pass is received by a teammate on the other side of the center red line or a pass from behind the center red line to a teammate beyond the attacking blue line.
One-timer - Hitting the puck directly after receiving a pass. The offensive player takes his backswing while the puck is on its way to him and tries to time his swing with the arrival of the puck.
Penalty box - An area opposite the teams' benches where penalized players serve their designated time. No player may leave this area until his penalty has expired, or until the opposing team scores while the player is serving a minor penalty.
Penalty Killing - The time that a team is playing short-handed.
Penalty shot - A free shot is awarded a player who is impeded from behind illegally when he is in possession of the puck and there is no opponent between him and the goal other than the goaltender. The team that commits the offense is not penalized beyond the penalty shot, whether it succeeds or not. While the other players watch from their bench area, the player who was fouled takes the puck at the center-zone faceoff dot and skates in alone on the goaltender to attempt to score. Only the original shot can score; the shooter may not play the rebound.
Point - The position on the ice just inside the blue line and close to the boards on either side of the rink. The attacking defensemen usually take these positions when their team is in control of the puck in the opposition’s zone.
Poke check - A defensive tactic in which the stick blade is used to knock the puck off the attacker's stick blade.
Power play - Occurs when one team has a one-skater or two-skater advantage as a result of an opponent's penalties.
Puck - The vulcanized rubber disc, a cylinder 3 inches across and 1 inch thick, weighing between 5.5 and 6 ounces.
Pulling the goalie - Replacing the goaltender with a skater to provide a numerical advantage. The maneuver occurs when a delayed penalty is signaled by the referee or in the closing moments of regulation time when a team trails by a goal.
Referee’s Crease - The 10’2” official’s sanctuary from all players where he skates to the timekeeper. Located between the penalty boxes, where he reports his final decision on a goal or penalty.
Rush - Occurs when the puck is advanced up ice, generally when the possession team has a numerical advantage, such as three attackers against two defenders.
Save - A shot, blocked by the goaltender, that otherwise would have entered the net.
Screened shot - A shot taken while the goalie's view of the puck is blocked by the players in front of him.
Short-handed - When a team is at a numerical disadvantage due to penalties. No team may be short more than two skaters, nor may it have fewer than three skaters on the ice. When a third penalty is assessed to the same team, it does not begin until the first penalty expires.
Slap shot - A shot struck with the blade of the stick using a full backswing.
Slot - The area immediately in front of the goal. It is from this zone that most goals are scored and where most furious activity takes place.
Smothering the puck - When a player falls on top of the puck. Legal only when a goaltender does it.
Snap shot - Hitting the puck with the blade of the stick using half a backswing and a quick forward snap of the wrists.
Splitting the defense - When a player with the puck squeezes through the checking tactics of both opposing defensemen.
Stickhandle - To control the puck, generally while in motion.
Sweep check - A sweeping motion, using the entire length of the stick while laying it flat on the ice, that dislodges the puck from the puck carrier.
Texas Hat Trick - Four goals scored by a single player in one game.
Top shelf - Term used to describe when an offfensive player shoots high in an attempt to beat the goalie by putting the puck in the top part of the net.
Trailer - The offensive player skating behind the puck carrier.
Wrap-around - When a player skates from behind the attacking goal and attempts a shot, generally a backhand.
Wrist shot - A shot made using a strong flicking of the wrist and forearm muscles with the stick blade kept on the ice. Is slower, but more accurate that a slap shot.
Zamboni - A four-wheel drive vehicle that scrapes, clears and floods the surface of a hockey rink, which was invented by a California rink operator named Frank Zamboni.

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Who are all those people on the ice and what are they doing there?

The Players:

Center: The center usually leads the attack by carrying the puck on offense, operating mostly up and down the middle of the ice. He exchanges passes with his wings, trying to steer the play toward the opposing teams goal. On defense, he tries to break up the play before it gets on his teams side of the ice. He is also responsible for taking most of his teams face-offs .
Right/Left Defensemen: The two defensemen try to stop the incoming play from the other team before any chance of scoring is possible. They attempt to break up passes, block shots, clear the puck from in front of their own net and cover the opposing forwards. Offensively, they carry the puck up the ice and pass it to the forwards. They also follow the play into the attacking zone, stationing themselves just inside the oppositions blue line at what are called the points in an attempt to keep the puck form leaving the zone.
Right/Left Wing: Also known as forwards, the two wings move up and down the sides of the rink with the direction of play working with the center to on the attack to set up shots. Defensively, they guard the opposing wings and try to disrupt their plays and shot attempts .
Goaltender: The goaltender's job is to prevent the puck from entering his team s goal. He can use any part of his body or any piece of equipment, and he is allowed to catch and smother the puck. He seldom leaves the mouth of the goal, limiting his offensive contributions.

The Officials:

Referee: He supervises the game, calls penalties, determines goals and handles face-offs at the center of the ice to start each period .
Linesman: Two are used. They call off sides, offside passes, icing the puck and handle all face-offs except the ones handled at the center of the ice. They do not call penalties, but can recommend to the referee that a penalty be called .
Scorer: He determines which player scores and credits an assist if any. He may consult with the referee, but the scorer is the final authority in crediting points.

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Penalties

Minor -Two minutes in the penalty box. No substitutes permitted. Penalty is over when team on the power play scores or two minutes elapse.
Major - Five minutes in the penalty box regardless if the power play team scores. No substitutes permitted.
Misconduct - Expulsion from the game. Substitute permitted after 10 minutes of playing time if penalty is for deliberately injuring opponent, or five minutes.
Penalty Shot - Occurs when a player is interfered from behind while breaking in alone on the opposing net. The player who has been interfered with may skate on the opponent's goal and take a shot on goal contested only by goaltender. A penalty shot may also be awarded for a rules violation, and not interference with a player. In this case, the designated captain of the team awarded the shot may choose the player to take the shot from among the players on the ice at the time of the violation.