Hockey Rules for Dummies. Everything You Need to Know about This “Icy” Sport

The hockey rules were quite different at different times. Thus, the 19th century witnessed teams of 9 and then 7 players compete against one another. Also, there were no substitutions, while hockey players of extraordinary positions did exist. For example, there was the rover who was allowed to play only near the opponents’ goal.

What is more, checks were allowed in the defense only until the 70s, when these actions were completely legalized. One of the most visible changes happened in 2001 when the so-called “rule of the red line” was canceled. The rule stipulated that a player had no right to accept the puck if it was sent from the defensive zone. Such innovations are being made regularly to make the sport even more dynamic, interesting, and exciting.

Ice

According to the NHL rules, the ice should be 61 meters long and 26 meters wide. Authorized officials believe that smaller courts will result in more checks, shots, cases of board play, and fightings. The court corners should be rounded according to a curve with a radius of 8.50 meters.

The court should be surrounded by wooden or plastic boards 1-1.22 meters high above the ice surface level. The end boards of every ice should be equipped with the glass protector with a special net above it. The given set is necessary to prevent the puck from leaving the court and hitting spectators. Two inswing doors are located in the middle of the side boards. The doors are used by substitutes to come onto the ice. Two more are situated face-to-face for penalized players.

There are the end lines are located 3-4 meters apart from the boards. 17.23 meters are between the goal lines and the blue lines that are to divide the court into three parts: central zone, attack zone, and defensive zone. The red line splits the court into two equal parts, while the faceoff spot is the very middle of the red line. On each side of the goal, two faceoff spots surrounded by the faceoff circles with a radius of 4.5 meters are located 6 meters apart from the goal.

Every hockey court is equipped with two penalty benches for penalized players. Every bench should have a corresponding size in order to accommodate at least 5 players simultaneously. The minimal parameters of the bench are 3 meters long and 1.5 meters wide.

The goals are 1.83 meters wide and 1.22 meters high. They stay on the dowels that have their own holes in the ice. The technology firmly fixes the goals but they can be relatively easily removed. This is done for the players to not get injured in the case of a collision. The goals are surrounded by semi-circles with a radius of 1.21 meters. This area is known as the goal crease.

Equipment

Great attention is paid to the hockey equipment. All the athletes take appropriate measures to maximally secure themselves from painful kicks of puck or sticks, checks, board game, and so on. The equipment used to be heavy and uncomfortable. Nowadays, fortunately, the situation has improved and the up-to-date equipment that can feature a lightweight consists of the following items.

Stick is an item to hit the puck with.

Ice skates are shoes with metal blades attached to their soles. They are used to moving across the ice. The shoes are made of leather or plaster. The ice skates are different according to the level of their maneuverability. Thus, there are different skates for forwards, defensemen, and goalies.

Plastic protective cup of a special form to protect players’ pelvic area.

The helmet is put on to protect heads from damages.

Knee guards and elbow pieces. Their purpose should become known from their name.

Chest pad is responsible for the protection of player’s chest and back. The chest pad has also special cups to protect shoulders, while some models also have removable protectors for stomach and waist.

Gloves are used to protect palms, wrist joints, and forearms from sticks, puck, and in other dangerous cases. Despite a high protection level, the gloves are designed to provide players with the complete freedom of movement.

The mouth guard is a plastic tool to protect teeth during training and competitions.

Trousers are used to prevent players from getting injured as a result of falls, checks, contacts with the puck, and so on. They are made from special high-duty fabrics with hard inserts on highs, tail base, waist, and spine.

Throat protector is a semi-stiff detail made of plastic of Kevlar to protect throat, neck, and collarbone.

Hockey jersey is an obligatory part of hockey equipment that is put on the chest pad.

It is not a surprise that goalkeepers have a peculiar set of equipment, which is explained by their purpose on the ice. In fact, they also have sticks and wear stakes, helmet, mask, throat protector, chest pad, protective cup, and trousers. With this, there are some items are worth commenting on them.

To be more exact, they are blockers and catchers. Blocker is a wide glove with a special place for fingers. It protects the back of hands, in which the stick is placed. Catchers, in its turn, is a glove that is similar to a baseball glove that is used to catch the puck.

In one team, players’ jerseys and helmets should be of the same color (a goalie is the only player who is allowed to have the helmet of a different color). The jerseys should bear players’ numbers and surnames.

The puck should be made of vulcanized rubber. The black item should have the following parameters: 7.62 centimeters diameter, 2.54 cm thickness, and 170 g weight.

Match Duration

A hockey match consists of three 20-minute periods that are separated by 15-minute intervals. If there is a tie after the three periods, overtime is awarded. Its duration depends on a tournament. As a rule, it lasts for 5 minutes, and the first team to score a puck is said to be a winner. Should overtime happen to be goalless, penalty shots occur. Their peculiarities can also vary for different competitions.

Team List

Every team brings about 20-25 players to a match. One goalie and five field players are allowed to be on the ice simultaneously. The rules state that it is possible to substitute a goalkeeper by the sixth field player.

Substitutions can be made both during certain stoppages of a match and while it is taking place. Overtime is played among five players in each team (one goalie and four field players).

Referees

A hockey match is served by either three or four referees depending on a tournament. There are one or two on-ice officials and two linesmen. The on-ice officials are to record fouls and goals, while linesmen deal with the violations involving the center and the blue lines.

Apart from the referees above, every hockey event should be attended by the off-ice officials. They are represented by:

• Two goal judges;
• Video goal judge;
• Official scorer;
• Game timekeeper;
• Two penalty timekeepers;
• Two statisticians.

Fouls

Ice hockey is an extremely contact kind of sport. Although numerous men of the street believe that players are allowed to do with their opponents everything they want, strict rules do exist. Thus, the list of the most common fouls includes hooking (using the stick to slow down opponents), interference (attacking an opponent without the puck), slashing (swinging the stick), peering (jabbing with the stick), boarding (hitting into boards), cross-checking (hitting with hands spread on the stick), and roughing (excessive pushing or hitting).

Such cases as intentional throwing the puck out of the ice, throwing the stick, keeping the puck with hands, fighting, and undisciplined behavior including cases of diving are also said to be fouls.

Each violation of the rules can result in the corresponding penalties:

1. Minor penalty;
2. Bench minor penalty;
3. Misconduct penalty;
4. Major penalty;
5. Penalty shot.

A minor penalty implies the player’s sending off for 2 minutes of stop time. A goalie is not sent off; his punishment is served by his partner. In both cases, the team has to play short-handed. The penalized player may take the ice earlier than required if the opponents manage to score a puck within the two minutes.

A bench minor penalty is imposed on the whole team, rather than on a particular player. This penalty can follow the situation with too many men on the ice or the foul when it is impossible to identify the person who has committed it (for example, when someone has thrown an item onto the ice). In this case, the sentence can be served by any player (except for a goalkeeper) appointed by a manager. So, the player is sent off for 5 minutes of stop time.

In case of a major penalty, a player is sent off for 5 minutes, regardless if the puck is scored. If such a foul is committed repeatedly by the same player within the same match, he is sent off until the end of the game. In this case, the player may not participate in the following matches of the team until his misconduct is discussed by the authorized body.

Misconduct penalties imply an immediate substitution of the penalized player. However, delayed penalties can happen a foul is conducted when the player’s two partners are in the penalty box. The fact here is that at least three field players of one team must be on the ice according to the hockey rules. In this case, the penalized player is just substituted by one of his partners.

Double penalties are peculiar because players of both teams have to serve the complete punishment, regardless if the puck is scored.

If the on-ice official records the violation of the rules made by the players of one team but the puck is currently in possession of the other one, he does not stop the game unless the player who has committed the foul or any of his partners touch the puck. If the opposing team manages to score the puck, the player does not serve the punishment.

Penalty shots can be preceded by the following actions:

• a player of the defensive team intentionally removes the goal;
• one of the penalized players take the ice to prevent scoring the puck;
• a player other than a goalkeeper intentionally falls on the puck or takes it in his hands;
• a player of the defensive team intentionally throws the stick into the puck to prevent scoring;
• a player of the attacking team is going to meet the defensive goalkeeper head-to-head and undergoes the attack.

A penalty shot can be performed by any player appointed by a captain. A referee’s corresponding signal means the start of the penalty. In this time, the player starts dangling the puck from the center spot towards the goal and tries to hit it. The goalkeeper is the only player who may protect the goal. As soon as the attacking player touches the puck he may leave the goal crease and do anything allowed by the rules to prevent the forward from scoring the puck. The forward is not allowed to tap in.

Icing and Offside

These are the things that are closely connected with the ice zones. So, if a player of the team that either is on the power play or has the same number of players as their opponents do, is on his team’s half and sends the puck outside the opponents’ goal line, an icing occurs. If the player manages to hit the opponents’ goal, the puck is considered to be scored. The icing is not also recorded if the puck moves through the goal crease before crossing the goal line, touches one of the opponents or was sent by a player of a short-handed team.

It is the offside that determines the hockey tactics. According to the corresponding rule, attacking players may not enter attacking zone unless the puck hits it. The player’s position is identified according to his stakes, not the stick. A player is said to be in offside if two his skates are completely in the attacking zone. If a player holds the puck and crosses the blue line in front of the puck, the offside is not recorded.