Hockey 101: THE PLAYING SURFACE (2024)

FAQs

What is the hockey playing surface called? ›

The Playing Surface

The ice sheet is commonly known as the rink. The rink is divided into zones by a red line at center ice and two blue lines. A standard North American rink measures 200 feet by 85 feet.

The most common woods used are beech and maple. Ice hockey should be played on ice. Where ice isn't a realistic option, you can get synthetic ice tiles. These are compatible with skates.

Olympic fans have also observed that hockey stars play on blue astroturf while the Olympic diving pool turned a strange green colour.

Ever since Field Hockey was played on AstroTurf in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, AstroTurf has been the gold standard for the game.

While grass, on which hockey had been played internationally for nearly a century, allowed skilled Indian and Pakistani players to trap the ball, dribble and pass, astroturf suits the physicality of European and Australian hockey players based on raw power rather than technical skill.

The top surface specification for hockey is a water-based hockey pitch, as the presence of water reduces friction and improves the speed and consistency of the ball roll, allowing for smooth, fast play.

A two-goal cushion is often referred to as the “most dangerous lead in hockey,” so named because a team will squander it four out of every 10 times.

What Is The Definition Of An Apple In Hockey? 1. This is another word used to describe an assist in ice hockey.

What does peanut butter mean in hockey? ›

Where Mama Keeps the Peanut Butter: goal scored in the uppermost part of the net.

Puttin' on the foil has become a reference to getting ready to fight. Snarl: The step before the donnybrook/dropping the mitts/tilly/fisticuffs. Tilly: Oh look, it's another word for a fight!

Keep Empty-Net Goal Celebrations Low Key

Unless we're talking about clinching the Stanley Cup, the unwritten rule in hockey is if you score an empty-net goal, the celebration is fairly low key. If no, it is considered "rubbing it in."

A hat trick as hockey fans know it comes when a player scores three goals in a game, usually earning him a cascade of hats thrown onto the ice by fans (especially if the player is on the home team). A natural hat trick is when a player scores three consecutive goals in a game.

Rule 56 of the NHL Rule Book states: If a player penalized as an instigator of an altercation is wearing a face shield, he shall be assessed an additional Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty.

Used mainly at the highest levels of competition, vanishing spray is said to help prevent unnecessary delays by preventing the defensive team from encroaching closer than the mandated 10 yards (9.15 meters) from the ball during a free kick, and also by preventing the attacking team from illegally moving the ball from ...

The playing surface: artificial grass

The top layer of a water-based hockey pitch is a synthetic fibre carpet, also known as artificial grass. The tuft is very dense and short, and no sand infill or “rubber crumb” is required.

There are two thick blue lines that divide the rink into three parts, called zones. These two lines are used to judge if a player is offside. If an attacking player crosses the line into the other team's zone before the puck does, he is said to be offside.

A hockey puck is also referred to colloquially as a "biscuit". To put the "biscuit in the basket" (colloquial for the goal) is to score a goal.

The London 2012 Olympics started a new trend for blue hockey pitches, because blue turf helps television viewers to clearly see the ball and markings on the hockey pitch during gameplay. Not all hockey pitches have to be blue, but a yellow ball on blue turf is now the standard for professional field hockey tournaments.

What is a Chukka in hockey? ›

Chukka can refer to: A period of play in polo, also spelled chukker, which is 7 minutes long. A period of play in field hockey, which is 15 minutes long.

The Stanley Cup playoff beard has been an NHL tradition since the early 1980s, when the shaggy New York Islanders won four straight championships. It represents the players' singular focus, as if even personal hygiene is sacrificed in pursuit of hockey's holy grail.

Fighting in hockey leads to concussions, mental health problems, and death. Fighting at the professional level sets a bad example for kids. Fighting in hockey glorifies violence.

According to hockey historian Ross Bernstein, fighting in a way makes players aware that they will be punished for playing unfairly. “The game has always been allowed to police itself. So when you do something bad, you pay the consequences.”

"To show each other that respect at the end and realize that everything that's happened is just because we both want to win—it's definitely a great tradition."

The majority of hockey balls nowadays are made from solid plastic, although higher quality field hockey match balls are usually manufactured with a PVC exterior and a cork, wood and/or rubber core.

The total duration of a field hockey match is 60 minutes (four quarters of 15 minutes each). Before 2019, matches were played for 70 minutes, with a five-minute halftime break after 35 minutes.

Forwards

Forwards are also known as the offensive line of the team, much like the strikers in football. They're the ones with the responsibility of taking accurate shots and score goals for the team. More often than not, forwards are the fastest sprinters on the team.

However, it would be practically impossible to win a Stanley Cup without high-end players at your center position. Centers are players that more than any other control the play and pace of the game and have the highest impact in both the offensive and defensive zones.

What does butter mean in hockey? ›

Butter. but·ter • /ˈbə-tər/ To describe something smooth, such as a play or a player's hands. “Malcoms hands are butter-y on the ice.”

Origin. When a goaltender stands in the net in the ready position, there are five open areas (and two closed) that the goalie must cover.

What is scoring 4 goals in hockey called? Scoring four goals in a hockey game is much less common than a hat trick. If a player scores four goals in a single game, it is sometimes referred to as a “Texas hat trick.” This term is less commonly used than a hat trick, and its origins are uncertain.

Pizza: A brutal pass up the middle of the ice intercepted by the opposing team. "Bidini is serving up more pizzas tonight than Little Caesar's."

Pigeon. A pigeon is a player with few skills. It was popularized in 2013 by Claude Giroux when he was on the Philadelphia Flyers. Giroux was heard chirping other players with the term, complete with actual pigeon noises.

So: a rat—tough to kill, and something of a heroic pest. In hockey, when you're a kid, it's generally a good thing to be thought of as a rink rat. That means you're always near the ice, you can't get enough of it, and your game is probably always growing.

MORE: Men's ice hockey national championship history | USCHO rankings | Scores. Dangle: when a player is a deke (or decoy) by making moves to fake out the goalie or opposing player; also used to describe the act of stick-handling. Dirty: term to describe an outstanding deke.

A puck bunny is a term used to describe a female ice hockey fan whose interest in the sport is purported to be primarily motivated by sexual attraction to the players rather than enjoyment of the game itself.

A common mohawk turn is the forward inside open mohawk. In this turn, the skater faces into the circle and the free foot is brought to the instep of the skating foot at an angle of 90° or more, before being placed on the ice on a backward inside edge during the transfer of weight.

Why can't you touch the Stanley Cup? ›

Tradition dictates that the champion team's captain be the first to hoist the Cup. It is a right that you must first earn by winning. Prior to this moment, you have no right to hoist, or even touch, the holiest relic in North American sports.

Enforcers sometimes start fights to build game momentum and provide a psychological advantage over the opposing team. These fights usually involve two enforcers, but may involve any player who is agitating the opposition.

puck bunny (plural puck bunnies) (slang, ice hockey) A female ice hockey fan, often one whose interest in the sport is primarily motivated by attraction to the players rather than enjoyment of the game itself. Puck bunnies exhibit similar traits to those of groupies toward musicians.

The total number of hats is the amount purchased by the team from the Hockey Lodge. The new hats are then hand delivered to Children's Hospitals and Clinics and donated by the player who scores the hat trick.

Description. F1 - first forward into the zone pursues the puck aggressively. F2 - second forward into the zone goes immediately to the puck side boards to take away any pass up the boards. F3 - third forward into the zone goes to the middle of the ice between the hash marks.

Rule 42 of the NHL rulebook dictates that charging "shall mean the actions of a player or goalkeeper who, as a result of distance traveled, shall violently check an opponent in any manner.

Rule 48 formally appeared in the NHL rulebook for the 2010-11 season. Illegal checks to the head were now defined: "A lateral or blindside hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact is not permitted."

Beginning with the 1996-97 season, the NHL decreed that Nos. 0 and 00 could no longer be worn since they confused the League's digital database; today, only No. 1 through No. 98 are allowed, No.

A hockey pitch is the playing surface for the game of field hockey. Historically, the game was played on natural turf (grass) and nowadays it is predominantly played on an artificial turf.

The hockey stick is divided into three parts – head, splice and handle. The handle, or the grip, is the long straight part of the stick used by players to hold and is covered with tape for better grip. The middle portion of the stick, from the end of the handle to the start of the head, is called the splice.

What are the hockey walls called? ›

In a hockey rink, the boards are the low wall that form the boundaries of the rink. They are between 40 and 48 inches (100 and 120 cm) high. The "side boards" are the boards along the two long sides of the rink. The half boards are the boards halfway between the goal line and blue line.

Dek hockey is sport similar to ball hockey, played off the ice in an enclosed area using a ball and plastic hockey sticks on running shoes.

The top surface specification for hockey is a water-based hockey pitch, as the presence of water reduces friction and improves the speed and consistency of the ball roll, allowing for smooth, fast play.

Hockey balls move at a consistent speed on watered surfaces as the grass blades form a denser, faster surface without sand infill. A faster, more responsive style of play develops on a water pitch, with a ball that runs more freely than it does on sand, where it can become sticky during the game.

Goaltenders. While the hardest hockey position in elite play -- and maybe the toughest job in all of pro sports -- the goalie position is easiest to understand for newbies. Keep the puck from fully crossing the two-inch goal line and lighting up the dreaded (for goalies) red goal light.

'Six and Seven Hole': the six and seven holes are relatively new terms to identify the areas under either armpit of the goalie. Goaltenders who hold their trapper high or blocker further out to the side of their body are said to have six and seven holes.

Plexiglas. Plexiglass is acrylic plastic sheets that are used to line the ends of the rink. One piece of Plexiglas is ½ inch thick and eight feet tall. Since Plexiglass are mounted on the outside of the boards and held together by supports, it tends to be better at absorbing impact than tempered glass.

Pizza: A brutal pass up the middle of the ice intercepted by the opposing team. "Bidini is serving up more pizzas tonight than Little Caesar's."

“Half-Wall”

There does not appear to be much formal explanation for the term “half-wall,” but by most accounts, it is where you will find the outer hash marks of the faceoff circles deep in the attacking zones.

Fishbowl cage

The fish bowl cage, also known as a “bubble”, has the same benefits and total face protection as the metal cage while not having bars in your line of sight. They are susceptible to scratches and fogging as you are constantly breathing on it. Worse so than a visor.

What does dek mean in hockey? ›

The tiles of the rink on which dek hockey is played are called 'dek' surfaces, named after the material of the boards. The sport grew from street hockey to playing on these tiles or deks, made for indoor and outdoor rinks. The players began referring to the sports court as 'the dek' and the sport as playing dek hockey.

Having eight arms, the octopus symbolized the number of playoff wins necessary for the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup. The practice started April 15, 1952, when Pete and Jerry Cusimano, brothers and storeowners in Detroit's Eastern Market, hurled an octopus into the rink of Olympia Stadium.