Ice hockey words · Beginner

The words you will hear in your first match, grouped the way you meet them.

B · Beginner · 38 words · Step 1 of 2

Basic setup terms

Team

A team lists up to 22 players: no more than 20 skaters and two goalkeepers. Normally five skaters and one goalkeeper are on the ice at a time, and a team must be able to put five skaters and a goalkeeper on the ice to start a game.

See also: Goalkeeper

Rink

The ice surface, 60 m long and 26 to 30 m wide, with rounded corners of 7.0 to 8.5 m radius. It is surrounded by boards, ideally 1.07 m high, topped with protective glass, and marked by goal lines, two blue lines and a centre red line.

Puck

A disc of vulcanized rubber or approved material, 2.5 cm thick and 7.6 cm across, weighing 156 to 170 g.

Stick

Made of wood or other approved material. A player's stick may not be longer than 1.63 m from the heel to the end of the shaft, and its blade must be 5.0 to 7.6 cm wide and no more than 32.0 cm from the heel, with limited curvature. A goalkeeper's stick has a wider blade and a protective knob at the top.

See also: Goalkeeper

Goal

Two goal posts 1.83 m apart (inside) and 1.22 m high joined by a crossbar, with a net, set in the centre of the goal line on flexible pegs that release the frame on hard contact.

Also called: net, goal frame

Period

A game is three periods of 20 minutes of actual play, with an intermission of 15 minutes between them (or as the IIHF sets). The teams change ends for each period.

Referee

On-ice officials are the referees and linespersons. The referees supervise the game and control players and off-ice officials, and their decision in a dispute is final. Linespersons are mainly responsible for off-side and icing and take face-offs.

Also called: linesman
See also: Icing, Off-ice officials

Goal crease

The area marked in red in front of each goal to protect the goalkeeper from attackers. The marked line belongs to the crease and the crease space extends up to the top of the crossbar.

See also: Goalkeeper

The ruleHow big is an ice hockey rink?

Scoring terms

Goal

Scored when the attacking team puts the puck between the posts, from the front and below the crossbar, entirely across the goal line. It also counts if a defending player puts it in. A win in regulation is worth three points in the standings and each goal counts one point in the scorer's record.

See also: Puck

Assist

Credit for up to two players who touched the puck before the goal scorer, as long as no defender later played or controlled the puck. Each assist counts one point in the player's record.

See also: Puck

Hat trick

Three goals by one player in a game. The rules do not use the name.

Shootout

At IIHF championship games tied after regulation and the overtime period, five shooters from each team take alternate penalty shots, all different players, and then tie-break shots by single duels. Only the decisive goal counts in the result. A coin toss decides who shoots first.

Power play goal

A goal scored by the team with the numerical advantage. The rules call that situation the power-play, and do not name the goal.

Playing terms

Skating

The basic movement skill of the sport. The rules do not define it.

Pass

Sending the puck to a teammate with the stick. A pass with the hand is covered by the hand pass rule.

Shot

An attempt to score by hitting the puck toward the goal. The rules do not define it.

See also: Puck

Slap shot

A hard shot struck after a wind-up. The rules do not define it, but contact with an opponent above the shoulders in the wind-up or follow-through of a shot may be accidental high-sticking.

Wrist shot

A quicker shot with a flicking wrist motion and no big wind-up. The rules do not define it.

Save

When the goalkeeper stops a shot from becoming a goal. The rules do not define it.

See also: Goalkeeper

Faceoff

The way play starts or resumes: the referee or linesperson drops the puck between the sticks of two opposing players at one of the nine face-off spots, the two players squarely facing the opponent's end with sticks on the ice in the white area. A goalkeeper may not take part. Players and sticks must keep outside the circle, and violations by a team twice in one face-off bring a bench minor.

Zone

The two blue lines divide the ice into the defending zone (where a team's own goal is), the neutral zone in the middle and the attacking zone.

Positions

Goalkeeper

The player designated by the team who may wear special protective equipment and has privileges for playing the puck. Each team lists two, has one on the ice at a time and must have a fully equipped substitute ready. A goalkeeper may not play the puck outside the marked area behind the net, or over the centre red line.

Also called: goaltender, goalie
See also: Puck, Red line

Defenseman

A player mainly concerned with stopping the other team from scoring. The rules do not define positions.

Forward

A player mainly concerned with attack, usually a centre or a winger. The rules mention the centres who take face-offs but do not define positions.

Captain

The team may have one captain wearing a C about 8 cm high and up to two alternate captains wearing an A, or no captain and up to three alternates (new for 2026/27). Only the captain, or an alternate when the captain is off the ice, may talk to a referee about the interpretation of a rule. A complaint about a penalty is not a matter of interpretation and brings a minor penalty.

See also: Referee, Penalty, Minor penalty

Match format and miscellaneous terms

Overtime

At IIHF championships a tied game gets a sudden-death overtime of 3 skaters and a goalkeeper per team after a three-minute intermission: 5 minutes in a round robin or preliminary round game and 10 minutes in a play-off, bronze medal or classification game. A gold medal game continues in sudden-death overtime periods after 15-minute intermissions until a goal is scored. If a round robin or preliminary round game is still tied, a shootout follows.

Line change

Player substitution at a stoppage. After a stoppage the visiting team has up to 5 seconds to change, then the home team up to 8 seconds (the last change), and no change is allowed after the referee lowers the hand. Players may also change on the fly, but the player leaving must be within 1.50 m of the bench and out of the play.

Penalty box

Each team has its own box, opposite its players' bench, at least 4.0 m long, with one door operated by the penalty box attendant. Only the attendant, penalized skaters and game officials may use it.

Empty net

A team pulls its goalkeeper for an extra attacker. If a player in control of the puck with no opposition between the player and the empty goal is fouled so that a reasonable scoring chance is lost, the referee stops play and awards a goal.

Rules and violations

Offside

Attacking players may not enter the attacking zone ahead of the puck. A player is off-side when both skates are completely over the leading edge of the blue line before the puck has completely crossed it. A player who controls the puck with the stick before both skates cross is not off-side. Since 2026/27, an attacking player entering before the puck must control it with the stick.

Icing

A team equal or superior in numerical strength shoots the puck from its own half of the ice, divided by the centre red line, past the opposing goal line, and play is stopped. It is not icing if the puck touches an opposing player or goalkeeper, or an opponent other than the goalkeeper could have played it but did not. After icing the attacking team chooses the end-zone face-off spot and the offending team cannot change players.

The ruleWhat is icing in ice hockey?

Penalty

The result of an infraction by a player or team personnel, usually the removal of the offender for a set time: a minor is 2 minutes, a double-minor 4, a major 5, a misconduct 10, and a game misconduct 20 in the records. If the penalized team has the puck the whistle blows at once; if not, the referee signals a delayed penalty. A penalty may also be a penalty shot or an awarded goal.

Power play

The numerical advantage a team has while an opponent serves a penalty. The team awarded the power-play chooses which end-zone face-off spot to start it.

Penalty kill

A short-handed team defending against a power play. The rules do not use the name.

Video review

On-ice officials may review video for goals and some penalties. A Referee reviews every major penalty and, at some championships, double-minors for high-sticking, and may confirm, reduce or cancel the call. A coach may also challenge by video, but only for a goal after an off-side or a missed stoppage in the attacking zone, interference on the goalkeeper, or a puck-over-glass delay penalty. The call on the ice is overturned only if the video clearly shows it was wrong.

Also called: coach's challenge
See also: Puck, Referee, Zone, Goalkeeper, Penalty

Fighting

A player who fights or is willing to fight gets a major penalty for fighting and an automatic game misconduct. A fight is when a player punches or tries to punch an opponent repeatedly, or two players wrestle so that the linespersons find it hard to separate them. The IIHF says fighting is not part of international hockey.

Checking

A legal body check separates an opponent in possession of the puck from it, using the hip or body from the front, diagonally from the front or straight from the side, above the knees and at or below the shoulders. Checks from behind, to the head or neck, or below the knees are penalised.

See also: Puck

Penalties

Minor penalty

A player other than the goalkeeper is off the ice for two minutes with no substitute. If the opponents score while the team is short-handed, the minor with the least time left ends automatically, but not if the goal is on a penalty shot.

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