The Puck Drops Here Everything You Need To Know About Hockey, Without Having To Absorb A Body Check
Even if you won’t be attending any of the Memorial Cup games, there’s a good chance you’ll encounter conversations about ice hockey in the next few days. And even if you are clueless about this fast, rough sport, IN Life doesn’t want you to feel left out.
So here, presented as a public service, are answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about hockey.
Is a face-off a grisly injury?
No.
What are you supposed to watch?
Just keep your eye on the puck.
But isn’t the puck hard to see?
It’s black. The ice is white.
For players, what are the most important skills?
1. Skating ability.
2. Skating ability.
3. Skating ability.
What’s with all the fighting?
Basically, there are two schools of thought. One view holds that fighting is an important safety valve for high tempers and prevents injuries that might be caused by stick-swinging or other more dangerous acts of aggression or revenge.
Others suspect it’s a simple matter of the people who run the sport believing that fighting helps sell tickets.
Are the best players normal-sized people?
Yes.
What are the key dimensions?
The goals are 6 feet wide and 4 feet high. The hard-rubber puck (chilled to a rock-like consistency before games to reduce the tendency to bounce) is 3 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick.
Is there anything in hockey as exciting as watching basketball players shoot free throws or waiting for the relief pitcher to conclude his warm-ups in a baseball game?
Not really. Unless you count watching the ice-resurfacing machine between periods.
What is “old-time hockey”?
Depending on the context, it can mean either a face-punching bloodbath or hard-fought but clean play.
What are the names of some of the rules infractions for which players are assessed penalties?
Tripping, high-sticking, slashing, hooking, spearing, cross-checking and obstruction.
What happens when one team gets slapped with a penalty?
The offending player has to sit in the penalty box - usually for two minutes. And the other team has an on-ice manpower advantage called a “power play.”
Is the Memorial Cup a protective device?
No. It’s a tournament/trophy.
How fast does the puck travel when players shoot it at the goal?
Some elite players shoot the puck at about the speed of a Randy Johnson fastball (approaching 100 mph).
Why doesn’t that kill the goalies?
They have good padding.
Yes, but what about when you see one of the other players - who wear far less protective equipment - drop down in front of a shot to block the speeding puck?
That’s called raw, physical courage.
Why all the whistles stopping play?
Most often it’s because a player heading toward the opponent’s goal went “offside” by crossing the blue line ahead of the puck.
Can you explain “icing,” “two-line offside” and “delayed penalties”?
Yes. But it would take a while.
How sharp are the players’ skate blades?
Very sharp.
Can you basically collide with any member of the opposing team at any time?
Not really. But you can “body check” an opponent who has control of the puck.
The players make handling the puck with their sticks look so easy. How long does that take to learn?
It’s a good idea to start when you’re about 5.
What’s the best forechecking strategy to employ against a team with an effective breakout?
Never mind.
What does it mean to “Come up big”?
Make a clutch play.
Why all the substitutions all the time?
One reason hockey is fast paced is that each team has three or four forward lines (two wingers and a center) and a couple or three pairs of defensemen. These units take turns on the ice and catch their breath while on the bench.
You know that old saying about baseball - that if it were really as complicated as some people make it out to be, baseball players couldn’t play it - well, is that true of hockey, too?
Pretty much. But some of the best hockey players are intuitive geniuses when it comes to understanding and anticipating the spatial relationships of objects in motion.
But doesn’t it also help to be blazingly fast and have a laser-like slapshot?
Yes.
What happens if a member of one team shoves or in some way disses the opponent’s goalie?
See first definition of “Old-time hockey.”
What’s an “enforcer”?
An intimidating player assigned by the coach to engage in a little old-time hockey when the situation warrants.
If I do decide to take my eye off the puck for a moment, what should I watch?
Check out the battles between attacking players parked right in front of the goal and the defenders who are trying to move them to the side.
But didn’t you say players can’t hit opponents not in possession of the puck?
OK. There are gray areas.
Was that song with the line “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” written about hockey players?
No. But it could have been.
What’s the “five-hole”?
The opening created when a goalie fails to keep his bulky shin pads pressed tightly together.
What’s meant when someone refers to a goalie “standing on his head”?
It means he made a spectacular save.
What’s a save?
Um, maybe you should be reading something else.
What’s something top-flight hockey players do effortlessly that I couldn’t do in a million years?
Lots of things. But after the whistle has been been blown sometime, watch a player gently flip the puck to one of the officials. A regular person couldn’t do that in 100 tries.
What’s a “breakaway”?
That’s when a player with possession of the puck is speeding toward the goal and there are no defenders around. It’s just the attacking player and the goalie. It’s one of the best moments in hockey.
When longtime hockey fans start talking a lot of insider stuff about neutral-zone traps and odd-man rushes, what are they really saying?
They’re saying that despite what you’ve heard about facial stitches and missing teeth, mental toughness is what decides who wins hockey games.
Well, that and talent.
What’s the most appealing tradition in sports?
Hockey teams that have been attempting to gouge and maim one another lining up to shake hands after the last game of a playoff series.