Ice Hockey - basic rules explanation needed?

[lukas86]

Hey all,
Im an Australian and Im heading to Canada in may. Im interested in ice hockey, however, it virtually doesn't exist here due to the climate, and you can only watch the NHL if you have cable (pay) tv.

I just need a few rules explained...any help would be appreciated.

1) What is Icing, and does icing exist when teams are shorthanded during power plays?

2) Offsides

3) Fighting and bumping opposition players- does the puck have to be within reach when bumping?

4) 'Freezing the puck'

And can any player skate anywhere, or do the forwards stay in the forward 3rd, defence in the back half etc.

Thank you very much

If anyone wants Aussie rules football, Rugby League or Cricket explained don't hesitate to ask.

Lukas

[Araillac]

Well I know one rule is, you have to be a hockey player to date Elisha Cuthbert. So I might work on that.

[popinfresh]

Do they actually BOUNCE the ball whilst running in 'Aussie rules'?

[CrispyDelicious]

Sigh... Of all the things my country has to be associated with to the point of being stereotyped... Hockey. We also like drinkin' beer, eh? Don't forget your toque! Maybe you can find a hot Mountie and pour maple syrup over her!

[popinfresh]

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

Sigh... Of all the things my country has to be associated with to the point of being stereotyped... Hockey. We also like drinkin' beer, eh? Don't forget your toque! Maybe you can find a hot Mountie and pour maple syrup over her!

That's because the majority of people in Canada follow hockey.

Idiot.

[Sandvich Hero]

Yeah, just who in hell still plays that hockey thing ??? Damn stereotypes.

On to business :

1) What is Icing, and does icing exist when teams are shorthanded during power plays?

Icing is if you dump the puck all the way to the end of the ice before crossing the red (middle) line. It penalized in that you have to faceoff in your own zone if you do so (and cannot switch player, new NHL rule). And yes, it is tolerated when you are shorthanded.

2) Offsides

THE PUCK ENTERS THE ZONE FIRST. (the other team's zone that is). If not (player enters backward, other player already in zone), the play is stopped and there is a faceoff right outside the zone.

3) Fighting and bumping opposition players- does the puck have to be within reach when bumping?
Checking is an art. But quickly put, you can only check the player that has the puck, or within +- 1 sec of him losing the puck. Fighting is, well, just that. Refs let 2 guys beat each other, usually until one is down on the ice, they both get 5 mins. penalties and that's it. The purpose of fights and whether it should be kept or not is more and more disputed lately

4) 'Freezing the puck'
Only the goalie can do that. He covers the puck with whatever body part he wishes too for a couple seconds and the play is stopped, followed by a faceoff near the goalie. Allows things to cool down a bit for the defensive team, as well as changing players. If another player willingly freezes the puck, he better have a good reason or he will get a 2 minutes for delaying the game.

[CrispyDelicious]

Originally Posted by popinfresh

That's because the majority of people in Canada follow hockey.

Idiot.

Feel better now? Sense of humour, kid. Get one.

[stevetx19]

Originally Posted by lukas86

And can any player skate anywhere, or do the forwards stay in the forward 3rd, defence in the back half etc.

Any player can skate anywhere on the ice, as long as they are aware of being offsides, as has already been explained. There are many defensemen who can lead a rush, and there are many forwards who are defensive specialist. You see the most rotation during powerplays(penalties make the game 5 on 4 for their duration)

[popinfresh]

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

Feel better now? Sense of humour, kid. Get one.

iiiirronnyy!

[DblG]

Originally Posted by lukas86

And can any player skate anywhere, or do the forwards stay in the forward 3rd, defence in the back half etc.


Lukas

Any player can skate anywhere. The defenseman can skate w/ the puck to the net if he pleases, but he'd better hope one of his forwards covers for him on the blue line else a 2-on-one or worse can happen in the other direction if he doesn't put it in the net.

[Sandvich Hero]

Better yet, just go rent NHL 09, 2k9 or whatever hockey video game, and after a couple hours, you will be all set

[XtreO]

Cricket. I've never understood. Man it's a wierd sport, just like when I tried to get snooker. People cheering at comepletly incoherant places ans stuff. So what are the rules of cricket?

[spalatalatan]

not to be overbearing with questions to you but, whats the basic concept of rugby? i bought a rugby video game a while ago because it was 3$ and me and a friend tried to play it, but i couldnt even figure out the basic concept...i lost apparently...

[Barfly]

Originally Posted by popinfresh

That's because the majority of people in Canada follow hockey.

Idiot.

Well played.

[warwick.hoy]

Originally Posted by Sandvich Hero

Yeah, just who in hell still plays that hockey thing ??? Damn stereotypes.

On to business :

1) What is Icing, and does icing exist when teams are shorthanded during power plays?

Icing is if you dump the puck all the way to the end of the ice before crossing the red (middle) line. It penalized in that you have to faceoff in your own zone if you do so (and cannot switch player, new NHL rule). And yes, it is tolerated when you are shorthanded.

Also there are no TV timeouts after an Icing call.

Originally Posted by Sandvich Hero

2) Offsides

THE PUCK ENTERS THE ZONE FIRST. (the other team's zone that is). If not (player enters backward, other player already in zone), the play is stopped and there is a faceoff right outside the zone.

That's why there are those 2 faceoff dots right outside the blue line.

Originally Posted by Sandvich Hero

3) Fighting and bumping opposition players- does the puck have to be within reach when bumping?
Checking is an art. But quickly put, you can only check the player that has the puck, or within +- 1 sec of him losing the puck. Fighting is, well, just that. Refs let 2 guys beat each other, usually until one is down on the ice, they both get 5 mins. penalties and that's it. The purpose of fights and whether it should be kept or not is more and more disputed lately

You can finish a check if a player passes the puck, but you better hope that the puck doesn't reach his teammate in the meantime. This is a bit discretionary on the part of the refs. You can get called on interference or roughing if you check a player that hasn't touched the puck for a while.

Fights are a whole other thread....but here is my take.

Fights are tolerated (and should be) because of the physical and violent nature of the game. Enforcers are the token fighters on a team. If you see a smaller skilled teammate being roughed up by bigger guys it is you job as a teammate to stand up for that player. You jaw at each other..."you wanna go go....you wanna go...ok let's go." Fights can also be used to change the momentum of the game.

There is also a fighters code that doesn't get talked about much when people debate fights. I've heard where there were instances where a player may have bruised up hands from a previous fight and my bow out of a fight and the opposing enforcer respects that. An honorable fighter will not hit a player after they have already hit the ice. An honorable fighter will not challenge another enforcer and then turtle out of the fight. If the other enforcer drops his gloves and the turtle does not then the enforcer gets a two minute minor...unsportsmanlike/roughing/delay of game....something like that.

Originally Posted by Sandvich Hero

4) 'Freezing the puck'
Only the goalie can do that. He covers the puck with whatever body part he wishes too for a couple seconds and the play is stopped, followed by a faceoff near the goalie. Allows things to cool down a bit for the defensive team, as well as changing players. If another player willingly freezes the puck, he better have a good reason or he will get a 2 minutes for delaying the game.

Good reason would be if the puck gets caught up in your equipment/pads/paraphernalia. If a puck is halted for a long period of time in a scrum along the boards the refs will usually blow the play dead and faceoff in the nearest FO dot.

NHL Rulebook PDF

[tplyons]

Originally Posted by Sandvich Hero

Yeah, just who in hell still plays that hockey thing ??? Damn stereotypes.

On to business :

1) What is Icing, and does icing exist when teams are shorthanded during power plays?

Icing is if you dump the puck all the way to the end of the ice before crossing the red (middle) line. It penalized in that you have to faceoff in your own zone if you do so (and cannot switch player, new NHL rule). And yes, it is tolerated when you are shorthanded.

2) Offsides

THE PUCK ENTERS THE ZONE FIRST. (the other team's zone that is). If not (player enters backward, other player already in zone), the play is stopped and there is a faceoff right outside the zone.

3) Fighting and bumping opposition players- does the puck have to be within reach when bumping?
Checking is an art. But quickly put, you can only check the player that has the puck, or within +- 1 sec of him losing the puck. Fighting is, well, just that. Refs let 2 guys beat each other, usually until one is down on the ice, they both get 5 mins. penalties and that's it. The purpose of fights and whether it should be kept or not is more and more disputed lately

4) 'Freezing the puck'
Only the goalie can do that. He covers the puck with whatever body part he wishes too for a couple seconds and the play is stopped, followed by a faceoff near the goalie. Allows things to cool down a bit for the defensive team, as well as changing players. If another player willingly freezes the puck, he better have a good reason or he will get a 2 minutes for delaying the game.

Very good overview right here.

Originally Posted by stevetx19

Any player can skate anywhere on the ice, as long as they are aware of being offsides, as has already been explained. There are many defensemen who can lead a rush, and there are many forwards who are defensive specialist. You see the most rotation during powerplays(penalties make the game 5 on 4 for their duration)

Except there are now restrictions on goalie movement. The goalie can no longer take the puck into the corners, but can move around the trapezoid behind the goal line or anywhere in front of the goal line. I guess that's the only real restriction.

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

Also there are no TV timeouts after an Icing call.

That's why there are those 2 faceoff dots right outside the blue line.

You can finish a check if a player passes the puck, but you better hope that the puck doesn't reach his teammate in the meantime. This is a bit discretionary on the part of the refs. You can get called on interference or roughing if you check a player that hasn't touched the puck for a while.

Fights are a whole other thread....but here is my take.

Fights are tolerated (and should be) because of the physical and violent nature of the game. Enforcers are the token fighters on a team. If you see a smaller skilled teammate being roughed up by bigger guys it is you job as a teammate to stand up for that player. You jaw at each other..."you wanna go go....you wanna go...ok let's go." Fights can also be used to change the momentum of the game.

There is also a fighters code that doesn't get talked about much when people debate fights. I've heard where there were instances where a player may have bruised up hands from a previous fight and my bow out of a fight and the opposing enforcer respects that. An honorable fighter will not hit a player after they have already hit the ice. An honorable fighter will not challenge another enforcer and then turtle out of the fight. If the other enforcer drops his gloves and the turtle does not then the enforcer gets a two minute minor...unsportsmanlike/roughing/delay of game....something like that.

Good reason would be if the puck gets caught up in your equipment/pads/paraphernalia. If a puck is halted for a long period of time in a scrum along the boards the refs will usually blow the play dead and faceoff in the nearest FO dot.

NHL Rulebook PDF

There you go, read the rulebook, it's strangely addictive.

[PSPookie]

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

Sigh... Of all the things my country has to be associated with to the point of being stereotyped... Hockey. We also like drinkin' beer, eh? Don't forget your toque! Maybe you can find a hot Mountie and pour maple syrup over her!

You forgot to mention poutine.

[Sandvich Hero]

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

Also there are no TV timeouts after an Icing call.



That's why there are those 2 faceoff dots right outside the blue line.



You can finish a check if a player passes the puck, but you better hope that the puck doesn't reach his teammate in the meantime. This is a bit discretionary on the part of the refs. You can get called on interference or roughing if you check a player that hasn't touched the puck for a while.

Fights are a whole other thread....but here is my take.

Fights are tolerated (and should be) because of the physical and violent nature of the game. Enforcers are the token fighters on a team. If you see a smaller skilled teammate being roughed up by bigger guys it is you job as a teammate to stand up for that player. You jaw at each other..."you wanna go go....you wanna go...ok let's go." Fights can also be used to change the momentum of the game.

There is also a fighters code that doesn't get talked about much when people debate fights. I've heard where there were instances where a player may have bruised up hands from a previous fight and my bow out of a fight and the opposing enforcer respects that. An honorable fighter will not hit a player after they have already hit the ice. An honorable fighter will not challenge another enforcer and then turtle out of the fight. If the other enforcer drops his gloves and the turtle does not then the enforcer gets a two minute minor...unsportsmanlike/roughing/delay of game....something like that.



Good reason would be if the puck gets caught up in your equipment/pads/paraphernalia. If a puck is halted for a long period of time in a scrum along the boards the refs will usually blow the play dead and faceoff in the nearest FO dot.

NHL Rulebook PDF

Originally Posted by tplyons

Very good overview right here.

Except there are now restrictions on goalie movement. The goalie can no longer take the puck into the corners, but can move around the trapezoid behind the goal line or anywhere in front of the goal line. I guess that's the only real restriction.

There you go, read the rulebook, it's strangely addictive.

Pfff, I KNEW you guys would go all over details and exceptions. He asked for basics, BASICS

All good points though. And now that you have all the info, I, too, would like a basic overview of cricket (wikipedia is soooooo far away, and reading it here is just plain funnier )

[Sandvich Hero]

Originally Posted by PSPookie

You forgot to mention poutine.

He's right. We usually lick poutine off each other's body. Hope you don't mind that when you come up here ...

[tplyons]

Originally Posted by Sandvich Hero

Pfff, I KNEW you guys would go all over details and exceptions. He asked for basics, BASICS

Sorry, I got excited...