Ice Hockey

What is ice hockey?

Ice hockey is a team sport with six players for each team on the ice at the same time. Each team has a net, like soccer, and the team that scores more goals by shooting the hockey puck into the opposing team’s net wins. The players wear skates to move around the ice.

Hockey players

Six players take to the ice for each team. Five players try to score a point, using a hockey stick to shoot the puck and try to get it in the other team’s net. The sixth player is a goalie who tries to stop pucks from entering their net.

How to win

The team that shoots the puck more often into the opposing team’s net wins. The puck must completely cross the goal line, which is red in colour, and painted on the ice between the posts of the net so it is clear when a goal is scored.

Equipment

The goalie guards the net and stops the hockey puck from going into the net. The puck looks like a flattened ball or a small thick black pancake. The goalie wears special padding to protect him/her from injury when being hit by the puck; the padding, which looks like big pillows attached to the legs, is large, to cover much of the net. The goalie wears skates, pants, chest and arm protectors for stopping shots, a blocker for the hand that holds the goal stick, a catching glove similar to a baseball glove to catch pucks, a neck protector and a goalie mask that protects the face.

In front of the goalie are five players (two who play defense, three who try to score goals). The five players wear ice skates, shin and knee pads, pants, gloves, elbow pads, shoulder pads and a helmet.

Sport lingo

Puck – the object players hit with their sticks to score a goal. The puck is a small, black disk made of rubber about one inch thick, and three inches wide.
Hockey stick –usually made from wood, aluminum or graphite,it has a long rectangular shaft like a broom handle, with a flat blade at the end that extends out from the shaft and is used to shoot and pass the puck
Goal – has two meanings: what you score when you shoot the puck into the net; and a term for the net itself
Shot – a player takes a shot when he/she hits the puck toward the net with his/her stick
Penalty – a player who makes an illegal move is given a penalty, and he/she will sit out of the game for a short period; his/her team plays one person short
Goalie – guards the net and prevents the other team from shooting the puck in
Defensemen – two players in front of the goalie, who try to prevent the other team from shooting or scoring on net. Defensemen can themselves score goals against the other team
Forwards – three players who try to score against the opposing team
Ice rink – hockey is played on an ice surface, surrounded by boards to keep the puck in. A common rink size in professional North American hockey is 200 feet long by 85 feet wide