Introduction to Hockey

Parents' Introduction to Youth Hockey

Ice hockey is played on a rink, a sheet of ice which is approximately two-thirds the size of a football field, usually between 185 and 200 feet long and about 85 feet wide.

The game is played in three periods of equal length; 20 minutes for each period at most levels, but often 12 or 15 minutes in youth classifications. The sport involves four basic skills: skating, passing, stick-handling and shooting. These skills can be learned at any age, and the good hockey player continually works to improve and refine his or her skills.

Physical size is not an important factor in becoming a skilled and successful hockey player. Every player has an opportunity to be a part of the action, given the speed of the game, the number of players on a team and the size of the surface upon which the game is played.

Skating is the skill that makes hockey unique, and it's something that players at all levels of the sport continually strive to improve. Without adequate skating ability, players are less able to perform the other essential skills of the sport.

Stick-handling is perhaps the most difficult of the basic skills to master. It allows a skilled player to maneuver around opponents and create better offensive opportunities.

Passing is what makes hockey a true team sport and helps make the game fun. Passing gets everyone on the ice involved in the action and turns scoring into a team effort. Helping teammates experience success is what the game is all about, and passing allows the thrill of scoring to be shared.

Shooting is the end result of an offensive team play and is the action that produces a goal. Many players spend most of their time practicing shooting because they believe scoring is the most fun. Players should, however, place an equal emphasis on the other basic skills of hockey, given the fact most players generally take fewer than six shots in an entire game.

A team is comprised of a maximum of six players on the ice at any one time (see "penalties").

The goaltender is responsible for guarding the team's goal and preventing the opposing team from scoring.

The primary responsibility of the defensemen (two) is to prevent the opposing team from having a good shot at the goal. The defensemen also attempt to gain possession of the puck and pass to teammates to initiate an offensive scoring opportunity.

The primary responsibility of the forwards (three: right wing, center and left wing) is to score. However, forwards also assist the defensemen by back-checking after their team has yielded control of the puck to the opposition.

The ice surface is divided by blue lines into three zones: defensive, offensive and neutral.

The defensive zone is the area in which a team protects its own goal and attempts to keep the opposition from scoring.

This same zone is the opposing team's offensive zone, or the area in which they are attempting to score.

The neutral zone is the area between the two blue lines.

At higher levels of ice hockey competition, three officials — one referee (identified by an orange arm band) and two linesmen — are utilized. At the youth level, two officials (both of whom are referees) are common. The referee is the ultimate authority during the game and is primarily responsible for calling penalties and determining if goals have been legally scored.

The primary responsibilities of the linesmen include determining violations of off-side and icing while assisting the referee in enforcing the rules of the game.

Dropping the puck between one player from each team to initiate play.

Face offs occur at the start of each period and after a stoppage in play due to an off-side, icing or penalty.

Offside - An offensive player may not precede the puck across the blue line into the offensive zone.

Icing - When both teams have an equal number of players on the ice, a team may not shoot the puck from behind the center red line over their opponent's goal line (except if the puck goes into the goal). In upper levels of play, the puck must first be touched by a player from the defensive team before icing is called.

The playing rules of hockey are divided into three basic categories:

1) Violations that result in a face-off

2) Violations that result in a player being awarded a penalty shot

3) Violations that result in a player being sent to the penalty box for a specified period of time