@aflalimo pull up a chair or stay on the couch it doesn’t matter.
The origins of hockey can be dated as far back as 1272 BC in Ireland. Based off a sport called Hurling. It was a ball sport played with curved wooden sticks, called hooki sticks. It was banned for some reason on which is unknown. Canadians, Finns, and Czechs. Are crazy about hockey. The modern ice version is what I will be talking about here first the rink.
It is 200 feet long from end to end and 85 feet wide. It is broken up into three zones. A defending zone, an attacking zone, and a neutral zone. Each side has a goal crease and a trapezoid which didn’t exist until 2004. There are nine dots on the ice, five of them have circles, four of them have hash marks, and four of them are just solid dots. The rink has five different lines the two goal lines, two blue lines, and the center red line which is broken into increments that are usually two feet apart.
The game is played with six players on the Ice. In the following positions:
Left wing Center Right wing
Left defenseman Right Defensman
Goalkeeper
A typical team consists of twenty players. twelve forwards, six defenseman, and two keepers. There are two officials on the ice at all times. A linesman and the main referee who calls penalties and reviews plays. There is also a scorekeeper and a goal judge behind each net behind the glass.
The game starts with a face off at the neutral zone center dot and circle. The three fowards line up with the center taking the face off or draw in player lingo. The two defenseman line up behind the three forwards. The main referee drops the puck which is then put into play by the winner of the draw. Now play begins, with the forwards skating towards the attacking zone.
Onside/offside:
If the skating forward crosses the blue line with the puck entering first play is considered onside, if the skater is over the blue line before the puck, the play is offside and blown dead. There is a face off on the neutral zone dot where the offside incindent happened.
Icing:
Icing occurs when a player shoots the puck out of the defending zone, past both blue lines , the red line, and the goal line. Play is stopped and there is a face off in the defending zone on whichever side the icing occurred in one of the hashmarked circles. Icing can be waved off if the opposing goalkeeper touches the puck after it crosses the second blue line in the attacking zone.
The trapezoid is a space behind the net where goalkeepers can handle the puck. They can’t handle the puck outside of the trapezoid once in the trapezoid or its a game misconduct penalty. Its existence is because of Martin Brodeur. More about him later.
The Crease:
This is the goalkeepers home. Inside of the crease the keeper can’t be touched or interfered with in any way or it’s a penalty. The keeper can and does defend his home. I’ve been guilty of a few hooks and slashes to get assholes out of the crease. As long as the ref doesn’t see it you can get away with it. But I digress.
Each goal is secured with two metal pegs that are inserted into the ice and play will be stopped when the goal comes off, which happens sometimes but not often. Until recently there was no protective netting outside the back glass. This has only been around since the late 2000’s.
When the goalkeeper holds onto the puck it is considered frozen. Play stops and there is a face off occurring in the attacking zone at one of the hashmarked circles depending on which side the shot was taken
Penalties:
Penalties are arranged from minor penalties to major penalties. When a player is penalized he is sent to the sin bin(penalty box) and the team is down a man and therefore short handed, the opposing team is on the Power Play. Once the penalty is served the player is allowed to leave the box and return to the ice. Which makes the play even strength.
Minor penalties:
Minor penalties last 2:00 minutes and consist of the following. Hooking, high-sticking, slashing, spearing, delay of game, goalkeeper interference, and a few others.
Major penalties:
Major penalties last 5:00 minutes and consist of the following. Fighting, Blatant Slashes causing injury. High sticks that draw blood, game misconduct, and a few others.
There are three periods of play each lasting twenty minutes. There are two intermission periods lasting fifteen minutes between the first and second, between the second and third. After the game there is a handshake line, and the three stars of the game are chosen.
Notable players in each position:
Left wing: Henrik Zetterberg(Detroit Red Wings) Ted Lindsay(Detroit Red Wings) Markus Naslund(Vancouver Canucks) Paul Kariya( Anaheim Ducks) and my personal favorite Alexander Ovechkin( Washington Capitals)
Center: Wayne Gretzky( Edmonton Oilers) Steve Yzerman( Detroit Red Wings) Sidney Crosby(Pittsburgh Penguins) Sergei Fedorov(Detroit Red Wings) Peter Forsberg( Colorado Avalanche)
Right wing: Nikita Kucherov(Tampa Bay Lightning) Blake Wheeler(Winnipeg Jets) Martin St. Louis( Tampa Bay Lightning) Teemu Selanne( San Jose Sharks) Gordie Howe(Detroit Red Wings)
Defenseman: Niklas Lidstrom(Detroit Red Wings) Ray Bourque( Boston Bruins) Scott Stevens( New Jersey Devils) Drew Doughty(Los Angeles Kings) Brett Burns(San Jose Sharks)
Goalkeepers: Braden Holtby(Washington Capitals) Patrick Roy(Montreal Canadiens) Dominic Hasek(Detroit Red Wings) Martin Brodeur( New Jersey Devils)and my personal favorite Pekka Rinne(Nashville Predators)
The trapezoid exists because of Martin Brodeur he was an adept puck handler and the only goalkeeper to score multiple goals(3) to minimize his puck handling the league brought in the trapezoid and the game misconduct penalty. He is also has the most wins of any goalkeeper and the record For shutouts.
Pekka Rinne
Teams I like: Detroit Red Wings, Washington Capitals, Nashville Predators
Teams I can’t stand: Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Philadelphia Flyers.
Hope this helps you better understand the greatest sport in the world. This took a little longer to write because I was watching the Sox game.
