The game is divided into three periods
of 20 minutes playing time each, with a 15-minute intermission
between periods.
A face-off begins each period and
is used as well after a goal and after any stoppage
of play. The goalie rarely leaves his goal area.
The usual alignments of the other five
players are three forwards--the centre, a left wing,
and a right wing--and two defensemen--a left defenseman
and a right defenseman.
A player may handle the puck as often
or as long as he likes, so long as he does not close
his glove on the puck or touch the puck with a stick
that is higher than shoulder level. A player may not
pass the puck with his open hand. The goalie, however,
is generally not subject to these restrictions.
Checking--body contact to take
an opponent out of play--is permitted anywhere on the
ice.
In most leagues, including the NHL, players
may not make or take a pass that has traveled over a
red line and a blue line; if this occurs, the play is
ruled offside. A face-off, in which an official
drops the puck between opposing players, follows the
infraction.In hockey competition that has no red line,
an offside infraction involves a pass that has traveled
across the two blue lines. Face-offs are held at the
point of the infraction. Players who precede the puck
into the attacking zone also are ruled offside, and
a face-off is held at a face-off spot near the attacking
blue line.
Hockey games may end in a tie unless the
rules stipulate an overtime period to serve as a tiebreaker.
NHL teams play a five-minute sudden-death overtime
period. During the play-offs the NHL has the same
system with 20-minute periods.
In organized ice hockey a victory is worth
two points in the standings; a tie is worth one. A goal
counts as a point for the team, but individual points
may be awarded to as many as three players for one goal.
One point goes to the player who scored the goal, and
a point is awarded for an assist to each of the last
two of the scorer's teammates who touched the puck,
providing that the opposition did not handle the puck
in the interim.
Of the major sports ice hockey is the
only one in which substitutions are permitted while
the game is in play. The game is so fast and so demanding
that forwards generally skate only 90 seconds
at a time. Defensemen usually stay on the ice
for a slightly longer period of time.
Because of the speed and contact there
are many infractions, not all of them having to do with
"hitting" penalties. Play is stopped for an offside
and for the infraction called icing, which occurs
when a team shoots the puck out of its zone past the
other team's goal line. Icing is not called against
a team when it is shorthanded; if the teams are evenhanded
or if the offending team has more players than the opposing
team, the puck is returned to the defensive zone of
the team that iced it for the face-off. No player, however,
may delay the game by intentionally shooting the puck
out of the rink or by shifting the goalposts.
Minor penalties are most commonly
assessed for excessive use of the body or equipment
to impede the opposition. For a minor infraction the
offending player must remain in the penalty box
at the side of the rink for two minutes while his team
plays shorthanded.
This man-advantage situation is called
a power play. If the opponents score at any time
during the penalty period, the penalized player may
return to the ice. Penalties incurred by the goalie
are served by a teammate. A major penalty for
violent play results in the loss of a player for five
minutes or for the remainder of the game. If major penalties
are incurred simultaneously by both teams, substitutions
are made and there is no shorthanded play. A game misconduct
penalty for abusing an official results in the loss
of a player for 10 minutes; however, a substitution
is allowed, and the team does not play shorthanded.
There are three common types of shots
in hockey: the slap shot, the wrist shot, and the backhander.
The slap shot has been timed at more than 100 miles
an hour (160 km an hour). The slap shot differs from
the wrist shot in that the player brings his stick back
until it is nearly perpendicular with the ice and then
brings the stick down in an arc, swatting the puck as
he follows through. It is not as accurate as the wrist
shot, in which the player puts his stick on the ice
near the puck and without a windup snaps his wrist to
fire off a shot. The backhander is taken when the puck
goes to the other side of the stick from which the player
normally shoots. If he is a right-handed shooter, for
example, he takes the backhander from his left side.
It is taken when there is not enough time to shift the
puck to his normal shooting position. The backhander
generally is not as hard or as accurate as the wrist
shot, but it has the advantage of being taken quickly.
(Brittanica encyclopedia)
