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The Rink and the Rules
The
game of hockey and its rules are both simple and complicated.
The object of the game is simply to score more goals than your
opponent. However the various
strategies and team dynamics to achieve this objective are complex and the
rules and the rink itself can be a important part of winning. A
complete understanding of the rules of
the game and the environment in which it is played can give a
player an edge. Even if you
have played the game for years,
you may not have a complete understanding of the rules.
We recommend that even experienced players review this chapter.
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The
Rink 4
- 1 Standard Ice Hockey Rink The
rink is surrounded by boards that are 4 feet tall and usually have
Plexiglas that extends another 4 feet above the boards.
The boards should all be joined together smoothly and the doors to
the rink should close securely. Poorly
maintained boards can be dangerous and you should think twice about
playing on this type of rink. The
ice surface on indoor rinks is usually maintained with a special vehicle -
predominantly made by the Zamboni company.
The Zamboni machine has blades that removes about 1/4 of an inch of
ice and then applies an even coat of water to resurface the ice. To help the rink maintenance staff (and to get onto the ice as quickly as possible) it a good idea to help in moving the nets when resurfacing begins. Push the nets into the center of the rink as the Zamboni makes its first pass along the boards. Then move the nets onto the ice that has surfaced and leave the rink. After the Zamboni is done, you should not enter the ice until after the maintenance crew has shoveled all the Zamboni ice off the rink and closed up the boards. If the rink is not extremely cold, the ice may not set up quickly. If you can wait a few minutes before beginning skating, you will have a better surface for your game. If
your rink has been used by figure skaters, you should look for holes as
you first skate on a newly resurfaced rink.
Figure skaters jumps can gouge fairly large holes in the ice.
These holes can be
filled with ice shavings and water and then smoothed with a puck.
Figure skaters prefer the ice temperature to be 32 degrees
Fahrenheit to cushion their jumps. 25
degrees is better for hockey. Rinks
will have the players benches, penalty boxes and the scorer's tables
located in a variety of locations around the rink.
Be aware of their location as this can be used to a team's
advantage when a penalized player returns to the rink. In-line
hockey rinks are more varied in size and can range from 200' by 100' to
145' by 65'. The surface
needs to be smooth and may be asphalt,
wood, concrete or interlocking tiles.
Because many in-line rinks are installed in spaces used for other
activities, many have temporary boards that can be easily moved and
stored. These boards can be as small as 8" high to the full
48" regular sized boards. Blank
rink diagrams are included on this site - Click here for Ice
Hockey and click here for In-line diagrams.
Make copies of these diagrams and use them to draw plays with your
teammates. Rink
Markings The
blue lines separate the rink into thirds.
The center line is dashed and colored red. The goal line is red and extends across the front of the goal
to both boards. To score, the
puck must completely clear the goal line inside the goal. The
crease is a semi circle in front of the goal.
Older rinks may still have the crease as a rectangle, but most
rinks now have the semi circle. A
goal will not count if an offensive player is in the crease (unless an
offensive player is pushed into the crease by a defender.) There is one face-off circle in the center of the rink and two at each end. They are all 15 feet in diameter. During a face-off all players, other than those facing off, must keep their skates outside of the circle. The face-off circles at each end contain small lines (known as "hash marks"). During a face-off, opposing players must keep their skates out of the circle and behind the hash marks. The hash marks are useful markers for team strategy discussions, as a defensive player may tell a wing to stay at the hash mark by the boards to await a break out pass. There
are also four face-off dots outside the blue lines. These are used for off
sides calls (see below) and other stoppages in the games.
The referees position the players when these face-off dots are
used. Because
in-line hockey is more of an "open" game, the in-line rink is
only divided into two halves by the center line.
In-line hockey does not use blue lines. Rink
Zones 4 - 2 Rink Zones
The
three portions of the rink are known as the offensive zone, the neutral
zone (also called center ice), and the defensive zone. Although most hockey coaching focuses on offensive or
defensive zone play, there has been considerable attention paid lately to
the neutral zone. The best teams - pro, college or amateur - have strategies
developed and well executed for play in the neutral zone. The
best place to shoot from in the offensive zone is the "slot".
The slot extends from in front the goal for about 20 feet.
Defensive players will try to keep the offense out of the slot or
at least have the offense players tied up.
Defensive
players are positioned at the "points" when their team is on
offense. As the puck moves
from one side of the rink to the other, the defense moves along the blue
line. One defender should
always be close to the boards while the other is more towards the center. There is always debate about how close to the blue line the
defensive player should stay when they are on the point.
If they move closer to the goal they are "pinching in."
Chapter 9 provides more information on defensive positioning. Players
positions are sometimes referred to as "high or low."
If a player is high they are usually between the face-off dot and
the blue line. If they are
low they are between the face-off dot and the goal line.
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Goal 4 - 3 Ice Hockey Goal and Net
Most
new goals have the netting strung very tightly. This can cause a very hard shot to enter the goal and pop
back out as though the goalie stopped it.
Adult hockey leagues do not normally have goal judges standing by the
nets. If your team has some
players with strong shots you may
want to remind the referees to play close attention to pucks that are hit
hard at the net. Our
team got a new player mid season who had a very hard shot.
In his first game he took a shot from the slot where it hit the back
of the net and bounced back into play.
The referees did not see the goal and play continued.
When he got back to the bench we told him "its a league rule
that your first goal doesn't count!"
Fortunately, we won the game going away.
- Dan
Outdoor
ice rinks Outdoor
rinks can sometimes have large cracks in them - especially if they are on a
pond or lake. Many a good
hockey player has sprained an ankle or twisted a knee on an outdoor rink due
to their skates catching in cracks. Don't
skate backwards if you see cracks! Although
play on outdoor rinks tends to be casual, you should always wear some of
your gear. Pads, gloves
and elbow protectors are a
minimum requirement. You will also notice that your skates will need more
frequent sharpening after skating outdoors because the ice is harder. Outdoor
rinks can have pick up games or they may be relatively unoccupied.
It is useful to practice individual skills such as stick handling and
shooting on these rinks. Avoid playing long shifts on an outdoor rink in a pick up
game. Unfortunately, you may
pick up lazy habits to conserve
energy. These will not serve
you well when you are in a real
game and skating short and intense shifts. If
you like do it yourself projects, there is nothing as much fun as your own
backyard rink.
Periods The
best way to play is "stop time."
This is the way pro, college and high school teams play.
A period is 15 to 20 minutes long and the time stops when the whistle
is blown by the referee. Stop time lets a team strategize more carefully.
It also allows for line changes in an orderly manner. If
you cannot afford a stop time game, another option is "running
time." In this option the clock is not stopped for whistles and the
period is over when the period time elapses.
Unfortunately, running time allows a team that is ahead to stall
during faces-offs to preserve their lead. In
some leagues, the games are played stop time until they get close to the end
of the rental period. The
referees then move to running time to complete the game.
This happens frequently if the teams are tied and they move into an
overtime period. In-line
hockey is played with two 12
-15 minute stop time halves or two 22 minute running time halves. Players In-line
hockey has only four skaters and a goalie.
In-line hockey requires more room due to the need to skate in larger
patterns. In- line teams usually play two offensive and two defensive
skaters. One of the defensive
players frequently rotates up to play "wing" on the attack and
then back to play defense. Players
normally skate a shift of 30 seconds to 2 minutes, with a 60 second shift as
the optimal target for most adults players.
Teams need to pay attention to the shift time on the rink as the
tendency is for players to stay out too long.
A good practice is for the next line on the rink to keep track of the
current line's time on the rink. As
this time approaches 60 seconds, they should start to shout to their team
mates to get off. Even if the
forwards think they have a good rush going, it is almost always better to
dump the puck into the corner and get "fresh legs" onto the rink. Hockey
has the unique rule of allowing players to "change on the fly."
For a one player to replace another while the game continues, they
must skate to the bench. Both players can be on the rink surface together, but the
player leaving the rink cannot play a puck that may come within their area.
If a player leaves the bench and another player does not get off ,
the team has "too many players" and the referees can invoke a two
minute penalty. A
team's ability to effectively change on the fly is a team skill that can
make a big difference in winning games.
To do this requires discipline from the next set of players onto the
rink. Every player
should know if they are the next player on the rink and what position they
are to take. As a player leaves
the rink and heads toward the bench they should shout out their position -
"right wing". The new
right wing should then enter. The
next line needs to watch and anticipate line changes and not get caught up
in watching the game. Some
teams make it a practice for the players coming to the bench to use the
doors into the team bench . The players entering the rink go over the
boards. When you are coming off
the rink make sure to swing wide so your teammates can enter directly into
play. Another practice is to
seat defensive players on the bench closest to their goal and the forwards
farthest from the goal. This
helps both positions get into the play more quickly.
These techniques are very useful as there is nothing more
embarrassing (or painful) than colliding with your teammate on a change. The
best time to change on the fly is when you are on the attack.
If you can bring the puck into the neutral zone and make a
slow shot into the corner, all players
can change. Never change
on the fly when you are in your own defensive zone.
Teammates should pay special attention if a player on the rink looks
like they are tiring. They may
be very involved in the game and not notice how long they have been on the
rink. A friendly holler to get off will probably be appreciated -
especially by their legs! Uniforms
and Captains A
team's captain wears a "C" on their shoulder and the assistant
captains wear an "A." The
captains have the special function on the rink of talking to the referees.
Captains can ask a referee how they interpreted the rules in making a
call. A good captain will also
ask the referees to watch the other team for some of the more subtle
penalties such as holding and interference.
Stopping
play Off
sides Figure 4 - 4 Off sides
A
player is in the zone when both of their skates are inside the outside edge
of the blue line. This rule
allows a skater that is ahead of the puck carrier to skate along the blue
line with one skate in the neutral zone until the puck carrier enters the
zone. This technique is helpful
because it allows the attacker to maintain speed rather than pulling up and
stopping at the blue line. If
an attacking player is off side but the puck is picked up and
controlled by the defending team a delayed off side is indicated by the
referee with one arm held vertically. Play
will only stop if an attacking
player touches the puck inside the defensive zone.
If all the attackers leave the offensive zone, the delayed offside is
canceled. Delayed
offside can be of strategic advantage to the defending team. It allows the
defense to move the puck up ice with no risk until they reach the neutral
zone. A good defensive
player will move carefully out of the zone and hit a wing or center with an
accurate pass as they break quickly across the neutral zone.
An
intentional offside can be called by the officials if they believe an
attacking team created an offside situation in order stop play. The face-off for an intentional offside occurs in the
attacking team's defensive zone.
A player on the offending team does not want to hear these words from
the referee - "all the way down!" The
offside rule is an option in in-line hockey.
When a league uses this rule, the center line acts as the offside
line in the same manner as the blue line in ice hockey. When
the in-line offside rule is used, the player with the puck must have full
control as they cross the center line.
If an attacking player precedes the puck, which is not passed or
deflected into the attacking zone, but a defending player is able to play
the puck, then plays continues and no offside penalty is called. The
defending team must pass or carry the puck.
All attacking players must clear the offensive zone by leaving it or
making skate contact with the center line. The
attacking team may have players other than the player with the puck in the
attacking zone. However, these
other players may not touch the puck until after the player with the puck
enters the attacking zone in control of the puck. The Rink and the Rules continues on the next page.
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