The object of the game
Two teams try to put the puck in the other team's net. The team with more goals at the end wins. Each team has five skaters and a goalie on the ice in standard ice hockey, and usually four skaters and a goalie in roller hockey. Players change on the fly, coming off the bench in short shifts of a minute or less in many games, since skating hard is tiring.
Faceoffs
A faceoff starts play at the beginning of each period and after every stoppage. The referee drops the puck between two players, usually centers, who try to win it back to a teammate. The other players must stay outside the faceoff circle until the puck drops. The faceoff spot depends on what caused the stoppage.
The three zones
The three zones
- Defending zoneFrom your own end boards to your blue line.
- Neutral zoneBetween the two blue lines, split by the red center line.
- Attacking zonePast the far blue line. Attackers may enter only behind the puck.
Two blue lines split the ice into three zones. The zone with your own goal is your defending zone. The middle is the neutral zone. The zone with the other team's goal is your attacking zone. Many rules, offside included, depend on these lines.
Offside
An attacking player may not cross the blue line into the attacking zone before the puck does. A simple way to remember it: the puck goes in first. If a player is offside, play stops and there is a faceoff outside the zone.
A player's skates decide it. Many rulebooks treat a player as onside if one skate is still on or behind the blue line when the puck crosses it. Some leagues let a team clear the zone and come back, called delayed offside, instead of stopping play right away.
Icing
Icing
- Behind centerThe puck is shot from the team's own half of the ice.
- All the way downNobody touches it before it crosses the far goal line.
- ResultPlay stops and the faceoff goes back to the shooting team's end.
Icing happens when a team shoots the puck from its own side of the center red line all the way across the other team's goal line, and nobody touches it. Play stops and the faceoff goes back to the end of the team that iced it. A team shorthanded by a penalty is usually allowed to ice the puck.
Leagues handle the race for the puck differently. Many use some form of no-touch or hybrid icing, where the linesman decides the call early so players do not crash into the boards. Ask your league which version it plays.
Common penalties
A penalized player sits in the penalty box and the team plays a player short, usually for two minutes for a minor penalty. These are the calls beginners see most:
| Penalty | What it means |
|---|---|
| Tripping | Using the stick, a leg or a body part to make an opponent fall. |
| Hooking | Using the stick blade to pull or hold back an opponent. |
| Slashing | Swinging the stick at an opponent's body or stick. |
| High-sticking | Hitting an opponent with a stick above the shoulders. |
| Holding | Grabbing an opponent or their stick with your hands. |
| Interference | Blocking a player who does not have the puck. |
| Roughing | Pushing, shoving or hitting after the whistle or in a no-check league. |
| Too many players | A team has more players on the ice than it is allowed, often from a sloppy line change. |
Body contact
Body checking, hitting an opponent with your body to separate them from the puck, is banned in nearly all adult recreational and beginner hockey. Incidental contact still happens when players reach the same puck. Know your league's rule, keep your head up and keep your stick down.
How roller hockey rules differ
Most roller hockey rulesets drop offside and icing, play with four skaters a side, and split the game into two halves. Penalties look much the same. The ice or roller guide covers the full list of differences.
Rules FAQ
What is a power play?
When one team has a player in the penalty box, the other team has more skaters on the ice. That team is on the power play. If it scores during a minor penalty, the penalized player usually returns early.
Can the goalie leave the crease?
Yes. The crease protects the goalie from contact, but the goalie can play the puck outside it. Some rules limit where a goalie can handle the puck behind the net.
Keep going
Positions
What centers, wings, defense and goalies do, and how roller hockey lines up with four skaters.
ChooseIce or roller?
How the two games differ in surface, skating, rules and gear, and which suits a hot place.
PlayFind a rink
Public skates, learn-to-play programs, stick and puck, drop-in and beginner leagues, and what to ask.