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I wanted to put together a thread for new hockey fans to help on some of the basics of the game. Happy to add to it if there’s other things that people had questions about!
Team basics: Teams can have 6 players on the ice at a time. 99% of the time, you’ll see 3 offensive players (left wing (LW), center (C), and right wing (RW)) 2 defensive players (LD/RD), and a goalie (G)
A combination of LW-C-RW is called an offensive line. A team will have 4 offensive lines, 3 defensive pairs (LD-RD), and 2 goalies (no, you can’t play both at the same time 
) for a game. Lines/pairs rotate on/off the ice about every 45 seconds.
) for a game. Lines/pairs rotate on/off the ice about every 45 seconds.
This may not seem like a long period of time, but imagine trying to all out sprint for 45 seconds at a time while people are hitting you. Teams may change what players make up a line throughout the game.
Players positions are determined based on where they stand for the faceoff. A faceoff occurs when a referee drops the puck between the sticks of the two centers. This has to happen at 1 of 9 dots on the ice. Players will line up for faceoffs like this:
LW-C-RW
LD RD
LW-C-RW
LD RD
In addition to the 9 faceoff dots, there are 5 lines on the ice: The Center line, 2 blue lines, and 2 goal lines.
I’m order to score, the puck must cross the goal line in it’s entirely. All goals are worth 1 point. Score more points than the other team and you win the game.
Games consist of 3, 20 minute periods with a 20 minute break in between periods. If it’s still tied, a sudden death, 5 minute overtime period is played. However, only 4 players can be on the ice instead of 6. If it’s still tied, a penalty shootout decides the winner, so no ties.
Rules basics:
Icing is when you shoot/pass the puck from behind the center line and goes past the other teams goal line without anyone touching it. This was a rule put in during the early days to prevent teams from trying to waste time when they were winning.
Icing is when you shoot/pass the puck from behind the center line and goes past the other teams goal line without anyone touching it. This was a rule put in during the early days to prevent teams from trying to waste time when they were winning.
When an icing happens, the faceoff occurs at one of the dots closest to the goalie whose team committed the icing. That team also is unable to change their players. Icing only counts if your team is at full strength (nobody on your team is in the penalty box).
Offsides is when a player on the offensive team crosses the blue line before the puck does. Play is not stopped unless someone who is offsides touches the puck, so you will see offsides players retreat back to the other side so the team can enter the offensive zone with the puck.
When a penalty occurs, players have to sit in the penalty box for a set amount of time (usually 2 minutes). Think of it as a timeout. The team with the player in the penalty box plays with one less player. The player stays until the 2 minutes are up or the other team scores.
If a team has 2 players in the box, they have to play with 2 less players on the ice. If they happen to have more than 2 in the box, they still only play with 2 less players.
If a team is losing at the end of a game, they will sometimes replace the goalie with an offensive player to increase their chances of scoring. This is called pulling the goalie. Icing still applies in this case because both teams still have 6 players on the ice.
