You know how you send your child to his room when he does something he shouldn't? Well, that's kind of how penalties work – if a player misbehaves he has to take a seat. Exactly what he did determines the length of his "timeout."
• Minor penalties (two minutes) include tripping, elbowing, roughing and high sticking (hitting another player above the waist with your stick).
• Major penalties (five minutes) are called for more serious violations such as fighting, checking (or hitting) from behind and spearing (stabbing another player with the blade of your stick), as well as on minor penalties when the offending player uses too much force or injures the other player.
• Misconducts (10 minutes) are called for egregious displays of poor sportsmanship or if a player commits a second major penalty.
8. What are the positions?
• Goalie: your team's last line of defense, it's this player's responsibility to stop the puck from going in the net – by any means necessary
• Defensemen: the two players who's main job is to stop the other team from scoring; they match up against the wingers on the other team
• Forwards: the centre stays mostly in the middle of the ice and handles face-offs; the right and left wingers patrol their sides of the ice and are responsible for going after pucks in the corners
9. Glossary of common terms
Icing: when an offensive player shoots the puck from behind the centre line to behind the other team's goal line (the red line at the end of the ice) without it being touched
Offside: when an offensive player enters into the other team's zone before the puck does
Hat trick: three or more goals scored by one player in a game
Gordie Howe hat trick: when a player has a goal, an assist and a fight in the same game
Power play: when one team has more players on the ice because the other team has been called for a penalty; also called "the man advantage"
Shorthanded: when one team plays with one or two fewer players on the ice because of a penalty or penalties; also called "the penalty kill"
10. Common slang and lingo
Deke: when an offensive player fakes out (or tricks) a defensive player with a fancy move, allowing him to skate by
Five hole: the space between the goalie's pads
Sin bin: the penalty box
Top shelf: the top part of the net; could also say "going upstairs" or "the cookie jar"
Fisticuffs: a fight
Slot: the area in front of the net between the faceoff circles
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