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129-691: The Erie Blades name was used by two professional ice hockey teams in Erie, Pennsylvania . Both teams played their home games in the Erie County Field House . After the second Blades team folded, the void was filled by the Erie Golden Blades , a team in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League from 1982 to 1987. They changed the colors from orange and black, to gold and blue with the name change. The first team
258-419: A centre and two wingers : a left wing and a right wing . Forwards often play together as units or lines , with the same three forwards always playing together. The defencemen usually stay together as a pair generally divided between left and right. Left and right side wingers or defencemen are generally positioned on the side on which they carry their stick. A substitution of an entire unit at once
387-401: A penalty shootout . If the score remains tied after an extra overtime period, the subsequent shootout consists of three players from each team taking penalty shots. After these six total shots, the team with the most goals is awarded the victory. If the score is still tied, the shootout then proceeds to sudden death . Regardless of the number of goals scored by either team during the shootout,
516-614: A 1902 investigation by the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) revealed that players on Pittsburgh-based teams received payment in 1901 and 1902, leading the OHA to ban any club from Pittsburgh from participating in their association, claiming there was "ample and undeniable proof" that clubs in Pittsburgh were "purely professional, paying straight salaries to their players." The 1903-04 Portage Lakes Hockey Club
645-405: A chest protector, a goalie mask, and a large jersey. Goaltenders' equipment has continually become larger and larger, leading to fewer goals in each game and many official rule changes. Ice hockey skates are optimized for physical acceleration, speed and manoeuvrability. This includes rapid starts, stops, turns, and changes in skating direction. In addition, they must be rigid and tough to protect
774-537: A forward. The seventh defenceman may play as a substitute defenceman, spend the game on the bench, or if a team chooses to play four lines then this seventh defenceman may see ice-time on the fourth line as a forward. A professional ice hockey game consists of three periods of twenty minutes, the clock running only when the puck is in play. The teams change ends after each period of play, including overtime. Recreational leagues and children's leagues often play shorter games, generally with three shorter periods of play. If
903-549: A game is tied after regulation, then a 20-minute period of 5-on-5 sudden-death overtime will be added. If the game is still tied after the overtime, another period is added until a team scores, which wins the match. Since 2019, the IIHF World Championships and the gold medal game in the Olympics use the same format, but in a 3-on-3 format. In ice hockey, infractions of the rules lead to a play stoppage whereby
1032-412: A goal scored by the other team. Major penalties assessed for fighting are typically offsetting, meaning neither team is short-handed and the players exit the penalty box upon a stoppage of play following the expiration of their respective penalties. The foul of boarding (defined as "check[ing] an opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to be thrown violently in the boards") is penalized either by
1161-528: A larger blade and a wide, flat shaft. This stick is primarily intended to block shots, but the goaltender may use it to play the puck as well. Ice hockey is a full-contact sport and carries a high risk of injury. Players are moving at speeds around approximately 20–30 mph (30–50 km/h) and much of the game revolves around the physical contact between the players. Skate blades, hockey sticks, shoulder contact, hip contact, and hockey pucks can all potentially cause injuries. Lace bite , an irritation felt on
1290-507: A minor or major penalty at the discretion of the referee, based on the violent state of the hit. A minor or major penalty for boarding is often assessed when a player checks an opponent from behind and into the boards. Some varieties of penalty do not require the offending team to play a man short. Concurrent five-minute major penalties in the NHL usually result from fighting. In the case of two players being assessed five-minute fighting majors, both
1419-436: A neck protector. Goaltenders use different equipment. With hockey pucks approaching them at speeds of up to 100 mph (160 km/h) they must wear equipment with more protection. Goaltenders wear specialized goalie skates (these skates are built more for movement side to side rather than forwards and backwards), a jock or jill, large leg pads (there are size restrictions in certain leagues), blocking glove, catching glove,
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#17327880849801548-539: A penalty, but was an infraction in the NHL before recent rules changes, is the two-line offside pass . Prior to the 2005–06 NHL season, play was stopped when a pass from inside a team's defending zone crossed the centre line, with a face-off held in the defending zone of the offending team. Now, the centre line is no longer used in the NHL to determine a two-line pass infraction, a change that the IIHF had adopted in 1998. Players are now able to pass to teammates who are more than
1677-409: A player may receive up to nineteen minutes in penalties for one string of plays. This could involve receiving a four-minute double-minor penalty, getting in a fight with an opposing player who retaliates, and then receiving a game misconduct after the fight. In this case, the player is ejected and two teammates must serve the double-minor and major penalties. A penalty shot is awarded to a player when
1806-415: A shot or pass play. Officials also stop play for puck movement violations, such as using one's hands to pass the puck in the offensive end, but no players are penalized for these offences. The sole exceptions are deliberately falling on or gathering the puck to the body, carrying the puck in the hand, and shooting the puck out of play in one's defensive zone (all penalized two minutes for delay of game). In
1935-492: A team losing a skater during regulation instead causes the other side to add a skater. Once the penalized team's penalty ends, the penalized skater exits the penalty box and the teams continue at 4-on-4 until the next stoppage of play, at which point the teams return to three skaters per side. International play and several North American professional leagues, including the NHL (in the regular season), now use an overtime period identical to that from 1999–2000 to 2003–04 followed by
2064-409: A tie occurs in tournament play, as well as in the NHL playoffs, North Americans favour sudden death overtime , in which the teams continue to play twenty-minute periods until a goal is scored. Up until the 1999–2000 season, regular-season NHL games were settled with a single five-minute sudden death period with five players (plus a goalie) per side, with both teams awarded one point in the standings in
2193-462: Is a full-contact sport, body checks are allowed so injuries are a common occurrence. Protective equipment is mandatory and is enforced in all competitive situations. This includes a helmet with either a visor or a full face mask, shoulder pads, elbow pads, mouth guard, protective gloves, heavily padded shorts (also known as hockey pants) or a girdle, athletic cup (also known as a jock, for males; and jill, for females), shin pads, skates, and (optionally)
2322-649: Is a professional ice hockey club based in Bratislava, Slovakia. In 2012, they left the Slovak Extraliga and joined the international Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The club has won eight Slovak championships (most recently in 2012) and one Czechoslovak championship (1979). In Finland, SM-liiga is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland and is regarded as one of the top leagues in Europe. It
2451-410: Is also a penalty in certain leagues in order to reduce the chance of injury to players. Often the term checking is used to refer to body checking, with its true definition generally only propagated among fans of the game. One of the most important strategies for a team is their forecheck . Forechecking is the act of attacking the opposition in their defensive zone. Forechecking is an important part of
2580-459: Is called a line change . Teams typically employ alternate sets of forward lines and defensive pairings when short-handed or on a power play . The goaltender stands in a, usually blue, semi-circle called the crease in the defensive zone keeping pucks out of the goal. Substitutions are permitted at any time during the game, although during a stoppage of play the home team is permitted the final change. When players are substituted during play, it
2709-418: Is called changing on the fly . An NHL rule added in the 2005–06 season prevents a team from changing their line after they ice the puck. The boards surrounding the ice help keep the puck in play and they can also be used as tools to play the puck. Players are permitted to bodycheck opponents into the boards to stop progress. The referees, linesmen and the outsides of the goal are "in play" and do not stop
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#17327880849802838-422: Is ice hockey. While the general characteristics of the game remain constant, the exact rules depend on the particular code of play being used. The two most important codes are those of the IIHF and the NHL. Both of these codes, and others, originated from Canadian rules of ice hockey of the early 20th century. Ice hockey is played on a hockey rink . During normal play, there are six players on ice skates on
2967-528: Is if a team opts to pull their goalie in exchange for an extra skater during overtime and is subsequently scored upon (an empty net goal), in which case the losing team receives no points for the overtime loss. Since the 2015–16 season, the single five-minute sudden-death overtime session involves three skaters on each side. Since three skaters must always be on the ice in an NHL game, the consequences of penalties are slightly different from those during regulation play; any penalty during overtime that would result in
3096-525: Is no single global championship for professional ice hockey. The most elite North American teams compete for the Stanley Cup as their championship. Created in 1892, the Stanley Cup was originally an amateur trophy. Starting in 1907, professionals were allowed to compete for it. Teams from several leagues played for the Stanley Cup before 1926, since which time the cup's trustees have ceded control of
3225-695: Is regarded as the first team to pay each of the players on the team, while players in prior years in the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League were compensated via a mix of a small monetary payment and jobs in the Pittsburgh community, with the 30 players of the then four-team Western Pennsylvania Hockey League each receiving a weekly salary ranging from $ 10 (equivalent to $ 339 in 2023) to $ 20 (equivalent to $ 678 in 2023) per week in January of 1903, depending upon their agreements with James Wallace Conant , which resulted in
3354-843: Is the Professional Women's Hockey League , which began play in 2024. Professional hockey developed in the United States and Canada around the turn of the 20th century. Houghton, Michigan , was formally considered the "birthplace of professional hockey"; however, recent investigations have proven otherwise, beginning with the establishment of the International Professional Hockey League , the first fully professional hockey league, in Houghton in 1904 following conversations between James R. Dee from Houghton, Michigan and representatives of
3483-403: Is the left wing lock , which has two forwards pressure the puck and the left wing and the two defencemen stay at the blueline. Offensive tactics include improving a team's position on the ice by advancing the puck out of one's zone towards the opponent's zone, progressively by gaining lines, first your own blue line, then the red line and finally the opponent's blue line. NHL rules instated for
3612-527: Is the top tier of the Nationalliga or Ligue Nationale or Lega Nazionale, the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland . It is the oldest league remaining today, dating to 1916. Between the wars, British ice hockey grew rapidly with new ice rinks and an influx of Canadian players. A European competition was instituted, and in the 1936 Winter Olympics at Garmisch, Germany, Great Britain won
3741-457: The dump and chase strategy (i.e. shooting the puck into the offensive zone and then chasing after it). Each team uses their own unique system but the main ones are: 2–1–2 , 1–2–2, and 1–4. The 2–1–2 is the most basic forecheck system where two forwards go in deep and pressure the opposition's defencemen, the third forward stays high and the two defencemen stay at the blueline. The 1–2–2 is a bit more conservative system where one forward pressures
3870-731: The AHL , ECHL , SPHL , and FPHL . The AHL and ECHL are official minor leagues to the NHL, with the ECHL subservient to the AHL; the FPHL and SPHL operate as low-level independents. The NHL is considered one of the four major professional sports leagues of the United States. It is historically most popular in areas near the Canada–US border and along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. There
3999-857: The American Hockey League and ECHL in North America, and the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey in Canada. High-level professional hockey is also present in Germany , the Czech Republic , Slovakia , Finland and Switzerland ; professional hockey is also played in many other countries, as diverse as Ukraine , the United Kingdom , Austria , Australia and Japan . The major professional women's league
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4128-629: The Estonian Ice Hockey Association , Kazakhstani Championship , Latvian Hockey League , Lithuania Hockey League , and Ukrainian Major League . The remnant Russian Federation-based teams created the Russian Super League . The Russian Pro Hockey League's "Super League" was the highest level of play in Russia from 1996 to 2008. During the 2000s (decade) the calibre of play and the league economics recovered as
4257-995: The Europa Cup from 1965 to 1997, the European Hockey League from 1996 to 2000, the IIHF European Champions Cup 2005 to 2008 and the Champions Hockey League in 2008. The Champions Hockey League returned for the 2014-15 season and has since been held yearly. The most successful North American team is the Montreal Canadiens who have won 24 Stanley Cups, the most successful European club is HC CSKA Moscow which has won 20 European Cups. Teams from North American and Europe do not regularly compete against each other in " friendlies " as do soccer clubs, although efforts to expand intercontinental play have increased since
4386-923: The Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association. During both season, the Blades had secondary affiliations with the Los Angeles Kings and New York Islanders of the National Hockey League . The second team was a member of the Northeastern Hockey League during the 1978–79 season, then the Eastern Hockey League from 1979 to 1981. The Blades won three consecutive league championships during these seasons. Nick Polano coached
4515-758: The Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace , in Paris , France, the precursor to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The sport was played for the first time at the Olympics during the 1920 Summer Games —today it is a mainstay at the Winter Olympics . In 1994, ice hockey was officially recognized as Canada's national winter sport. While women also played during the game's early formative years, it
4644-498: The Ontario Hockey Association considering each of these teams as a "purely professional team". Beginning with the start of 1904 season the semi-professional Pittsburgh-based teams of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League consolidated to become Pittsburgh Professionals and joined with the Houghton-Portage Lakes to become two of the original five teams of the International Professional Hockey League , marking
4773-642: The Ontario Professional Hockey League was formed. The competition for players increased salaries, a factor in the demise of the IPHL in 1907 and the temporary end of professional hockey in the United States. In 1908, the ECAHA became fully professional, as the ECAHA's amateur teams separated from the league and competed for the new Allan Cup , a new challenge cup instituted for amateur teams. The ECAHA, now fully professional, renamed itself
4902-822: The Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins . After one season, the team was relocated to Baltimore , Maryland, merging with the Baltimore Skipjacks of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League , for the 1982–83 season . Coach Angotti and sixteen players were transferred to the Skipjacks. Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates , usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to
5031-517: The Quebec Hockey League , which included several stars such as Jean Beliveau and Willie O'Ree . In the 1950s, with the rise of NHL television broadcasts, such as those on Hockey Night in Canada , attendance suffered and the minor professional leagues folded or merged to survive. A new Western Hockey League was formed on the west coast with teams in several cities including Vancouver. The WHL's Vancouver Canucks organization would join
5160-648: The Red Army , Red Air Force or other national institutions. Technically they were paid for their military service, and not for their play as athletes. This allowed them compete at the Olympic games without violating the International Olympic Committee 's amateur-only rules of the era. Throughout the history of the Soviet league, Red Army -affiliated CSKA Moscow dominated, winning 32 of
5289-559: The Slovak Extraliga is the highest-level ice hockey league in Slovakia. The name of the league is leased to sponsor and changes frequently. From 1993/94 to 1997/98 season, it was called Extraliga, then the name changed to West Extraliga until the end of 2000/01 season. In 2001/02, its name was Boss Extraliga. Since 2002/03 season to 2004/05, the name changed to ST Extraliga and in 2005/06 to T-Com Extraliga. From January 16, 2007,
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5418-668: The Stanley Cup brought them together for annual playoffs, starting in 1915. In November 1917, the NHA itself suspended operations and several NHA owners formed the National Hockey League (NHL) following a dispute between NHA team owners. The new league began play in December that year with four Canadian teams. The NHL continued the annual Stanley Cup playoffs with the PCHA. In the west, the Western Canada Hockey League
5547-741: The United States —in Pennsylvania and Michigan —and in Canada around 1900. Professional ice hockey expanded across Canada and the United States and eventually to many other countries. There are major leagues around the world, including the National Hockey League in North America, the Kontinental Hockey League in Europe and Asia, and the Swedish Hockey League in Europe, as well as minor leagues such as
5676-568: The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League , a semi-professional hockey league started in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1896. The International Professional Hockey League began play in 1904 with teams from Houghton, Michigan ( Houghton-Portage Lakes ), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ( Pittsburgh Professionals ), Calumet, Michigan ( Calumet-Laurium Miners ), Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario ( Sault Ste. Marie Marlboros ), and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan ( Michigan Soo Indians ). Prior to 1904, playing for pay
5805-462: The 1880s, and professional ice hockey originated around 1900. The Stanley Cup , emblematic of ice hockey club supremacy, was initially commissioned in 1892 as the "Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup" and was first awarded in 1893 to recognise the Canadian amateur champion and later became the championship trophy of the National Hockey League (NHL). In the early 1900s, the Canadian rules were adopted by
5934-490: The 18th and 19th centuries in Britain, Ireland, and elsewhere, primarily bandy , hurling , and shinty . The North American sport of lacrosse , derived from tribal Native American games, was also influential. The former games were brought to North America and several similar winter games using informal rules developed, such as shinny and ice polo, but later were absorbed into a new organized game with codified rules which today
6063-659: The 1930s, hockey was an on-side game, meaning that only backward passes were allowed. Those rules emphasized individual stick-handling to drive the puck forward. With the arrival of offside rules, the forward pass transformed hockey into a true team sport, where individual performance diminished in importance relative to team play, which could now be coordinated over the entire surface of the ice as opposed to merely rearward players. The six players on each team are typically divided into three forwards, two defencemen, and one goaltender. The term skaters typically applies to all players except goaltenders. The forward positions consist of
6192-708: The 2003-04, 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons it was known as the Tipsport Extraliga; for 2001-01 and 2001-02 it was called the Český Telecom Extraliga, and in 1999-00 the Staropramen Extraliga. During the 2006-07 season it was known as the O2 Extraliga. Hockey Club Lev Praha (stylized as HC LEV Praha) is a professional ice hockey team located in Prague, Czech Republic, which debuts in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in 2012–13. In Slovakia ,
6321-416: The 2006 season redefined the offside rule to make the two-line pass legal; a player may pass the puck from behind his own blue line, past both that blue line and the centre red line, to a player on the near side of the opponents' blue line. Offensive tactics are designed ultimately to score a goal by taking a shot. When a player purposely directs the puck towards the opponent's goal, he or she is said to "shoot"
6450-637: The 46 championship seasons. The Soviet League's talent level was severely diminished following the fall of communism when most elite players moved to the NHL in search of higher pay. The league also changed its name to the CIS Championship in 1991-1992, and then to the International Hockey League from 1992 to 1996. After the communist era ended, the league became explicitly professional. By 1996, most of former Soviet republics had created their own national leagues: including
6579-618: The ECHA and compete for the Stanley Cup. Rebuffed by the ECHA, the mine owners formed the National Hockey Association (NHA) in 1910, splitting the ECHA's teams between the Canadian Hockey Association and the NHA. The CHA dissolved after less than a month, with some teams absorbed by the NHA. After one season of extravagant salaries, the NHA team owners imposed a salary cap, causing dissension amongst
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#17327880849806708-547: The ECHA. The MPHL folded in 1909, the OPHL in 1908, leaving the ECHA as the only 'elite' professional league in Canada. In northern Ontario, silver mining had made small towns affluent, and mines in the area hired professional players for their ice hockey teams. By 1910, several teams in the area had hired enough professional players from the ECHA, that the teams, notably the Renfrew Creamery Kings , wanted to join
6837-546: The KHL into a new pan-European league called United Hockey Europe . Since 2007, the NHL has operated the NHL Premiere series, which brings a limited number of NHL teams (usually four) to Europe to compete in exhibition games against both each other and local professional teams. The NHL teams have won a large majority of the games against European clubs. In North America, professional women's hockey developed much later than in
6966-715: The NHL in 1970. Since the demise of the QHL, the American Hockey League (AHL) has had Canadian teams, starting with the Quebec Aces . In 1972, the World Hockey Association was formed with professional teams in Edmonton, Ottawa, Quebec City and Winnipeg. Ottawa relocated to Toronto after one season, but the other teams survived until the WHA merged with the NHL in 1979, with Edmonton, Quebec City and Winnipeg joined
7095-404: The NHL's 30 teams were in the United States (the loss of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg in 2011 reduced this number to 23; it returned to 24 American teams when the Vegas Golden Knights joined in 2017). The NHL reached a higher peak when the Seattle Kraken joined the league in 2021-22 as the 25th American team. There are several other pro leagues in the US as well; as of 2019 these include
7224-410: The NHL, a unique penalty applies to the goalies. The goalies now are forbidden to play the puck in the "corners" of the rink near their own net. This will result in a two-minute penalty against the goalie's team. Only in the area in front of the goal line and immediately behind the net (marked by two red lines on either side of the net) can the goalie play the puck. An additional rule that has never been
7353-439: The NHL, along with the Hartford, Connecticut -based New England Whalers, which joined the NHL as the Hartford Whalers . The inclusion of all three Canadian WHA teams was a key point of contention in merger talks between the NHL and WHA, and only after the NHL agreed to that stipulation was agreed upon did the merger happen. In 1980, the Atlanta franchise moved to Calgary. In the 1990s, the Quebec and Winnipeg franchises relocated to
7482-417: The National Hockey League, a number of leagues have implemented the "four-official system", where an additional referee is added to aid in the calling of penalties normally difficult to assess by one referee. The system is used in every NHL game since 2001, at IIHF World Championships , the Olympics and in many professional and high-level amateur leagues in North America and Europe. Officials are selected by
7611-542: The OHA, including the two teams from Sault Ste. Marie, the Sault Ste. Marie Marlboros and Michigan Soo Indians in 1903-04. Some banned players in Ontario considered starting a professional team in 1898, and there was a proposal to start a professional league in western Ontario in 1899, but professional hockey did not take off in Canada until 1907 with the establishment of the Ontario Professional Hockey League . The earliest known instance of hockey players playing publicly for pay occurred in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when
7740-403: The Russian economy did. Before the 2008-09 season the RSL was reformed into the Kontinental Hockey League which includes teams from several other former Soviet republics (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine) and plans to expand further. In Sweden , the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) is the highest-level professional ice hockey league. It is generally regarded as one of
7869-420: The U.S., to Denver and Phoenix respectively, while Ottawa rejoined the NHL in 1992; the NHL returned to Winnipeg in 2011, and a proposal to return to Quebec currently sits in purgatory. On February 16, 2005, the NHL became the first major professional team sport in North America to cancel an entire season because of a labor dispute. Play resumed again in the fall of 2005. During the dispute, controversy arose over
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#17327880849807998-466: The WHL and took control of the Stanley Cup, forming Canadian and American divisions; it also brought in one WHL team, the Victoria Cougars , and relocated it to the U.S. to eventually become the modern Detroit Red Wings . The NHL lost Canadian teams in the 1920s and 1930s, leading to a rise in senior-level amateur teams and leagues in cities such as Quebec City and Ottawa, former NHL cities. After World War II, several of these teams became professional in
8127-415: The app determines that a particular impact has the potential to cause brain injury, it will alert the coach who can in turn seek medical attention for the individual. Defensive ice hockey tactics vary from more active to more conservative styles of play. One distinction is between man-to-man oriented defensive systems, and zonal oriented defensive systems, though a lot of teams use a combination between
8256-444: The beginning of fully professional hockey in North America. Professional leagues emerged from amateur leagues. In 1904, the predominantly U.S.-based International Professional Hockey League (IPHL) hosted the first Canadian professional team, the Canadian Soo. The league hired many amateur players away from Canada, causing the amateur leagues to convert to all-out professionalism or allow professional players in order to compete for
8385-411: The best teams in Europe. The winner of the Champions Hockey League will face an NHL challenger each year in the Victoria Cup providing a regular contest between NHL and European teams since the end of the Super Series in 1991. The Champions League was suspended for the 2009-10 season due to withdrawal of sponsors such as Gazprom . In 2009, KHL and Gazprom executive Alexander Medvedev proposed merging
8514-477: The blue and centre ice red line away. The NHL has taken steps to speed up the game of hockey and create a game of finesse, by reducing the number of illegal hits, fights, and "clutching and grabbing" that occurred in the past. Rules are now more strictly enforced, resulting in more penalties, which provides more protection to the players and facilitates more goals being scored. The governing body for United States' amateur hockey has implemented many new rules to reduce
8643-432: The board of SM-liiga . The board have committed themselves to promote the first winner of Mestis (the second highest competition) that meets certain standards. The Finnish ice hockey championship has been played since 1928. In Germany , the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (German Hockey League, shortname DEL) is a German high-calibre ice hockey league, and has the highest number of American and Canadian players overseas. It
8772-535: The case of the concurrent development of professional gridiron football , the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania metropolitan area was one of the first areas to promote a professional ice hockey team. The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League began hiring professional players in 1902 and acted as a pro–am league. This league joined with teams in Michigan and Ontario to form the International Professional Hockey League in 1904, with Houghton, Michigan dentist Jack Gibson its founder. While this league had folded by 1907, it
8901-407: The country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia . In the Czech Republic, the Czech Extraliga is rooted in the Czechoslovak Extraliga. The Czech Extraliga was spun off in 1993 following the administrative break-up of Czechoslovakia. The Czech Extraliga is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic . The name of the league is leased a general sponsor and changes frequently. In
9030-430: The decision not to award the Stanley Cup; some considered this decision a violation of the terms of the Stanley Cup's handover ("Deed of Gift") to the NHL. Following a legal challenge, it was agreed that the Cup's trustees could award the Cup to a non-NHL team, although this did not actually occur. In Czechoslovakia , the Czechoslovak Extraliga was the elite ice hockey league in Czechoslovakia from 1930 until 1993, when
9159-452: The event of a tie. With a goal, the winning team would be awarded two points and the losing team none (just as if they had lost in regulation). The total elapsed time from when the puck first drops, is about 2 hours and 20 minutes for a 60-minute game. From the 1999–2000 until the 2003–04 seasons, the National Hockey League decided ties by playing a single five-minute sudden-death overtime period with each team having four skaters per side (plus
9288-411: The final score recorded will award the winning team one more goal than the score at the end of regulation time. In the NHL if a game is decided in overtime or by a shootout the winning team is awarded two points in the standings and the losing team is awarded one point. Ties no longer occur in the NHL. Overtime in the NHL playoffs differs from the regular season. In the playoffs there are no shootouts. If
9417-479: The frequent labor disputes in the NHL (it has locked out its players three times in an eighteen-year span), picking up players who are barred from NHL play due to lockouts. Between 2000 and 2003, several NHL teams travelled outside North America to play exhibition games against some Swedish and one Finnish ice hockey teams. This series was known as the NHL Challenge . In 2008, the former Russian Super League
9546-511: The front of the foot or ankle, is a common ice hockey injury. Compared to athletes who play other sports, ice hockey players are at higher risk of overuse injuries and injuries caused by early sports specialization by teenagers. According to the Hughston Health Alert, prior to the widespread use of helmets and face cages, "Lacerations to the head, scalp, and face are the most frequent types of injury [in hockey]." One of
9675-427: The game , too many players on the ice , boarding , illegal equipment, charging (leaping into an opponent or body-checking him after taking more than two strides), holding, holding the stick (grabbing an opponent's stick), interference, hooking , slashing , kneeing, unsportsmanlike conduct (arguing a penalty call with referee, extremely vulgar or inappropriate verbal comments), "butt-ending" (striking an opponent with
9804-411: The game when the puck or players either bounce into or collide with them. Play can be stopped if the goal is knocked out of position. Play often proceeds for minutes without interruption. After a stoppage, play is restarted with a faceoff . Two players face each other and an official drops the puck to the ice, where the two players attempt to gain control of the puck. Markings (circles) on the ice indicate
9933-406: The game. There are typically two linesmen who are mainly responsible for calling "offside" and " icing " violations, breaking up fights, and conducting faceoffs, and one or two referees , who call goals and all other penalties. Linesmen can report to the referee(s) that a penalty should be assessed against an offending player in some situations. The restrictions on this practice vary depending on
10062-401: The goalie). In the event of a tie, each team would still receive one point in the standings but in the event of a victory the winning team would be awarded two points in the standings and the losing team one point. The idea was to discourage teams from playing for a tie, since previously some teams might have preferred a tie and 1 point to risking a loss and zero points. The exception to this rule
10191-402: The goaltender carries a stick consisting of a long, relatively wide, and slightly curved flat blade, attached to a shaft. The curve itself has a big impact on its performance. A deep curve allows for lifting the puck easier while a shallow curve allows for easier backhand shots. The flex of the stick also impacts the performance. Typically, a less flexible stick is meant for a stronger player since
10320-520: The gold medal, imposing the first ever Olympic defeat on the Canadians. However, because of the disruption of World War II and a lack of suitable venues afterwards the sport faded rapidly. As of 2012, the ten-team, two-division professional Elite Ice Hockey League is the highest level of competition in the United Kingdom and features teams from each of the four Home Nations . Much as was
10449-404: The governing rules. On-ice officials are assisted by off-ice officials who act as goal judges, time keepers, and official scorers. The most widespread system is the "three-man system", which uses one referee and two linesmen. A less commonly used system is the two referee and one linesman system. This system is close to the regular three-man system except for a few procedure changes. Beginning with
10578-465: The head and most types of forceful stick-on-body contact are illegal. A delayed penalty call occurs when an offence is committed by the team that does not have possession of the puck. In this circumstance the team with possession of the puck is allowed to complete the play; that is, play continues until a goal is scored, a player on the opposing team gains control of the puck, or the team in possession commits an infraction or penalty of their own. Because
10707-568: The heads, as well as checks to unsuspecting players. Studies show that ice hockey causes 44.3% of all sports-related traumatic brain injuries among Canadian children. Some teams in the Swiss National League are testing out systems that combine helmet-integrated sensors and analysis software to reveal a player's ongoing brain injury risk during a game. These sensors provide players and coaches with real-time data on head impact strength, frequency, and severity. Furthermore, if
10836-513: The ice at a time, barring any penalties, including a goaltender . It is a full contact game and one of the more physically demanding team sports. The modern sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal , where the first indoor game was played on March 3, 1875. Some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained to this day. Amateur ice hockey leagues began in
10965-458: The ice per side, one of them being the goaltender. The objective of the game is to score goals by shooting a hard vulcanized rubber disc, the puck , into the opponent's goal net at the opposite end of the rink. The players use their sticks to pass or shoot the puck. With certain restrictions, players may redirect the puck with any part of their body. Players may not hold the puck in their hand and are prohibited from using their hands to pass
11094-399: The ice. Loafing , also known as cherry-picking , is when a player, usually a forward, skates behind an attacking team, instead of playing defence, in an attempt to create an easy scoring chance. Professional ice hockey Professional ice hockey (hockey) is the competition of ice hockey in which participants are paid to play. Professional competition began in North America in
11223-417: The illegal actions of another player stop a clear scoring opportunity, most commonly when the player is on a breakaway . A penalty shot allows the obstructed player to pick up the puck on the centre red-line and attempt to score on the goalie with no other players on the ice, to compensate for the earlier missed scoring opportunity. A penalty shot is also awarded for a defender other than the goaltender covering
11352-422: The knob of the stick), "spearing" (jabbing an opponent with the blade of the stick), or cross-checking . As of the 2005–2006 season, a minor penalty is also assessed for diving , where a player embellishes or simulates an offence. More egregious fouls may be penalized by a four-minute double-minor penalty, particularly those that injure the victimized player. These penalties end either when the time runs out or when
11481-482: The leading causes of head injury is body checking from behind. Due to the danger of delivering a check from behind, many leagues – including the NHL – have made this a major and game misconduct penalty. Another type of check that accounts for many of the player-to-player contact concussions is a check to the head resulting in a misconduct penalty (called "head contact"). In recent years, the NHL has implemented new rules which penalize and suspend players for illegal checks to
11610-492: The league they work for. Amateur hockey leagues use guidelines established by national organizing bodies as a basis for choosing their officiating staffs. In North America, the national organizing bodies Hockey Canada and USA Hockey approve officials according to their experience level as well as their ability to pass rules knowledge and skating ability tests. Hockey Canada has officiating levels I through VI. USA Hockey has officiating levels 1 through 4. Since men's ice hockey
11739-562: The locations for the faceoff and guide the positioning of players. Three major rules of play in ice hockey limit the movement of the puck: offside , icing , and the puck going out of play. Under IIHF rules, each team may carry a maximum of 20 players and two goaltenders on their roster. NHL rules restrict the total number of players per game to 18, plus two goaltenders. In the NHL, the players are usually divided into four lines of three forwards, and into three pairs of defencemen. On occasion, teams may elect to substitute an extra defenceman for
11868-473: The men's game, and has seen starts and stops. The Canadian Women's Hockey League , founded in 2014, did not pay salaries, but did pay stipends and bonuses. It folded in 2019 due to financial instability. The National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), the first women's league to pay salaries, was established in the United States in 2015 and expanded into Canada in 2020. However, hundreds of prominent women's players, including Canadian and American Olympians, founded
11997-435: The misconduct (a two-and-ten or five-and-ten ). In this case, the team designates another player to serve the minor or major; both players go to the penalty box, but only the designee may not be replaced, and he is released upon the expiration of the two or five minutes, at which point the ten-minute misconduct begins. In addition, game misconducts are assessed for deliberate intent to inflict severe injury on an opponent (at
12126-574: The name changed to Slovnaft Extraliga when a general sponsor agreement with Slovnaft was signed. The agreement is valid until the end of 2007/08 season. The Slovak Extraliga is also rooted in the Czechoslovak Extraliga. The 1993/94 season was the first season of Slovak Extraliga as Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on January 1, 1993. Hockey Club Slovan Bratislava (Slovak: Hokejový klub Slovan Bratislava)
12255-601: The new 2000 millennium. The opportunities for fans and media to compare levels of play between the continents were especially limited during the Cold War since many of Europe’s best clubs were behind the Iron Curtain . After the success of the Summit Series which featured the Canadian and Soviet national teams, there was a demand for more international hockey at the club level. It has also proved that Soviet hockey
12384-417: The number of stick-on-body occurrences, as well as other detrimental and illegal facets of the game ("zero tolerance"). In men's hockey, but not in women's, a player may use his hip or shoulder to hit another player if the player has the puck or is the last to have touched it. This use of the hip and shoulder is called body checking . Not all physical contact is legal—in particular, hits from behind, hits to
12513-442: The officials' discretion), or for a major penalty for a stick infraction or repeated major penalties. The offending player is ejected from the game and must immediately leave the playing surface (he does not sit in the penalty box); meanwhile, if an additional minor or major penalty is assessed, a designated player must serve out of that segment of the penalty in the box (similar to the above-mentioned "two-and-ten"). In some rare cases,
12642-540: The other team scores during the power play. In the case of a goal scored during the first two minutes of a double-minor, the penalty clock is set down to two minutes upon a score, effectively expiring the first minor penalty. Five-minute major penalties are called for especially violent instances of most minor infractions that result in intentional injury to an opponent, or when a minor penalty results in visible injury (such as bleeding), as well as for fighting. Major penalties are always served in full; they do not terminate on
12771-413: The other, the opposing team gets a power play for the remainder of the time); this applies regardless of current pending penalties. In the NHL, a team always has at least three skaters on the ice. Thus, ten-minute misconduct penalties are served in full by the penalized player, but his team may immediately substitute another player on the ice unless a minor or major penalty is assessed in conjunction with
12900-405: The penalty is still assessed to the offending player, but not served. In 2012, this rule was changed by the United States' National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for college level hockey . In college games, the penalty is still enforced even if the team in possession scores. A typical game of hockey is governed by two to four officials on the ice, charged with enforcing the rules of
13029-499: The play is restarted at a faceoff. Some infractions result in a penalty on a player or team. In the simplest case, the offending player is sent to the penalty box and their team must play with one less player on the ice for a designated time. Minor penalties last for two minutes, major penalties last for five minutes, and a double minor penalty is two consecutive penalties of two minutes duration. A single minor penalty may be extended by two minutes for causing visible injury to
13158-411: The player is looking for the right balanced flex that allows the stick to flex easily while still having a strong "whip-back" which sends the puck flying at high speeds. It is quite distinct from sticks in other sports games and most suited to hitting and controlling the flat puck. Its unique shape contributed to the early development of the game. The goaltender carries a stick of a different design, with
13287-461: The players serve five minutes without their team incurring a loss of player (both teams still have a full complement of players on the ice). This differs with two players from opposing sides getting minor penalties, at the same time or at any intersecting moment, resulting from more common infractions. In this case, both teams will have only four skating players (not counting the goaltender) until one or both penalties expire (if one penalty expires before
13416-503: The players, and closed most of the teams in mining towns. In 1911, Lester and Frank Patrick, who had played in the NHA, formed the rival Pacific Coast Hockey Association in British Columbia and took the opportunity to sign many of the NHA's players, notably Cyclone Taylor . In 1912, the NHA expanded west to Toronto, becoming a six-team league from Toronto to Quebec City. While the leagues competed for players, competition for
13545-439: The puck carrier and the other two forwards cover the oppositions' wingers, with the two defencemen staying at the blueline. The 1–4 is the most defensive forecheck system, referred to as the neutral zone trap, where one forward applies pressure to the puck carrier around the oppositions' blueline and the other four players stand basically in a line by their blueline in hopes the opposition will skate into one of them. Another strategy
13674-406: The puck carrier in the neutral zone preventing him from entering the offensive zone. Body checking is using one's shoulder or hip to strike an opponent who has the puck or who is the last to have touched it (the last person to have touched the puck is still legally "in possession" of it, although a penalty is generally called if he is checked more than two seconds after his last touch). Body checking
13803-405: The puck in the goal crease, a goaltender intentionally displacing his own goal posts during a breakaway to avoid a goal, a defender intentionally displacing his own goal posts when there is less than two minutes to play in regulation time or at any point during overtime, or a player or coach intentionally throwing a stick or other object at the puck or the puck carrier and the throwing action disrupts
13932-443: The puck to their teammates unless they are in the defensive zone. Players can knock a puck out of the air with their hands to themselves. Players are prohibited from kicking the puck into the opponent's goal, though unintentional redirections off the skate are permitted. Players may not intentionally bat the puck into the net with their hands. Hockey is an off-side game, meaning that forward passes are allowed, unlike in rugby. Before
14061-409: The puck. A deflection is a shot that redirects a shot or a pass towards the goal from another player, by allowing the puck to strike the stick and carom towards the goal. A one-timer is a shot struck directly off a pass, without receiving the pass and shooting in two separate actions. Headmanning the puck , also known as breaking out , is the tactic of rapidly passing to the player farthest down
14190-418: The right side" (of the puck). Another popular concept in ice hockey defensive tactics is that of playing a 200-foot game . An important defensive tactic is checking—attempting to take the puck from an opponent or to remove the opponent from play. Stick checking , sweep checking , and poke checking are legal uses of the stick to obtain possession of the puck. The neutral zone trap is designed to isolate
14319-618: The second Blades team for its first three seasons. The Blades had National Hockey League affiliations with the New York Islanders from 1978 to 1980, the Quebec Nordiques from 1979 to 1981, and the Buffalo Sabres for the 1980–81 season. The Blades were then admitted to the American Hockey League for the 1981–82 season. Lou Angotti replaced Polano as the head coach in 1981. The Blades were affiliated with
14448-544: The skater's feet from contact with other skaters, sticks, pucks, the boards, and the ice itself. Rigidity also improves the overall manoeuvrability of the skate. Blade length, thickness (width), and curvature (rocker/radius) (front to back) and radius of hollow (across the blade width) are quite different from speed or figure skates. Hockey players usually adjust these parameters based on their skill level, position, and body type. The blade width of most skates are about 1 ⁄ 8 inch (3.2 mm) thick. Each player other than
14577-413: The sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey . Two opposing teams use ice hockey sticks to control, advance, and shoot a vulcanized rubber hockey puck into the other team's net. Each goal is worth one point. The team with the highest score after an hour of playing time is declared the winner; ties are broken in overtime or a shootout . In a formal game, each team has six skaters on
14706-407: The team on which the penalty was called cannot control the puck without stopping play, it is impossible for them to score a goal. In these cases, the team in possession of the puck can pull the goalie for an extra attacker without fear of being scored on. It is possible for the controlling team to mishandle the puck into their own net. If a delayed penalty is signalled and the team in possession scores,
14835-705: The top leagues of Europe, and one of the Swedish major professional sports league. SHL, or the Swedish Elite League , which it is often unofficially called in English, is composed of 14 teams. The first season under the former name Elitserien was played in 1975–76 . The Swedish ice hockey championships has been played in various forms since 1922. In Switzerland , the Nationalliga A (German), or Ligue Nationale A (French), or Lega Nazionale A (Italian)
14964-491: The top players. The first Canadian professional league was the Manitoba Professional Hockey League (MPHL), formed in 1905 from member teams of the amateur Manitoba Hockey Association . The Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA), formed from prior amateur hockey leagues, emerged in 1906. The ECAHA allowed teams to have professional players from the start, despite its name. In 1907,
15093-422: The trophy to the National Hockey League (NHL). The terms of the NHL's control over the trophy extended only so long as the NHL remained the undisputed, most dominant professional hockey league in the world, a distinction that arguably was voided in the 1970s after Russian teams played, and often defeated, NHL teams but has not been formally challenged since that time. The most elite European clubs have competed in
15222-612: The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers in a game infamous for its roughness . Subsequent Super Series produced more close results, but generally favoured the Soviet sides. However, following the fall of communism, many elite players from the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries went to the NHL for higher pay. The NHL became de facto the world’s most elite league as the quality of play in European leagues suffered. European leagues have, however, benefited from
15351-399: The two. Defensive skills involve pass interception , shot blocking , and stick checking (in which an attempt to take away the puck or cut off the puck lane is initiated by the stick of the defensive player). Tactical points of emphasis in ice hockey defensive play are concepts like "managing gaps" (gap control), "boxing out"' (not letting the offensive team go on the inside), and "staying on
15480-498: The victimized player. This is usually when blood is drawn during high sticking. Players may be also assessed personal extended penalties or game expulsions for misconduct in addition to the penalty or penalties their team must serve. The team that has been given a penalty is said to be playing short-handed while the opposing team is on a power play . A two-minute minor penalty is often charged for lesser infractions such as tripping , elbowing , roughing , high-sticking , delay of
15609-704: Was a member of the North American Hockey League from 1975 to 1977. Nick Polano was the team's coach both seasons. During the 1975–76 season, the Blades had primary affiliations with the Denver Spurs and Ottawa Civics of the World Hockey Association , in addition to the Fort Worth Texans and Tucson Mavericks in the Central Hockey League . During the 1976–77 season, the Blades had a primary affiliation with
15738-586: Was at a comparable level to the NHL. This led to the Super Series which from 1975 to 1991 featured an annual tour of North America by a Soviet hockey club. The first Super Series featured CSKA Moscow against the Montreal Canadiens on New Year’s Eve 1975, in what was described in the press as a de facto world championship. The game ended as a 3-3 draw but was hailed as one of the greatest games ever played. The following week CSKA played and lost to
15867-421: Was constituted in 1975 to replace SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur league. SM-liiga has an agreement of cooperation with Finnish ice hockey federation Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto. SM is a common abbreviation for Suomen mestaruus, "Finnish championship". At the moment, there are 14 teams. SM-liiga was closed in 2000 so that no team can be relegated to or promoted from the lower leagues without approval of
15996-541: Was formed as a replacement for the Bundesliga . It dates back to 1958. The highest league in the Soviet Union was the Soviet Championship League , founded in 1946. This evolved into an elite league with a talent level comparable to the NHL. However, it was always considered an "amateur" league, rather than professional. This was because all elite athletes in the Soviet Union were conscripted into
16125-592: Was formed in 1921 from existing teams in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The annual Stanley Cup playoffs now became a three-way championship, alternating in location between the west and the east. The PCHA would merge with the WCHL in 1924 to form the Western Hockey League before the league ceased operations in 1926. The NHL, having expanded to the U.S.A. and now with ten teams, bought out the players' contracts of
16254-404: Was not favored by major hockey circuits, as they were established as purely amateur organizations. Players who were found to be paid were marked as professional and were banned by leagues such as the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA), Canadian teams were prohibited from playing in Pittsburgh, and the Canadian teams who played games against professional teams from Northern Michigan were banished by
16383-436: Was not until organizers began to officially remove body checking from female ice hockey beginning in the mid-1980s that it began to gain greater popularity, which by then had spread to Europe and a variety of other countries. The first IIHF Women's World Championship was held in 1990, and women's play was introduced into the Olympics in 1998 . Ice hockey is believed to have evolved from simple stick and ball games played in
16512-452: Was refounded as the Kontinental Hockey League , expanded into Belarus, Latvia, and Kazakhstan, and encouraged its clubs to aggressively seek talented players (sometimes at the expense of the NHL), prompting the media to speculate about eventual KHL challenge to the NHL dominance of international hockey. Also in 2008, the new Champions Hockey League was created to provide an elite tournament for
16641-635: Was the start of professional hockey. The United States would continue to see professional hockey with teams from the PCHL, beginning with the Portland Rosebuds , followed by a Seattle-based franchise a year later. When the Boston Bruins joined the NHL in 1924, the United States was finally represented in the league. It would continue to grow in the NHL until a peak in the 2000s (decade), when 24 of
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