Hockey glossary: terms and slang, A to Z
Hockey has its own language, part rulebook, part locker room. This glossary explains the terms you'll hear on a broadcast, in a rink or in a hockey game, in plain English. Where a term has a direct equivalent in Brudvig Hockey, we say so.
A
- Apple: slang for an assist.
- Assist: credit given to the player or players who passed or touched the puck before a goal, usually up to two.
- Attacking zone: the area between the opponent's blue line and the end boards, where your team tries to score. Also called the offensive zone.
B
- Backcheck: forwards skating back hard to defend after losing the puck.
- Backhand: a pass or shot made with the back side of the blade.
- Barn: slang for a rink or arena.
- Biscuit: slang for the puck.
- Blue line: one of two lines dividing the rink into zones. The basis of the offside rule.
- Boarding: a penalty for hitting a player dangerously into the boards.
- Boards: the walls around the rink.
- Breakaway: a player with the puck alone against the goalie.
- Breakout: moving the puck out of your own zone to start an attack.
- Butterfly: a goalie style: dropping to the knees with pads flared to cover the bottom of the net.
C
- Cellys: goal celebrations.
- Center: the forward who plays in the middle and takes most faceoffs.
- Changing on the fly: swapping players while play continues.
- Charging: a penalty for a hit with too long a run-up.
- Check: using the body (body check) or stick (stick check, poke check) to separate an opponent from the puck. In Brudvig Hockey, ○ checks; hold it for a bigger hit.
- Crease: the painted area in front of the goal.
- Cross-ice pass: a pass from one side of the ice to the other.
- Cycle: moving the puck along the boards in the attacking zone between forwards to keep possession.
D
- Dangle: slick stickhandling to beat an opponent. In Brudvig Hockey, flick the stick side to side with the puck.
- Deke: a fake that sends an opponent the wrong way.
- Defenseman (D-man): one of two players who play behind the forwards.
- Delayed penalty: the referee waits to blow the whistle until the offending team touches the puck.
- Dive: two meanings. Falling on purpose to draw a penalty (itself penalized), or laying out on the ice to block a shot or pass. In Brudvig Hockey, □ on defense dives to block.
- Dump and chase: shooting the puck into the attacking zone and racing after it.
- Drop pass: leaving the puck behind for a trailing teammate.
E
- Empty net: a net with no goalie, usually because the team pulled him for an extra skater.
- Enforcer: a player known mainly for physical play and protecting teammates.
- Even strength: both teams with the same number of skaters.
F
- Faceoff: the puck drop that starts or restarts play.
- Five-hole: the space between a goalie's legs.
- Flow: hair sticking out of the back of a helmet. Also called lettuce.
- Forecheck: pressuring the other team in its own zone to win the puck back.
- Forward: a center or winger.
G
- Gino: slang for a goal.
- Glove side: the side of the net where the goalie wears his catching glove.
- Goal line: the line the puck must fully cross between the posts to count.
- Grinder: a hard-working player known for battles along the boards.
H
- Hand pass: passing the puck with a hand, allowed only in limited situations.
- Hat trick: three goals by one player in a game. Fans traditionally throw hats on the ice.
- High-sticking: hitting an opponent with a stick held too high.
- Hip check: a hit using the hip, often sending a player up and over.
- Hooking: using the stick to hook and slow an opponent.
I
- Icing: shooting the puck from your own half past the opponent's goal line untouched. Brudvig Hockey has no icing.
- Interference: impeding a player who doesn't have the puck.
L
- Lamp: the goal light. To "light the lamp" is to score. Brudvig Arena has one.
- Line: a group of forwards (usually three) who play together.
- Line change: swapping one line for another.
M
- Major: a five-minute penalty for a serious foul.
- Minor: a two-minute penalty, the most common kind.
- Misconduct: a penalty that removes a player for a period of time without leaving the team shorthanded.
N
- Neutral zone: the middle zone, between the two blue lines.
- Netminder: another word for goalie. Also tender, keeper or goaltender.
O
- Odd-man rush: an attack with more attackers than defenders, like a 2-on-1.
- Offside: an attacker entering the offensive zone before the puck. Brudvig Hockey has no offside.
- One-timer: a shot straight off a pass. In Brudvig Hockey, press shoot as the pass arrives.
- Overtime: extra time when a game is tied. Brudvig Hockey uses sudden death.
P
- Pads: the goalie's leg pads.
- Penalty box (sin bin): where penalized players sit.
- Penalty kill (PK): playing shorthanded while a teammate serves a penalty.
- Pigeon: a player who scores on rebounds and garbage, without doing the hard work.
- Plus/minus: a stat: plus one for being on the ice for an even-strength or shorthanded goal for, minus one for one against.
- Point: the area just inside the attacking blue line where defensemen stand.
- Poke check: jabbing the puck away with the stick. △ without the puck in Brudvig Hockey.
- Power play (PP): playing with more skaters because an opponent is penalized.
- Pulling the goalie: replacing the goalie with an extra skater.
R
- Rebound: a loose puck after a save.
- Roughing: a penalty for shoving or punching.
- Rush: an attack carried quickly up the ice.
S
- Saucer pass: a pass lifted just off the ice to get over sticks. Hold ✕ in Brudvig Hockey.
- Screen: standing in front of the goalie to block his view.
- Shift: one turn on the ice for a player.
- Shorthanded: playing with fewer skaters because of a penalty.
- Shootout: one-on-one attempts against the goalie to settle a tie, in some leagues.
- Slap shot: the hardest shot, with a big wind-up. Hold and release □ in Brudvig Hockey.
- Slot: the prime scoring area in front of the net, between the faceoff circles.
- Snap shot: a quick shot with a short backswing.
- Snipe: a precise, well-placed shot that scores. A sniper is a great shooter.
- Spin-o-rama: a full spin with the puck to evade a defender. △ with the puck in Brudvig Hockey.
- Stick-handling: controlling the puck with the stick.
- Sudden death: overtime where the next goal wins.
T
- Tape-to-tape: a perfect pass, from one stick blade to another.
- Tip: redirecting a shot with the stick.
- Toe drag: pulling the puck back across the body with the toe of the blade.
- Top shelf: the top of the net, just under the crossbar.
- Tripping: a penalty for making an opponent fall with the stick or body. In Brudvig Hockey, a carrier who skates into a diving defender trips, and there's no penalty.
- Turnover: losing the puck to the other team.
W
- Wheel: to skate fast, or to carry the puck around the net.
- Winger: a forward who plays along the sides of the ice.
- Wraparound: carrying the puck behind the net and stuffing it in at the far post.
- Wrist shot: a quick, accurate shot using a sweeping motion. Tap □ in Brudvig Hockey.
Z
- Zone entry: getting the puck into the attacking zone, by carrying, passing or dumping it in.
More slang you'll hear
- Bar down: a shot that hits the underside of the crossbar and drops into the net.
- Celly: a goal celebration.
- Chirp: trash talk.
- Dirty: very skilled, as in a "dirty" move.
- Duster: a player who rarely plays.
- Tilly: a fight.
- Twig: a stick.
- Wheels: speed. A fast skater "has wheels".
Numbers and positions shorthand
- 2-on-1, 3-on-2: odd-man rushes, attackers first.
- 5-on-4, 5-on-3: power-play situations, the team with more skaters first.
- 3-on-3: three skaters a side plus goalies, used in some overtime formats and in Brudvig Hockey.
- C, LW, RW, D, G: center, left wing, right wing, defense, goalie.
- GAA: goals-against average, a goalie stat.
- SV%: save percentage, the share of shots a goalie stops.
- PIM: penalty minutes.
- SOG: shots on goal.
Equipment words
- Blade: the flat bottom part of the stick that touches the puck.
- Blocker: the goalie's glove with a flat board, worn on the stick hand.
- Bucket: slang for a helmet.
- Cage: a full wire face mask.
- Curve: the bend in a stick blade.
- Flex: how stiff a stick is. Lower numbers bend more easily.
- Lie: the angle between the blade and the shaft.
- Mitts: gloves, or a player's hands, as in "great mitts".
- Tape job: how a player tapes the blade and the knob of the stick, a personal ritual for many.
- Visor: a clear half shield on the helmet.
Arcade hockey terms
- On fire: in Brudvig Hockey, a skater who scores two in a row catches fire: faster, harder shots and bigger hits for about 45 seconds or until the other team scores.
- Shattered glass: a big enough hit in Brudvig Hockey breaks the glass.
- Slow-mo: the biggest hits replay in slow motion.
Put the words to work
Now you know what a one-timer, a saucer pass and a top-shelf snipe are, go do them. Play Brudvig Hockey free in your browser. For more, read hockey rules explained, hockey positions and famous hockey moves.