Kneesocks 2017-18

The Rules of Hockey By Jane Mistry 6M

It’s a lazy afternoon, you are sitting on your couch, watching TV, and then it hits you. You say, “I want to play hockey!” But the problem is that you don’t know how! You are a good skater, and you have all the equipment you need, but you don’t know the rules! Fear not, I will teach you the rules of hockey!

Offsides and Icings:

Two rules in hockey are called an “offside” and an “icing”. They sound easy, but they are actually hard rules to keep up with. NHL (National Hockey League) players can’t even keep up with them! You may be thinking, “You get cake in hockey?” But no, icings do not have to do with any sort of cake OR cupcake. You may also be thinking, “off-sides… off … side. Two different words so all you have to do is go off the side!” But it is way different! If the puck goes out of the zoned back in (in the other team’s zone), while you are still in it, the referees will yell “OFFSIDE!” over and over for a couple seconds. If they see you making your way out of the zone, they won’t blow the whistle. Let’s say you don’t realize you are offside, and you touch the puck with your stick, or skate, or even body, then they blow the whistle and you have to do a face-off outside of the zone, to the nearest face-off dot. A face-off is when the referee drops the puck between two players who then battle for the puck. If you go into the other team’s zone before the puck, that is also an offside. Icings are when you shoot the puck up the boards and it goes behind the goal line. For it not to be an icing, you, or the other team, has to touch the puck with your stick or skate when you are past the red line. You can shoot the puck past the goal line when you are past the red line in the middle. If your team has a penalty, you are allowed to shoot the puck behind the goal line. For tripping and slashing, they are exactly as they sound. If you trip someone with your stick, you get a penalty and you have to sit in the penalty box. (The penalty box can be very lonely). A tripping penalty lasts two minutes. A slashing penalty is when you slash someone’s stick with your stick. If you slash someone in the head, it is called head contact. A slashing penalty usually lasts two minutes and head contact also lasts two minutes. (depending on how hard you slashed). A push from behind is when you go up to a girl from behind and push her. Depending on how hard you pushed the person, it can be 2-4 minutes in the penalty box. One other penalty is called Too Many Men. Usually you are allowed five players on the ice, and a goalie, but if you have 6 players on the ice, you get a penalty. The only time you are allowed six people on the ice is if you take your goalie out of the net, in exchange for a player. Penalties: Some of the penalties in hockey are: tripping, slashing, and a push from behind.

22  HAVERGAL COLLEGE