Hockey Slang: A Guide to Hockey Terms

The sport of hockey—in which players use sticks to try to move a puck into the opposing team’s goal while skating on ice—can be traced back to the early 1800s in Nova Scotia, Canada, although historians dispute particulars of the game’s creation. The first recorded ice hockey game occurred in 1875, in a rink in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

In the mid 1880s, officials formed the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada, which included four teams competing for titles. Historians dispute which teams and leagues were the first to be dedicated to professional play, but one of the first professional teams was the Portage Lakes Hockey Club, founded in Michigan in the US in 1904; that same year, the owner of the Portage Lakes established the International Professional Hockey League, considered by many in the hockey community to be the first fully professional ice hockey league. Canada started its own fully professional league in 1908.

Today, players in the US and Canada belong to the National Hockey League (NHL), which originated in 1910 as the National Hockey Association and consisted of only a half dozen teams until the league began expanding in 1967. The Stanley Cup, first awarded in 1893, is still the trophy for the NHL team that wins the playoff championship.

Hockey lingo has evolved over the decades to include many terms and phrases specific to the sport.

1. 1. Apple: An apple is an assist, which occurs when two players work together to get the puck into the goal, ultimately scoring on the opposing team.
2. 2. Bar down: A hockey goal is shaped by a metal tube that has a top section that runs parallel to the ice and sits just below the goalie’s shoulders when he squats down. A bar down occurs when a puck bounces off the crossbar and into the net.
3. 3. Barn burner: A barn burner is any game in which both sides score a very high number of times.
4. 4. Bender: Players must have strong ankles to achieve a high speed while skating. If a player bends their ankles as they skate, indicating weak ankles, the other players might refer to them as a bender in a demeaning way.
5. 5. Biscuit: A biscuit is the puck—the black, vulcanized rubber disk hit by hockey players with their hockey sticks.
6. 6. Blue line: When looking at a hockey rink horizontally, there are blue lines to the left and right of center ice. Between the two blue lines, you have the neutral zone. The areas outside the blue lines are the defending zones and attacking zones of the two opposing teams.
7. 7. Body check: A body check is when a player throws their side or hip into another player, with the intention of knocking the other player onto the ice or into a board to stop their momentum.
8. 8. Breakaway: A breakaway occurs when a player gets the puck and skates hard toward the opposing team’s goal with no other players between the goalie and the player.
9. 9. Celly: “Celly” is short for “celebrate,” as in to celebrate a goal or a win among teammates.
10. 10. Check: A check occurs when a player bumps or pushes into another player—for example, with their shoulder, hip, or hockey stick. Some checks are legal while others are not.
11. 11. Chiclets: Chiclets mean a player’s teeth in hockey slang, due to the similarities in appearance between a human tooth and a small, square, frequently white chewing gum called Chiclets.
12. 12. Clapper: A clapper is a slapshot, so named for the clapping sound the stick makes when it hits, or slaps, the puck at high velocity.
13. 13. Coast to coast: A player goes from coast to coast when they start on their defensive side with the puck and travel to the other side of the ice with the puck to shoot on the opposing team’s goal, all without ever passing the puck.
14. 14. Cross-checking: This penalty occurs when a player picks up their stick in both hands and horizontally pushes it at an opposing player.
15. 15. Dangle: When a player moves as though they’re going to hit the puck one direction but then actually moves it in another, this fakeout is called a deke. A dangle is when a player executes multiple dekes on multiple players.
16. 16. Defensive zone: A team’s defensive zone is the area in which their own goalie and goal are positioned.
17. 17. Duster: A duster is a player who sits on the bench a long time, suggestive of an object that is collecting dust.
18. 18. Extra attacker: When a team is down in a game but there is still a chance they can win, they can put their goalie on the bench and substitute in another player. This person becomes an extra attacker.
19. 19. Face-off: At the start of a period or the restart of play following play stoppage, the referee drops the puck and two players must fight to gain control of it while their teammates surround them on both sides.
20. 20. Face wash: A face wash is when a player rubs their gloved palm in an opposing player’s face, with the goal being to make them mad or spur them into a fight.
21. 21. Five-hole: When a goalie is standing in the net, they usually spread their legs for better stability and to position as much of their body across the net as possible. The area between the goalie’s legs in front of the goal is known as the five-hole, and is a target for would-be scorers.
22. 22. Flow: A player’s hair, especially if you can see the hair sticking out beneath their helmet and “flowing” behind them as they skate.
23. 23. Forechecking: Forechecking is when an offensive player checks a defensive player so that the offensive player can get the puck and try to score.
24. 24. Goal line: A hockey goal has a horizontal bar that is parallel to the ice as well as two vertical poles called posts and a straight line on the ice between the two vertical posts. Should the puck cross that straight line, or goal line, it counts as a goal.
25. 25. Goal post: A hockey goal has a bar that’s horizontal to the ice and then curves down on either side to form two vertical posts known as the goal posts.
26. 26. Gongshow: A reference to an over-the-top talent contest TV show called The Gong Show, a gongshow hockey match indicates a game in which there has been multiple fights, lots of goals, or any series of unexpected events.
27. 27. Gordie Howe hat trick: When a player has scored a goal, achieved an assist, and been involved in a fight in a single game, it’s called a Gordie Howe hat trick, named for former player Gordie Howe, who was known for both his toughness and prolific scoring.
28. 28. Gretzky’s Office: Gretzky’s office is the area directly behind the net, so named because hockey legend Wayne Gretzky would stand there with the puck and survey the ice before making a play.
29. 29. Grinder: A grinder is a player that is known not for scoring but instead for checking other players against the boards to ensure that their own team has better chances of getting the puck into the net.
30. 30. Hooking: A hooking penalty occurs when a player uses their stick like a hook to pull, stop, or injure the opposing player to try to gain control of the puck.
31. 31. Howitzer: A howitzer is a super-fast slapshot. The name comes from the howitzer cannon.
32. 32. Lettuce: Lettuce refers to the hair on a hockey player’s head, particularly if it’s in good shape or stylish.
33. 33. Light the lamp: When an offensive player scores a goal, a red light above the net illuminates to confirm the play. The phrase “light the lamp” refers to that light.
34. 34. Lip lettuce: Lip lettuce refers to a player’s mustache.
35. 35. Major penalty: A major penalty, or infraction of play, relegates the offending player to the penalty box for five minutes.
36. 36. Minor penalty: A minor penalty, or infraction of play, requires the offending player to remain in the penalty box for two minutes.
37. 37. Neutral zone: When looking at the ice rink horizontally, there are two blue lines just to the left and right of the center ice. Between the two lines is an area called the neutral zone.
38. 38. Odd man rush: An odd man rush occurs when one team enters the other side’s defensive zone and the attacking team has more players in the immediate area.
39. 39. Offensive zone: A team’s offensive zone is the area surrounding the goal in which they are trying to score.
40. 40. One-timer: If a player receives the puck on a pass but instead of keeping it, tries to immediately hit the puck to score, they’ve attempted a one-timer.
41. 41. Penalty shot: If a defender attempts through egregious means—illegal checking, use of their hands, etc.—to stop an offensive player from scoring, then the offensive player is granted a penalty shot, an attempt to score a point outside of regular play.
    
42. 42. Power play: When a player commits a penalty, they’re sent to the penalty box and their team is down one player for a few minutes. That leaves the opposing team with a temporary, one-player advantage (sometimes called a one-man advantage), and provides the opportunity for a power play, in other words, an improved scoring chance before the other team returns to full strength.
43. 43. Pylon: A pylon is an orange cone used in street construction to designate areas where people should or should not move. A pylon in hockey is another name for a defenseman who stays so consistently in one place that they could be a pylon on the street.
44. 44. Red line: When looking at a hockey rink horizontally, you will see the red line running vertical, dividing the width of the ice and indicating the point that is center ice.
45. 45. Roughing: When a player punches another player or hits them with a hand, the referee calls a roughing penalty on the offending player. This usually occurs after two skaters fight and the referees have pulled them apart.
46. 46. Saucer pass: A saucer pass occurs when a player lifts the puck off the ice so that it avoids the defender’s stick and then flips it to a teammate.
47. 47. Sin bin: The penalty box is also called the sin bin, as it’s where players go when they’ve done something wrong (commit a penalty).
48. 48. Slashing: Slashing is a penalty in which one player uses their stick, swinging it like a baseball bat or in a similar motion, with the intent to strike the other player.
49. 49. Stickhandling: Stickhandling is how a player works their stick to maneuver the puck across the ice and away from the other team’s players.
50. 50. The Show: The Show is the biggest and brightest place a hockey player can play: the National Hockey League or NHL. The NHL has teams in the US and Canada.
51. 51. Toe drag: A hockey stick has a blade at the end, and at the end of each blade is the toe. A toe drag is when the puck is hit with the toe of the stick.
52. 52. Top shelf: Just below the bar at the top of the goal and above the shoulders of the goalie is a small area in which a player can score. This is known as the top shelf.
53. 53. Twig: Hockey sticks are made of wood, and as such, are sometimes called twigs.
54. 54. Waffleboard: Professional hockey goaltenders use a blocker pad to deflect high-velocity shots off their forearms. These sometimes have a waffle-like pattern.
55. 55. Wrist shot: A hockey player can hit the puck in a number of different ways. A wrist shot is when the player flicks their wrists in such a way as the end result propels the puck forward fast off the blade of the stick and doesn’t require them to pull back their arms.
56. 56. Zamboni: This is the machine that clears the ice between periods so players have a fresh surface to skate on.

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