Four Rules About Hockey That You Need To Learn

Hockey is probably one of the best sports in the world because of the freedom that they seem to have on the ice. But it is a legitimate sport and it does have rules of its own. You can't just hit the rink and start picking fights with anybody from the other team. This is not how it works no matter what you have been seeing on television or on movies about the sport. So before you get your hopes up on getting in on the rough sport, learn a few of the rules about it that still make it a controlled and safe game.

• The Face-off – There are five circles on the rink. There are two on each side of the rink and one facing each net. There is also one in the middle of the rink. When a play starts off for the period in game, two players play against each other in one of the circles. The aim is to try to get the puck when the referee drops it. Now, at this point there is a kind of joust that players have before the puck hits the ice. This does not mean that as a player, you can start to do silly things like hit the other player on the ice. If this happens, you can be exchanged for another player on your team for the face-off. This depends on the referee's call on your attitude at the time.

• Penalties – Yes, every player can receive a penalty for behaving rudely on the ice. It's the referees who have the last call and these penalties can be called for any reason like foul language to excessive violence against other players. Minor penalties mean a player has to stay in the box for two minutes. Major penalties mean five minutes; misconduct gets a player in the box for ten minutes; and game misconduct can get a player off the rink for the remainder of the game. There are also suspensions given each time players throw cheap shots meant to injure others. It's up to the referees and sometimes the league to hand out the suspensions.

• Checking – Here is where the sport can get pretty rough. Hockey is known for something known as checking. Basically, the players are allowed to smash into each other, but not all the time. Checking basically happens when a player is carrying a puck forward and the opposing team can stop him by smashing into him. This can happen to a player who receives a pass or to a player who makes a pass.

• Boarding – Boarding happens when a player checks a player while that player is facing the boards. This can be very violent and a player who is caught doing this is assessed for a penalty, depending on how severe the check was. Players can get hurt pretty badly from this form of checking. Players have been known to suffer concussions and this can lead also to broken necks. Boarding is mostly frowned upon by officials and players but it does happen on the ice.