So, you want to become an ice hockey fan, but you have no idea what the game is about. Well, if you’re a newcomer to the sport it can be quite complicated. Don’t worry, we’re here to teach you all the basics you’ll need to know about hockey, meaning you’ll be able to add it to the sports you watch, love and bet on.
The Game Itself
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The NHL (National Hockey League) is the premier league for the sport in North America and consists of 30 teams in four divisions. There are a host of other minor leagues and European leagues that also play at a high level of competition. Hockey games last 60 minutes and are broken into 3 periods of 20 minutes each. If teams are tied at the end of regulation time, they go into 5 minutes of overtime with a shootout if no winner is decided.
Hockey Objectives
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The players who take to the ice are concerned with 2 main objectives. They attempt to score a goal by getting the puck past the opposing team’s goalie into the net, all while making sure that the other team doesn’t do the same to them. The sport can be likened to soccer or field hockey in this way and it’s the easiest thing to understand about the basics of the game.
The Rules
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The basic of objectives of hockey may be easy to understand, but there are a whole range of rules that you’ll need to know to be able to follow what’s happening in the game. Below you’ll find a list of minor offenses that can result in penalties:
- Tripping
- High-sticking (stick moves above the waist and causes an injury)
- Elbowing
- Delaying the game
- Cross-checking (hitting a player with the shaft of the stick)
- Hooking (using the crook of the stick as a hook on a player)
Usual major penalties include the following:
- Checking from behind
- Fighting
- Boarding (causing a player to careen head-first into the edge of the rink)
Essentially, though, any minor penalty can be assessed as a major penalty if there was intent to injure.
Penalty Box
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So, what happens if a player gets a penalty? He has to sit out part of the game, either two minutes for a minor penalty or five minutes for a major.
The penalty box is actually a cubicle on the opposite side of the ice from the player benches. Inside the penalty box sits a timekeeper whose sole job is to keep the player inside the cubicle until his penalty has expired.
Players must remain in the penalty box either until the time runs out or the opponents score a goal for minor penalties. For major penalties, the player remains in the box the entire time.
Watch Some Hockey
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Now that you've got some basics figured out, just watch a few games. Announcers will call play-by-plays, and analysts will spout a range of additional information including interesting facts or player quotes. Watching high-paced ice hockey live can be tricky if you are new to the sport. If you have any friends who enjoy hockey, make sure you bring them with you. Once you have the hang of the action, you can even place a live bet on hockey.
Follow a Team
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Following a single team will accomplish a few things. Firstly, it’ll make sure you watch enough games to grasp the sport as a whole. Secondly, it will give you some stakes to enjoy when they win. When it comes to picking a team, the choice is yours – you could pick a Stanley Cup winner or the team of a player you really enjoy. In the end being a hockey fan is all about having a team you support.
Fighting Happens
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Everyone's heard the cliché: I went to a fight, and a hockey game broke out. If you are a fan of hockey, people are going to want to talk about the fighting. You already know one thing, fighting earns a five-minute major. Typically teams will field specific players called Enforcers who are there to check (or fight) the other team into submission.
The All-Time Greats
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If all else fails, at least be able to say something about the following hockey greats:
- Gordie Howe: One of the original fathers of the sport
- Bobby Orr: One of the best defensemen of all time
- Wayne Gretzky: The greatest player of all time
- Patrick Roy: He was the father of the butterfly style of goal tending
Bet on Ice Hockey
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Now that you know some of the basics of ice hockey, you are more than ready to place a bet on a game. Head over to
Betway Login page, check the fixtures and start
betting on all your favourite NHL teams and players today.
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