Beginner’s Guide To Hockey

There are two main types of sanctions: major and minor. A major penalty lasts five minutes, and the main way people get it is to fight. In this case, both teams would have one player in their penalty box (the ones who fought) for five minutes, and each team would continue to skate at 5 on 5. Minor penalties are more common and there are a variety of ways to get one. Common minor penalties include tripping, roughing (often like a fight but not as dramatic, and the gloves stay on), interference, hooking (wrapping the blade of your stick around an opposing player), and high stick (hitting an opposing player high up with your stick). For these penalties, the naughty player sits in the box for two minutes and his team must eliminate a player. This means that the team that committed the infraction is shorthanded and must skate 5 on 4. The team that took the penalty (the team whose player was assigned) can participate in a power play and enjoy two minutes with one more player than the other team. These power plays often net the team a goal with the extra skater, so taking too many penalties could be dangerous. A double minor may be called if a minor penalty is committed and the player involved is bleeding. This usually happens when a player brings a stick high to the nose or mouth. The player has to stop bleeding before he can play, but once he is cleaned he can play on the power play (and this is often the case, hockey players are very tough). A power play will end early if the team that has the extra field player scores a power play goal. If a shorthanded goal (goal by the team of four skaters) is scored, the power play will continue.