Gopher Hockey: thoughts from a completely uneducated mind

I totally agree with everything in this article. I really like watching hockey, especially Gopher hockey, but it is hard when you don’t totally know what is going on, or have someone to ask for that matter.

NHL games can not end in a tie. So if they’re tied at the end of regulation, both teams will earn one point. They will then go into overtime, which is 5 minutes of 4 on 4 (barring previous penalties). If the teams are still tied at the end of overtime, they will go into a shootout until one team wins. The winning team will earn one extra point.

In the WCHA, however, games CAN end in a tie (which is lame, IMO). I’m talking men’s hockey, here, not women’s. I think other leagues and even the women’s division in the WCHA have different rules. Whether the team wins in regulation or overtime, the team will earn two points. In this case, overtime is a 5 minute sudden death. If the teams are still tied once overtime is done, both teams will earn one point.

And that is pretty much all the hockey knowledge I can impart. But otherwise I agree with you. I love watching hockey. I don’t always understand the rules. I don’t always see a penalty, even when my friends start crying foul while I’m still trying to figure out where the puck went. I am occasionally completely and utterly lost. But I still love it!

No Gopher Hockey games when I’m in town for the Holidays – otherwise I’d propose a Daily Gopher Hockey Meetup

Shoot the puck from your half of the ice to the other end of the ice, and it crosses the line in the back of the opponent’s zone = icing.

In this case, “A” would be a legal pass or a shot on goal, whereas “B” would be icing. Icing was created to prevent teams from just tossing the puck down the ice when they were winning to slow down the game.

Most leagues play “No Touch Icing” where the puck crossing the back line is the trigger for the ref to call icing. The NHL makes the opponents touch the puck before icing is called, which creates footraces to the puck and sometimes injuries

If you ice the puck, the play stops, you can’t change your players on the ice (but the opponent can) and the face-off is moved to the face-off circle next to your goal. For a good example on how this can bone your team, watch the end of the UMD v Michigan NCAA Men’s Final from last year and listen to the commentary.

-I have no idea what cross-checking is.

Cross-checking is when a player checks an opponent using the shaft of the stick with both hands. Here’s the signal for it, that should give you a pretty good idea on what it is.

-Nor do I know what constitutes boarding.

Boarding is pretty much any hit that causes a player to be thrown violently into the boards. Honestly, not many people know exactly what constitutes boarding, as it is a total judgement call by the officials. I’ve seen minor hits called, and totally egregious hits ignored.

-I almost never understand, in a non-penalty situation, why the ref blows the whistle and calls for a face-off.

The ref can blow a play dead for a variety of reasons. Some common ones would be offside calls, a goalie “freezing” the puck, the puck going into the stands, netting above the glass, or being touched by a player on either bench, to name a few. Any specific incidents you can recall?

-I have no idea how the players know when to substitute, or who is substituting for who… but I find the coordination of it to be fascinating.

I’ve never played hockey, but I’ve always assumed that players just go off when they are tired, and the players on the bench know who they are supposed to be coming in for. Or the coach yells for a change. I do know that they change because they are too fatigued to continue playing effectively, and need a rest. All that stopping and starting that hockey players do is tough.

-There is something, I believe it’s some kind of strategery or something, called “the backcheck” (I think), but I have no idea what it is.

Two things here. The backcheck which you are referring to, is when a team is making a rush into the offensive zone, and the opposing team rushes back with them to disrupt their attack. In other words, like playing defense in front of your own goal.
Then there’s the forecheck, which is when a team sends skaters into their offensive zone, while the opposing team has the puck, in an attempt to disrupt their break-out and re-gain possession of the puck. Think full court press in basketball, except it’s done throughout the game.

Hope I helped.

One Timer?

Scary. Its like the Texas board explaining the basics of football. Kind of crazy.

In a nutshell, the NHL drafts at 18 and teams hold the pro rights of college players for four years. College players are still treated as amateur athletes unless they sign a pro contract with that team (which in theory they can do at anytime but almost never happens in-season).

The main reason for drafting before entering college is unlike football or basketball, the NCAA is not the only pipeline for NHL talent. So it’s hard to have players opt-out for the draft; especially when there are other junior leagues which players can be signed to NHL contracts and still play there. College hockey is also unique in that most junior leagues run from 16-20 so that is why you often see the top players (guys like Phil Kessel, Erik Johnson, Thomas Vanek – top-five picks in the NHL draft) only stay 1 or 2 years before signing a NHL contract. Bjugstad is probably another one could be thrown into this category although Florida has a lot of young talent but that’s a topic for another day.

Hope that helps. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.