The Writings on the Rink: Part 1

Hockey

Feb 7, 2012

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There are so many lines, circles and trapezoids all over the rink, have you ever sat back and wondered what the purpose of all these were? Well I am here to inform you of their purposes, with diagrams too. This will be a two part series explaining all writings on the rink. In this edition the lines on the ice will be explained. As you can see on the diagram below there are 5 major lines on any regulation NHL rink.

We’re going to start with red line down the middle of the ice. The center ice line divides the ice in half, length wise. It’s commonly used to call icing and offside. The next set on lines will be the blue lines you see on the diagram below. The two blue lines divide the ice into three zones. They are the attacking zone, the neutral zone and the defending zone.

A quick lowdown on the zones; the attacking zone is exactly what it sounds like, the zone in which the team is trying to score in. The attacking zone is the zone farthest from the teams net. The defending zone is also exactly what it sounds like; the zone in which a team is defending and trying to prevent goals. The defending zone is the zone closest to the teams net. The neutral zone is also often referred to as center ice. The zone on the ice is just that neutral.The blue lines are also often used to call offside.

Now on to the goal lines, this can be a little deceiving. There are 2 goal lines one on each end of the rink they span the width of the ice from sideboard to sideboard on each side. The goal line is used to determine things like goals, icing and delay of game penalties. Unless the puck fully crosses line a goal will not be called, icing will not be called nor will a delay of game penalty.

That concludes this edition of the writings on the rink; in the next edition
we will cover the face off circles and the trapezoids. Now that you have an understanding of all the lines on ice you can better understand icing, offside and various penalty calls. You can now join in on screaming at the refs for calls or missed calls. Enjoy.