In the third iteration of my hockey mailbag series, I’m going to answer as many diverse questions as possible. If you haven’t already checked out my previous two articles on mail, give them a read. They covered penalties And line changes.

If you have any hockey questions you’d like answered in article form, keep an eye out for my next mailbag request on X. I’ll probably do another one in about a month.

I’m going to make a small remark that will make sense of everything else: hockey is a game of zones. A team has a strategic advantage when it controls the puck in the other team’s zone. Many rules are based on these advantages.

How do faceoffs take place?

You’ve probably already realized that every time play stops, it resumes via a faceoff: two players fighting for possession of the puck. But what are the rules of a faceoff? Why are players kicked out of the faceoff circle? How do they determine where the faceoff will take place?

Let’s go.

You’ll notice in the diagram below that there are five circles, each with a dot in the center, and four additional red dots. These are the only places where a faceoff can take place.

One player per team is allowed in the faceoff circle. The teams’ centers, also called centers, usually take the faceoffs. The home team’s player positions their stick first, followed by the team’s center visitor.

If one of the players moves his stick before the referee drops the puck, he is expelled from the faceoff circle. At that time, one of his teammates must take the throw. If this player is also ejected, the team receives a penalty for delay of the game.

You will notice that the four faceoff circles in the corners have additional markings on both the inside and outside. These are guidelines for where each player should stand, and they apply to faceoffs at all locations, not just locations that have the marks on them.

The marks outside the circles are called “hatches.” Players from both teams must stand behind their respective team’s hash marks until the puck is dropped. The right angles inside the circles indicate where and how the men in the center should stand. Their toes cannot cross horizontal lines and their feet must be parallel to vertical lines.

Faceoff locations are determined by two things: the location of the event that stopped play and the type of event that stopped it. THE NHL rulebook contains five and a half pages explaining the details of faceoffs, including the locations of each possible scenario. I’ll summarize it.

If your team is responsible for stopping play, the faceoff usually takes place at the location least advantageous to your team. Here are some examples of scenarios that would cause a faceoff in your zone:

• Your team takes a penalty
• Your goalie covers the puck
• Your team is called for icing
• Your team knocks the puck out of play from your zone.

There are also some scenarios in which the faceoff takes place in one of the neutral zone locations. These include:

• When a goal is scored
• When a period begins
• When a team is flagged offside
• When the puck goes out of play in the neutral zone
• When a goalie covers the puck, but the attacking team’s defenders get involved in a scrum at the net
• When officials make a mistake

There are many other situations that determine faceoff locations, but here are the main ones.

How do offsides and icing work in hockey?

Let me first emphasize again that in hockey it is “offside” not “offside.” If you ever hear someone say it the wrong way, be sure to poke them in the eye.

With that out of the way, let’s explain what offside and icing are.

Offside in hockey is similar to offside in football, except that the last defender is not the reference point, but the blue line. The puck must cross the blue line before a player from the attacking team does so. If it’s the other way around, the linesman whistles when the player touches the puck.

Once the puck leaves the zone, the entire attacking team must leave the offensive zone before they can return the puck.

There is one exception to this rule, although it doesn’t happen very often: if the defending team brings the puck into the zone, it is not offside. This caused some playoff confusion last yeareven if the linesman made the right choice.

The person who asked this understands icing, but I’ll explain it anyway for those who don’t.

Punctuating is when a team shoots the puck from their own side of center ice to the back of the other team’s zone. But it doesn’t stop there. Both teams fight for position, and the winning team is the one with the best chance of touching the puck as it gets to the edge of the faceoff circle.

If the defending team wins the race, the linesman blows the whistle and the faceoff takes place in the offending team’s zone. If the attacking team wins, there is no whistle and the attacking team may continue possession of the puck in the offensive zone.

Note that when a team has a penalty, that team can put the puck on ice unclaimed. However, if both teams have penalties at the same time, neither team can put the puck on ice.

What happens when a player breaks his stick?

Today’s poles are hollow and extremely light. They are made from composite materials and most weigh 15 ounces or less. This makes them really easy to use, but it also makes them really easy to break.

When a player breaks his stick, he must drop it immediately. If he continues to play with it, he will receive a penalty for playing with illegal equipment. He can obtain a new stick in two ways: by taking one from the bench or by obtaining one from a teammate. This sometimes leads to cool goals.

However, more often than not, when a player breaks their stick, they simply leave the ice and someone else takes their place.

Some of you may be interested to know that players usually have several spare keys each game. There’s a rack at the entrance to every NHL locker room with dozens of sticks just for this game. Teams also have rooms full of sticks in their rink.

Can a hockey player catch the puck?

Whoever asked this question is quite observant: a player can catch the puck, but he must let it go immediately. If he holds it too long, throws it, skates with it or does anything else that the referee judges to be to the player’s advantage, he is subject to a penalty for closing his hand on the puck.

A player also cannot pick up the puck off the ice, for fear of receiving a penalty for closing his hand on the puck.

Goalkeepers are an exception to this rule. A goalie can “cover” or “freeze” the puck by grabbing it – whether in the air or off the ice – and holding it until an official blows the whistle.

Hand passes, which occur when a player hits or slides the puck toward a teammate, or when a puck deflects off a player’s glove and goes toward a teammate, are only allowed in the defensive zone. If a hand pass occurs in the neutral or offensive zone, the whistle is blown but no penalty is assessed.

It is also important to note that if a player hits the puck with their hand during a faceoff, they receive a penalty.