Do you have breaks between each play in a hockey game?

Answer 1

Not really. After each play the teams usually switch players, so there are about 10 to 15 seconds (at the most) of non-activity. The only breaks are time-outs and in between periods, excluding times when a player is hurt, etc. Hockey is the fastest team sport in the world, with an average player able to skate at about 20 mph, and a fast player at more than 30 mph. Skating, on ice, is about four times faster than running on grass. The average player can get a shot off at about 85 to 90 mph and the best are capable of shot speeds over 100 mph. The puck is made of solid rubber, and they are frozen prior to each game in a bucket with about 4 dozen pucks in it. A forward line, made up of a center, and a right and a left winger, will stay out for about 40 seconds of play, and then "change on the fly " with a new front line coming on as the old one goes off the ice to the bench. The players coming on the ice come over the top of the boards, while those coming off come thru the doors in the boards at the bench The defense pair will stay out a bit longer, and change when the puck is in the other team's end of the ice or when the play is stopped by the referee, for a penalty or a iceing infraction. A hockey game has 3 periods of 20 minutes each. The time keeper stops the clock each time the referee blows his whistle, and restarts the clock when the play resumes. He is the one and only controller of the time clock, using a button held in his hand. At the end of 20 minutes there is a 15 minute intermission, and that is when the teams go to their dressing rooms to rest and talk about tactics and how to play better. The coach uses this time to go over mistakes and show individual players what he wants them to do better in the next period of play. Players take off their skates and lie down on the floor, with their legs up on the benches, to get blood back into their bodies. Many put on dry socks and undershirts to feel cooler. At each end of the ice surface, called a "rink" there is a goal net. It is four feet high and six feet across and three feet deep front to back. The object of the game is to score a goal by shooting the puck into the other team's net. It is not allowed to kick the puck in or to use your hand to deflect it into the net. You can use your stick to deflect a shot, and many pro players are experts at "deflection shots" while standing in front of the net. The goaltender's job is to keep the puck out of his net. The goalie has the most important job on the hockey team, and he is a skilled and acrobatic athlete. A good goalie has to be able to to move quickly from side to side, and to use all four of his limbs at the same time to stop shots and smoother re-bounds. Great eye sight combined with cat like reflexes are needed, as well as courage to be able to stop slap shots coming in at about 100 mph. Deep padding is not enough to stop the brusies that are the mark of the goalie's trade. Most pro teams have 20 players on their roster, with 4 forward lines of 3 each, and 6 defense men, and two goalies. In a case where a player is hurt, the big team will call up a replacement from the farm team, a junior league team that is owned by the pro team. This gives a young player a chance to show what he can do in "The Big Time".