On ice player vocabulary and definitions

[Zootsuit 0]

Looking to learn as many of these as I can. Things like"up boards" ect.

thanks

[technophile 0]

Kind of a vague request, but I'll toss a few generally defense-themed ones in.

"One on/Man on": there is an opponent pressuring you, probably from a direction you're not looking.

"Hard around": Shoot the puck hard around the boards (behind the goal).

"Reverse": The side of the ice you are heading towards is chock full of bad guys, go the other way.

"Point": The point (generally D) man behind you is wide open and wants the puck -- take a look to make sure you aren't being tricked and get it back to him.

"Time": You have plenty of time/aren't being pressured, get your head up, look around, and start skating.

"Box": There is a man about to leave the penalty box, make sure you're not going to get beat by a stretch pass.

"Switch": Switch sides of the ice with your partner, either to cover a rush or to get back on your own side after transitioning back up ice.

"Boards": Pass the puck up along or off the wall, i.e. you have pressure or lane coverage in the middle of the ice.

"Ice it": Shoot the puck the length of the ice and damn the consequences (someone needs a change badly)

Many of these are repeated for emphasis, as in "Time time time".

[pelikano 1]

Nice.

More please.

[heybrady 0]

"F You" and "F Off" are used quite a bit, and are fairly self-explanatory.

[tareatingrat 4]

Other than the ones mentioned:

I usually just yell, "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" if I'm open for a pass. (Unfortunately, me being deaf in one ear, this doesn't always work when somebody is calling for a pass from me...I'm really bad at determining what direction a call is coming from :( ).

I'll yell "deep" in the offensive zone if I want my guy on the half-boards to put it into a corner and start a cycle.

If a teammate gets to a puck on the boards but has a guy coming at him, I'll yell for him to "chip it" up the boards if I'm supporting. It would seem that "chip" means, "fire it as hard as you can off the boards" for some people, though...

Yelling "Backdoor!" can help your D when they're not always paying attention.

Other than that, most of the stuff is self-explanatory. If my D is making a rush and has room, I'll yell for him to go and tell him "I got ya" to let him know I'll cover for him.

[jds 20]

What about "wheel!"? I always understood that to mean accelerate behind the net and up the ice but was told it means skate fast.

[Law Goalie 147]

What about "wheel!"? I always understood that to mean accelerate behind the net and up the ice but was told it means skate fast.

It means both: it's a direction I was told to give to a defenceman who has room to rush the puck up ice himself, by skating fast (naturally), but it's of particular relevance to a D-man who's picking up the puck behind the net, so he can get some good acceleration coming out of the turn.

"Hard around" can be reduced to "Rim," as long as everyone's clear what you mean.

"Glass" means get it the hell out, high and hard.

"Chip" means just that, chip the puck up the boards.

"Support" generally means the player has backside support from a teammate he may not have seen; it can also be used as a verb, meaning "give that guy some support" if your team has a trapped/outnumbered puck-carrier, especially in the defensive zone.

"Eat it" means jam the puck against the boards and keep it there 'til the cavalry arrives; you have no outs.

"Quick up" means move the puck up ice in a hurry.

"Can't see" is what a screened goalie says to his D, but this does tip off the offense as well.

"Play it" and "Leave it" are directions you need to give to a puck-handling goalie if there's pressure, along with directions to move the puck if and as necessary.

"Leave him" tells your guys to leave one of their guys alone if he's agitating; useful if you know the guy already has a penalty.

"Take him [there/now]" is a way a defensive partner or goalie can tell a defenceman to make a physical play on a puck-carrier at a crucial moment; for example, if there's a really dangerous scoring threat developing, and you want the puck-carrier rushed, or if there's a chance to force an offside.

Non-verbally, if you're coming back towards your goal and you see your goalie pointing in a particular direction, that means turn, look, and pick that guy up; very useful if there's a dump-in that generates an odd-man situation coming off the boards.

[acollette49 0]

"eat it": trap the puck along the boards to kill time.

always yelled this, few people knew what the hell i was talking about.

damn you law goalie, too quick!

[Gummer12 134]

Wheel is same as Hard Around... I.E. Wheel the puck around the boards.. As a goalie I'm ALWAYS talking to my players, (Many who don't listen). Some of my vocab in addition to the others...

Stay Home: Don't pursue the offensive player into the corner, stay in front of the net and pick up the trailer

Pick up the Trailer: The second or third guy in on a rush

Keep It: Don't send the puck up or around the boards

Send it: DO send the puck

Off the Bench/Late Change: The late change behind the play esp in the second period

BACKCHECK!: Self explanitory (except for JR )

And just other various spotting calls to fill my players with as much info as I can, where the open guys are on Off and Def.

[wrangler 157]

"Slot" -- from teammate open in the slot in the offensive zone

"Trailer" -- from open teammate trailing the puck carrier in offensive zone

[tareatingrat 4]

I yell "wheel" to let a guy know he's got some space and needs to skate hard. Useful if he was looking down for a second or two to catch a puck or is picking one off of the boards.

Also helps on a rush to let your forwards know how many guys are with him. "Two" if it's the puck carrier and another guy, "three" if there's two with the carrier, etc.

A lot of times, especially in lower levels, guys get tunnel vision with the puck.

If it's just one guy, it's usually "just you" or "all you".

In terms of non-verbal stuff, there are a lot of guys who tap their sticks outside of your vision. I never pass to them. Nine out of ten times it's an opposing player trying to be cute.

That said, I wonder how many guys are actually paying attention to this stuff out there...

[str8prostock 1]

All good terms guys.

"Head on a swivel" always have ur head looking in dif directions.

"Mirror" for a drop pass.

" Collapse" The D jumps into the slot and becomes a 4th forward.

"Pin" Keep the opponent by the boards

" Stand up " Putting pressure on the puck carried by confronting him frontal.

" Hold the blue line" Dont let the opponent come into the D zone or Keep the puck inside the offensive blue line

"High cycle" Forwards and D are changing positions in the offensive zone

"Weak Side " Side of the ice without the puck

" Strong Side" Sife of the ice with the puck

88 or 22 for a change. ( Im sure people have a bunch )

[mnpucker 33]

_{Backdoor! Means Get to the weakside of the net if you are on offense and it means cover the guy at the weakside if on D.}

_{one, two! = give and go}

_{cutter = hit the C or Wing cutting into open space (Between D), usually breaking out.}

_{Unfortuantely one of my altime favorties when I played was, "Let's go". You can figure that one out}

_{Drive = carry the puck wide into the offensive zone to pen up a backdoor play.}

_{One time = one time shot or one time redirected pass, either way no stickhandling involved. See it receive it Rip it.}

_{Partner = d to d Pass}

_{Regroup = cycle puck to D in Neutral zone, forwards fill lane with one swining in puck support.}

[BarDownGinos 3]

Wheel is same as Hard Around... I.E. Wheel the puck around the boards.. As a goalie I'm ALWAYS talking to my players, (Many who don't listen). Some of my vocab in addition to the others...

No, no it is not the same thing. Ever.

If you got me crushed because you're yelling at me to wheel the puck as opposed to ringing it hard around the boards I would be shooting at your head for the next week.

[str8prostock 1]

No, no it is not the same thing. Ever.

If you got me crushed because you're yelling at me to wheel the puck as opposed to ringing it hard around the boards I would be shooting at your head for the next week.

LOL I would call that a HOSPITAL PASS another good term to know

[Zootsuit 0]

Awesome, might have been a vague question but you guys got it. Thanks! keep them coming.

If it's terms/slang to describe play,,after the fact or such ,please mention that. I'm looking for common, on ice, between players vocabulary.

"Turn it" "Turn it Back" ???? I think that was yelled at me once or twice playing D.

[mnpucker 33]

Turn it back - regroup

[Chadd 916]

No, no it is not the same thing. Ever.

If you got me crushed because you're yelling at me to wheel the puck as opposed to ringing it hard around the boards I would be shooting at your head for the next week.

I've never heard anyone use it in a different context, it means a hard around here as well. We yell "skate" when we want the guy to carry it and turn up ice, "Time" when there is no pressure on the forecheck and "coming hard" if someone is flying in on him.

[technophile 0]

Man, "wheel" would have totally had me stumped. :) The leagues I've been in usually go for the more self-explanatory "SKATE SKATE SKATE".

Along with "play it" and "leave it", I'll tell the goalie "hold it" if I need him to cover it (pressure coming, I've gotten trapped on a shift and need a change, etc), and I almost always tell him "you've got it" if he made the save but the whistle hasn't gone yet and he doesn't need to move, or "under you"/"drop"/"fall down" if it's loose in the crease under/behind him.

I never, never, never pass to a stick tap (unless I have a lot of time to take a look and find a lane); too many guys do that to the other team. If someone yells my name I'll be a little more risky, since anyone who knows my name either is on my team or I've played with enough to recognize by their voice that they're not.

Goalies who don't use "can't see" usually yell "screen", which is my cue to move myself out of the lane, taking any forward in front of the crease with me.

Oh, and for odd man rushes I usually add the number of defenders, because it's easy for a forward breaking down to not see either any teammates or any backcheckers; so I'll yell "3 on 1" rather than just "3" so the player knows they aren't about to get stick lifted.

[cooperalls 4]

I typically use "wheel" or "wheel it" to talk to a D partner, usually meaning carry it/continue around the net and keep skating.

If I want someone to carry or pass the puck in the opposite direction or travel I usually call out "reverse"

I usually use "skate it" or "lug it" if someone is coasting looking to pass off the puck but really they've got time and space to skate until they're challenged.

If I'm in a good spot for a drop pass or relief outlet I'll say "with you"

If there's pressure on and the goaltender has the puck I'll say "eat it" or "squeeze", if there's no pressure I'll say "play it"

If my D partner is looking over at me I'll say "yes" or "no" repeatedly depending on if I think it's safe to go D-to-D or not.

If I'm blocking my goaltenders view I hope to hear "screen" or "move".

If there's traffic in front of the net and I see a wind-up I'll say "shot"

Any time the puck is behind the goal line or behind our net I try to say where it is so my goalie knows which corner it's in, or which direction it's moving.

Lastly, it seems very common to yell "feet" when a loose puck is in someone's skates. this is pretty much like yelling "heads up!"..doesn't really do much good, only adds to their confusion, but what else can you do?

[Law Goalie 147]

The "wheel" confusion has caught people a couple of times up here; I'd say almost everyone thinks it means to accelerate, especially rolling behind the net, and most particularly if there is pursuit and a clear avenue up ice, but every so often I get a very odd look from a guy wondering why I told him to throw it around the boards when he had so much room. I think there might be a geographical dialect issue at work here.

The other call I use, but less, is "space" - meaning that even though there may be pressure coming, there's room for the player to carry the puck a bit.

I also distinguish between "time" (meaning a reasonable amount of time) and "tons" which would allow you to go and have a sandwich before there'd be any pressure coming.

"Just him" is a good call for defenders who may not know that there isn't a trailer or other support for the puck-carrier: they can take him one-to-one.

"Wants to walk" is one I sometimes use when an opposing player, usually somebody pretty good, is clearly looking to 'walk through the D' and carry the puck to the net himself. That, however, is not universally known: I'd say it's about 50% effective here.

If there's traffic in front of the net and I see a wind-up I'll say "shot"

Any time the puck is behind the goal line or behind our net I try to say where it is so my goalie knows which corner it's in, or which direction it's moving.

Lastly, it seems very common to yell "feet" when a loose puck is in someone's skates. this is pretty much like yelling "heads up!"..doesn't really do much good, only adds to their confusion, but what else can you do?

Good stuff on the goalie communication: that's what we like to hear.

I will say, however, that being the guy who often gets to call "feet" and watch the results at a remove, I'd say about 8 times out of 10 it results in the player getting a handle on the puck faster than otherwise. That said, it is grossly overused: "feet" does not mean "the puck is on the ice three feet behind you," it means "the puck is touching your skates or very nearly so," and yet I still hear guys yelling "feet" when the puck is not directly playable by the skate-blades.

[LeMagnifique66 0]

LOL Folks can't even agree on some of these in an internet thread, let alone when out playing with the pressure on. So, to me, it's really not that big of a surprise that some folks just stay tight-lipped and/or don't listen out there. I try to have a brief session with the guys on the bench or during warm-up to make sure we're all on the same page when it comes to communication. But, invariably, there's always at least one or two confusing moments out there. The good news is that I can say that most of what I've read thus far seems about the same as what is used here. FWIW, it would seem as though the "wheel" confusion is eliminated at my "home rink" by simply telling a person "Go" ("Go! Go! Go!") when you want them to get on their horse while carrying the puck. I've not heard "wheel" or "rim" used here to tell someone to shoot the puck hard around the boards. It's always "hard around". (Though I must say that I like the idea of "rim"... shorter.)

[chippa13 1844]

Might as well add a couple of funner ones.......

"purse swinger": a skilled/soft guy who rarely drops the gloves and when he does, he shouldn't have

"sewn on": refers to a guy's gloves where he plays a style that he should answer for but won't........"don't bother, his gloves are sewn on"

[Chadd 916]

Any time the puck is behind the goal line or behind our net I try to say where it is so my goalie knows which corner it's in, or which direction it's moving.

I do that as well. If it gets deflected and they don't see it right away I will tell them boards or corner. If someone is trying to walk out from behind I will tell them stick side, glove side or just other side.

[LeMagnifique66 0]

..."sewn on": refers to a guy's gloves where he plays a style that he should answer for but won't........"don't bother, his gloves are sewn on"

e.g. Alex Ovechkin! LOL