For the people in the stands
Hockey, explained from the stands.
Why did the whistle go? Why is that player sitting in a glass box? Twelve short lessons, a tap-to-learn rink and a 36-question quiz turn a confusing night at the rink into a game you can follow, in plain words with the high-school rule number beside every rule.
Start free. The full program is the Rink Pass: $1.95 a month or $19.50 a year. Free during preview.
Lesson 3 · Offside, step by step
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1/4 Home is attacking right. The player with the puck skates toward the blue line; a teammate waits at the line.
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2/4 The teammate goes in early: both skates are over the blue line before the puck is. That is offside, and the whistle goes.
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3/4 Done right: the puck crosses the line completely first (the puck carrier may lead it in), then the teammate follows. Play on.
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4/4 Delayed offside: the puck goes in while an attacker is already inside, but a defender can play it. The arm goes up. If every attacker skates back to touch the blue line, the arm comes down and play goes on.
What was that? Pick what you just saw.
- Play stopped just as the attack crossed the blue line
- The referee's arm went up, but play kept going
- A long clear down the ice, and the whistle went with nobody near the puck
- The goalie skated to the bench in the middle of play
- After a goal, a player came out of the box early
- Everyone left the ice except one player and a goalie
The Program
Twelve lessons. Three periods and overtime.
Each lesson is one idea, told as a play you step through on a drawn rink. The first period is free.
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1st
Read the ice
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2nd
Whistles and the box
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3rd
The big moments
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OT
When it is tied
Rink IQ
Test yourself before the puck drops.
Every answer comes with the why and a link back to the lesson. The first 8 are free; all 36 come with the Rink Pass.
Your ticket in.
General admission
Free
- Rink Map
- What was that? decoder
- Lessons 1 to 4
- First 8 Rink IQ questions
- A Bleacher Book for your progress
Rink Pass
$1.95 a month
or $19.50 a year (two months free)
- All 12 lessons
- All 36 Rink IQ questions
- The printable Bleacher Card
Free during preview. There is no checkout yet, and nothing is charged.
Unofficial, on purpose.
This is an independent guide for fans. It is not the school's, the district's, the city youth program's, a team's or the boosters' site, and it never shows team logos, colours, rosters, schedules, results or anything about players. It teaches the game, nothing else. For team news, ask the team.