Hockey Slang Term Glossary

If you’re new to hockey and have trouble keeping up with a conversation because you’re confused by the slang, here’s a guide to help you.

Barn – Hockey Rink/Arena

Bender – A lousy player who always seems to have his ankles bent.

Between the Pipes – In the net.

Biscuit – A Puck.

Breezers – Hockey pants.

Brain Bucket (or just Bucket) – A helmet.

Celly – A celebration, usually done after scoring a goal

Coast to Coast – When a player carries the puck from his own net all the way to his opponent’s and scores.

Chippy – Getting irritated with one another, usually on the brink of fighting.

Chirp – To talk trash.

Cherry Picker – Player who hangs out in his opponents zone awaiting a long pass.

Dangle – Misdirecting an opponent while handling the puck. See deke.

Deke – A fake out, perhaps derived from the word “decoy”.

Drop – To leave the puck behind or pass it to a trailing teammate.

Gongshow – A rough, intense game.

Grinder – A player who digs deep, hustles to make plays.Usually better known for checking and disruption rather than scoring ability. Like a lineman in football, he works hard but rarely gets recognized for his hard work.

Enforcer – A player who takes on the role of discouraging the opposing team from harassing his goal scoring teammate by imposing the threat of physical harm.

Fisticuffs – A fight.

Five Hole – The area in between the goalie’s legs.Hash Marks – The lines coming out of the faceoff circles providing a guide to where players should be lined up.

Hat Trick – Scoring three goals in one game.

Hoser – A loser. Orginated from the pre-Zamboni days when the losing team had to hose off the ice.

Laser – A quick, well-placed shot.

Light the Lamp – Score a goal so the siren flashes.

Mucker – A physical player who lacks finesse but gets the job done by forechecking, working the boards, etc. He is not afraid to do the dirty work. Usually used interchangeably or in connection with grinder.

One-timer – Taking a hard shot right off the pass without pausing to receive it.

Pipe-fitter/PlumberSee mucker and grinder.

Playing the Point – When a defender positions himself in front of the blue line near the boards in order to keep the puck in his offensive zone.

Puck Bunny – A girl who is more interested in getting the player’s attention than watching the game.

Pylon – Skater who just stands still and is as easy to skate around as an orange cone.

Schoolyard Puck – Pick-up hockey often played in a schoolyard, usually on inline skates.

Shinny – Pick-up hockey usually played on a frozen pond.

Sieve – A goalie with a lot of “holes” meaning he allows a lot of goals.

Sin Bin – The penalty box.

Slapper – A slap shot.

Slot – The middle area in front of the net.

Sniper – Player with an accurate shot who often scores from a distance.

Top Shelf – To put a goal in the upper part of the net.

Tripod – A player who has to balance himself with his stick.

Woody – A wooden stick

Wrap around – To come from behind the net and squeeze it past the goalie.

Wrister – A wrist shot.

What do you think, did I miss anything? Is there a term that would benefit from further clarification? Let me know in the comments. Thumbnail image by jwyg

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285 Comments

  1. Alex said on August 12, 2011

    Geno – Goal
    Woody – Wooden Stick
    Fishbowl – Huge visor that covers that usually covers the whole face
    Apple – Assist

  2. Brian said on September 10, 2011

    Face wash… when they rub their gloves in a players face.

  3. Ryan said on September 16, 2011

    Cheese – going roof. Aka, roof daddy or top cheddar, also referred to pulling the string, or going upstairs, goin shelf etc
    Sauce – pass flighty off the ice but very controlled
    Banks – the quick player with scoring ability (mighty ducks reference)
    Conway – the quitter (mighty ducks reference)
    Goon – the scrapper/fighter
    Dangles – unreal handling of the rubber(puck)
    Way too many too type. I could go on for weeks

    • Kyle said on October 4, 2011

      puck bunny.
      whats your definition for that ?

    • Tayler said on October 9, 2011

      LOLOL.
      Truue Budd.

    • Kyle said on March 16, 2012

      If Banks refers to anything it should be Mystery Alaska, Connor Banks.

  4. Brandon said on September 26, 2011

    Duster- player who sits on the bench and collects dust

    • KP said on January 2, 2012

      Dust Bunny- A girl who dates/gets with the dusters on the team.

  5. Andrew said on October 2, 2011

    Grocery stick- the player that sits on the bench who seperates the forward from the defense
    Gordie go-hard- the player who goes absolutely hard at anything he does
    Steezey- a player who has incredible style and knows a lot about the sport of hockey

  6. Kevin said on October 3, 2011

    chunking – a fluttery saucer pass
    – He’s really chunking his sauces today

  7. Jerus said on October 13, 2011

    Toilet bowl – Large, poofy, white neck guard made out of foam. usually warn after a serious neck injury.

    Anyone know a term for someone who wears a neck guard over the age of 10?

    • Hockey Mom said on March 15, 2012

      Your Question:
      Anyone know a term for someone who wears a neck guard over the age of 10?
      Yes –
      A smart player 🙂
      who has witnessed a kid at his rink get taken out in an ambulance after getting slashed in the neck.
      It is a required piece of equipment for all kids in Canada.

    • Kyle said on March 16, 2012

      Canadian… they all do

  8. jacoby said on October 16, 2011

    dusty- collects dust on the bench
    top sheds- top of the net
    bar eazy- hitting the crossbar and having the puck go in the net

  9. hockeygirl said on October 17, 2011

    Bar Down -scoring off the crossbar

  10. hockeygirl said on October 17, 2011

    Tow Drag- using the toe of your stick to draw the puck back when the opponent attempts to swat the puck away.

  11. jdduke said on October 20, 2011

    Plug- Someone thats completly useless
    Pracky- Practice

  12. NYRangersfan26 said on October 24, 2011

    Stick wrinkle – pretty much the same as a toe drag but I hear Don Cherry say a lot on Coaches Corner

  13. casey said on October 25, 2011

    twig-hockey stick

  14. tucks said on October 27, 2011

    flow: unreal long hockey player hair (usually worn with a hat)
    splinters: someone who sits on the bench and gets splinters
    snipe: a sick shot
    snizzy twine: sniping the puck so it hits the netting so hard it bounces out
    dome: as in to dome a goalie (score on them a lot)

  15. JrAdmirals said on November 7, 2011

    Duster: A lousy player with very bad hands.
    Goon: A player with bad skills but is a big hitter.

  16. Jenna said on November 10, 2011

    sauce
    Dummied
    Sewered

  17. CS said on November 13, 2011

    shorty- short-handed goal

  18. Dean said on November 14, 2011

    Deaner- Someone with an unreal shot and “deans” is just good at everything
    Sauce- Saucer pass
    Dirty Flow- Hair slicked back, and looks sick with a hat, long hair
    Goon- Cheap dirty player
    Chirp- Trash talking
    Smitty- Dirty, Smelly, Sweaty, player with a beard
    Bucket- Helmet
    Bender Tender- Tender who is a bender and sucks
    Top Cheese- Top shelf
    Ripper- Slapshot/ hard shot
    Báckhand- crazy good backhand
    Dome- Getting hit in the head
    Dangle- Crazy good hands and amazing at dekeing
    Celly- Celebration after scoring
    Duster- Someone who collects dust from sitting on the bench
    Chippy- Anger problems and is cheap
    Puck Bunny- Hockey girl who is sluttish and likes hockey players
    PuckSeason- Hockey Season

    • lucas DiLuca said on February 9, 2012

      geno- bar down or post in

  19. mike said on November 15, 2011

    kicker/target- goalie

  20. Slash Gordon said on November 15, 2011

    Gordie Howe Hat Trick…A goal, assist and fight in a single game.

    • Matt said on November 16, 2011

      Gordie only recorded two. Brendan Shanahan holds the record with 17!!

  21. Randy said on November 25, 2011

    Tucked – scored a goal
    Gino – a goal
    Ghost – invisible out on the ice, not doing a damn thing “F*ckin’ 23 is a GHOST out there tonight!”

  22. Al said on December 3, 2011

    Please give me your definition of a river skater.
    Thank you

  23. Fish said on December 7, 2011

    sticks in… Choosing sides

  24. Laura said on December 23, 2011

    i heard “chaw” used and i haven’t heard it before. Anyone know what that means?

    • Dan said on December 27, 2011

      Chaw means doing chewing tobbacco

    • Dave said on December 28, 2011

      Chew

  25. Jared said on January 19, 2012

    Rocket – hot girl

  26. Laura said on January 21, 2012

    What does Muzzies and Lip Bombs mean? Lol

  27. JPP said on January 25, 2012

    Muzzies and Lip bombs means mustaches

    • LMH said on January 29, 2012

      Lip bombs are a big pinch of chew

  28. DSPEE said on January 30, 2012

    any definitions for enterprise boys?

  29. goon said on January 30, 2012

    boomer-slapshot
    clapper-slapshot
    twig-stick
    mitts-gloves
    boots-skates
    tendy/tender-goalie
    kicker-goalie
    cage-net
    birdcage-huge cage

  30. CCBF said on February 1, 2012

    Puck Sluuuuuuuts – They’re the BEST.

  31. Kthecool said on February 8, 2012

    What is the term “barred down”?

    • Keegan said on February 10, 2012

      Bar down – When you shoot the puck and it ricochets off the cross bar and goes down into the goal.

  32. PuckBunny3124 said on February 9, 2012

    I can’t believe these aren’t in here!!
    Gino: Means a goal, when a player scores.
    Apple: Assist
    Tilly: Fight
    Puck: Hockey; For example “I play puck.”
    I swear I say Gino and apple everdaaaay..

  33. Duster said on February 10, 2012

    wheels – skates
    bucky – helmet
    lip burger/daddy/candy – chew
    weapon – stick
    wand – stick
    lumber – stick
    floor cheese/ched – puck doesn’t leave the ice
    bender/bendy – bad player
    handles – gloves/hands
    geno – goal
    apple – assist
    apple tree – multiple assists in a game
    jizz shield – shield
    T bomb – slap shot
    puttin on a clinic – a player dangles the whole team showing them how its done
    flop – tounges hanging out of skates
    flow – raging hair
    lettuce – the flow coming out of the back of a helmet or hat
    gordy/gordy go hard/gordon bombay/bombay – a kid who is always going hard

  34. bob said on February 17, 2012

    this is a response for jerus’s question…….. smart

  35. Rusty said on February 20, 2012

    Kronwalled verb: to smash, level; to devastate, demolish, ravage, or destroy completely. To reduce to uselessness.

  36. badgerhkyfan said on February 29, 2012

    Peanut Butter – goal scored that hits the inside of the top of the net, aka the roof. derived from the fact that peanut butter gets stuck to the roof of your mouth and a shot that goes peanut butter hits the roof of the net

  37. Paul said on March 4, 2012

    Pinch

  38. Jakub said on March 8, 2012

    Top titty G-note city: Goin top shelf on the tendie

  39. Kelsey said on March 11, 2012

    broad – a piece of meat with a hole in it

  40. Smoke show 9 said on March 15, 2012

    What does it mean when a player says wheel? Like I wheel hard?

    • courtxoxo said on March 16, 2012

      Smoke show 9- It can mean 2 things. During a game when a player has the puck and is going coast to coast or whatever and you hear someone say, “wheel, wheel, wheel!” it means that they basically need to skate their ass off cause they have a perfect opp for that geno. Off the ice…when a player talks about wheeling…it basically means getting the girls.

    • DumpNChange said on September 25, 2015

      Wheel- to skate hard/fast

      also,

      Wheel- pick up some rockets at the bar

  41. Ann said on March 16, 2012

    Is there any term for a goal from scratch, almost accidental?

    • Zach said on March 22, 2012

      A Patty Kane. More specifically when the shot comes from behind the goal line and goes in. In honor of that infamous goal in the 2010 Stanley Cup winning goal… Still haunts me to this day

  42. Justin said on March 18, 2012

    Bar down- a shot that hits the crossbar and goes straight down for a goal

  43. Dani said on March 24, 2012

    Beauty?? Sadly I do play hockey but I dunno what it means… lol

  44. Chris said on March 29, 2012

    Bookmark- player who sits in between the offense and defense all game and doesnt leave the bench

  45. eric said on April 1, 2012

    wheels, jets, burners, – skating fast. (exp. that dudes got wheels)
    tilt- hard played game or a fight
    scrum- when a group of players are digging in the corner for the puck. or when a lot of shoving is happening after the play.
    wheel house- area in front of player to pass to so that he can take a good one timer.
    shifty- someone that can deke really well.
    stinky glove, face wash- rubbing your glove in a players face. (exp. he gave him the stinky glove.)
    taking a number- getting even with a player by clean checking later in the game rather than taking a penalty for retaliating.

  46. Zach said on April 2, 2012

    Bar-Down- Shooting the crossbar and having it go into the net to score.

  47. Bernam said on April 5, 2012

    Salad- like flow, he’s got the sickest salad in the league

  48. Austin said on April 11, 2012

    Duster (dusty) – sucks at playing or puckhandling
    Flow – Greased back hairstyle

  49. Tyler said on April 13, 2012

    I can’t believe no one has said this one

    Lumber- stick

  50. Travis said on April 13, 2012

    Clapper/ clap shot- a slap shot
    Half clapper top cheddar- a half slap shot that goes top shelf.
    Hat- helmet

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