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/Plumber – See 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
Tags: terminology
Trying to figure ought who said:
cough it up – meaning giving away the puck
Trolley tracks – meaning when a player gets lined up to take a huge check
Trolley tracks was coined by Don Cherry
Ferda?
for the boys
What I heard, it is either “for the boys” or screwed someone over
love ya
Goon?
Goon-not usually a good player but, a big guy used for his muscle. Deterrent from getting pushed around.
Wheelhouse
Duster– someone who just sits on the bench and doesn’t play they “gathering dust”
“put some tobasco on that biscuit” – make a saucer pass
Swoop, to have stolen the puck aggressively during a pass
the crease
the slot
What place on the ice is referred to when they say “The Umbrella”?
Is it …. A slang term for the area between the goalie’s leg pads. ….. A blue space resembling an open umbrella?
They could be referring to the crease…
Thanks!
No, the umbrella is a way of setting up a powerplay. This happens when the point is covered with three players, one being in the center. The other two defensemen/wingers are pinching below forming a shape that looks like an umbrella if you drew a line between them.
Umbrella is a formation on the power play with three shooters up high and two down low. They set the top defenseman up for a one-tee where the point on an umbrella would be.
Looks like this:
X
X X
X X
NET
The umbrella is something set up by a team on a powerplay most likely. The players come into the offensive zone and set up like an umbrella. This is usually when 3 players stand in a curve at the top of the blue line to form the umbrella, with the other two players either in front of the net or one down in the corner and the other in front of the net. Kind of complicated response, but hope it helps!
Thanks! Makes sense.
Does it ever mean “The Crease” ?
is there a hockey slang word for ones’ nose? I know the term beezer from boxing means the nose but I have a friend who was asking if there was a specific slang word in hockey for nose
beak
Snot-locker
Jabronie
Birdcage – when a player wears a cage instead of a visor, or nothing at all.
Tripod ….Some one that used their stick to balance …like a camera tripod
what is ferda
FERDA- slang for “For the boys”
Bar south- same as bar down. Hitting the bottom of the crossbar and having the puck go in
grocery stick -a player who gets no ice time and simply acts as a divider between the different lines on the team.
What is the expression used when two teams are tied in point standings, but one of those has played Two more games than the other. Is it 2 to give?
2 in hand
Lumber- a wooden stick.
Tape your ankles? Does it have to do with the term bender?
Yes
Gino – goal
apple – assist
fishbowl – face shield
clapper – slapshot
gino snipe
Silky Mits- when someone has fast moving hands/quick dekes
Sniping Twine- Scoring a goal (twine being the back of the net)
Logo Sniper- Someone who always shoots at the goalies chest, right where the logo would be.
Sauce- A shot/pass that spins and doesn’t wobble just like a flying saucer.
i hate the puck bunnies honestly im a female hockey player and when a girl comes up and says like sauce the biscut and doesnt even know what dangle snipe and celly means it makes me so mad
Haha were I’m from we call them puck sluts
We call them puck sluts
Tendy- goalie. Boni- zamboni
Jets, rockets- skates
Bucket or lid or dome- helmet
At my old barn, there were a load of short skaters and we all called helmets ‘Dazers’ as a tenuous link back to domes:
Dome ==> like Tie Domi ==> Rent-a-Goalie episode ‘Domi Daze’ ==> therefore it seemed logical to call them Dazers
Haha, we were odd but you have to admit it has got a ring to it!
4th line dust- same as duster
Twig- stick
Rink Rat-Zamboni driver
Isn’t it about time that hockey broadcasters get it right! Pro hockey players don’t chirp: birds chirp in their social circles. In the arenas of the hockey world players “whine ” to the refs and they “trash” their opponents. Let’s call it the way it should be with verbs like jaw, yap, rip, bad mouth et al.
Tex from North Huron Township
It’s not just the announcers that say chirp every hockey player I know says it.
Tex – you are an idiot and don’t know the insides of the game. Duster.
tex birds dont chirp they tweet idiot
You forgot “hoser.” The ultimate insult in Canada. If you lost the game, you had to hose down the ice. Also, when my son played club hockey, shinny was played in the hallways of hotels with the mini sticks on their knees.
Deliberately missing the point here, but those mini sticks are one of the best inventions ever. A couple of weeks back I was hospitalised for 6 days after a life-threatening asthma attack at hockey (not exactly bragable but hey) and on the second day my parents brought in my mini stick. After that, it was bottle cap hockey and dekeing on the roller table things haha
what does dustpan mean?
What’s another term for your hockey stick?
Twig
Explain what it means “for the boys”
Do it for the team
You’re always there to cover your teammates backs no matter what the situation is.
“Sauce” and “sauce boss”
Can someone use for the boys in context, like, in a sentence?
Also, do high school hockey players keep their uniforms/gear at home or at the rink? Do they buy their own equipment?
(Writing a story that has some mentions of hockey in it. Any help would be appreciated.)
Well it depends sometimes they have special room just for he high school players so there will be another room in there just to put your hockey bag in there or they will lock the door and keep the equipment laying around. But some teams might want you to bring it home
Also no they don’t provide hockey gear or track pants or anything it would be very expensive but they do make you buy track pants,shirts,etc so the whole team has a uniform
Pigeon
Garbage
Chel
Son said he got a snipe. I know it’s a kind of goal. What kind?
A snipe is simply a well placed shot resulting in a goal. Generally, they are top shelf which means the top portion of the net. A sniper is someone who snipes a lot. Usually I call the term snip just because snipe is so common and everyone says it
Lettuce – flow or hairstyle
What does Rihannaing mean? I’ve been a fan since the team in Indianapolis was called the Checkers and I’ve never heard this term. Maybe I’m getting too old! (-:
Duster: someone who sits on the bench all the time
Plug: aka pylon (Player)
Rink o’ dreams!
GENO!!!
Kronwalled- A massive nikolas kronwall hit
‘play Vech’ – someone who thinks they’re Ovechkin but really…they are nowhere near.
EX.: “oh don’t play Vech, you’re not that good”
sand
He provided the sand.
What does chisel an assist mean?
Worked hard to get it, grinded the play so the final shot was easy.
Juke
Ceiling scraper – Slapshot
Bardown: Shot that hits crossbar then directly down
Chel: Refers to any NHL video game
Chel is slang for NHL “I’m going Chel next year” or “I did that in Chel 14 last night” “Sick Chel move man”
In the 7th game of the first round of the play offs, one of the Detroit TV announcers said several times that the Redwings were leaving a muddy trail. What does “muddy trail” mean? The other announcer seemed to know but neither one explained to the viewers.