There are five basic scoring zones in hockey. While there is some debate about how they are labeled, one thing is clear: the five hole is right between the goalie’s legs. Traditionally scoring zones are numbered as follows:
- Stick side low
- Glove side low
- Glove side high
- Stick side high
- Between the legs
Perhaps the reason the five-hole label lasted the test of time is because there is no mistaking its location. I’ve heard people refer to the two spot as the left side, but who’s left? The goalie or the shooter? (You see how this could get confusing).
So where is the best place to score? Definitely not the 5 hole. I’ve seen more goals go in high stick side than anywhere else. (See #4 on the chart). Maybe it’s because the goalie reacts just slightly slower because he has to bear the weight of the stick?
In any case, your best bet is to practice your shooting accuracy so you can aim it wherever you want. Scoring opportunities are highly situational and happen in an instant. The faster you can react with precision, the more goals you’ll get.
Tags: goalie, terminology
There are also a 6 and 7 hole, between the arms and body. 🙂
Yeah I've heard that, too. I've also heard the 6th hole is when it goes "through" the goalie.
Allan Bester of the leafs tried to commit suicide by jumping in front of a train.
He survived as the train went through his "5 hole"
This good joke has been around for some time. I watched a 1970’s game where Daryl Sittler scored
6 goals and five assists against the Boston Bruins. This N.H.L. record still stands in this year of 2017. After scoring so many points in one game Sittler said ” I hear the goalie tried to commit suicide by jumping in front of a train, but it went through his legs!”
Just don't get a puck stuck in the a-hole! LOL
“the left side, but who’s left?” **whose**
Pretty sure Who’s on first.
Darren Pang (5’5″) joked that shooters would go 6 hole on him … over his head.
It’s called the 5 hole from a Bowling reference. The 5 pin is in the middle of the rack of Bowling pins. A shot through the “middle” of the goalies legs goes through the 5 hole.
Tom is right. Bowling reference, ‘borrowed’ by hockey and others
I ALWAYS thought the five hole was6 a
I thought of bowling.
I’d always heard the best place to shoot was low to the stick side, because as the goalie moves his stick away from his body, its heel lifts up off the ice, allowing space for the puck to go through. But the real answer is the best place to shoot is wherever the goalie is covering the least. Unless the goalie is giving you a spot on purpose and daring you to shoot there, then he’ll shut it down!