🏛️Official — NHL
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Team Sports
4–6 players
indoor
rink, puck
10 essential rules
The National Hockey League (NHL) is the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, consisting of 32 teams across the United States and Canada — including the Utah Mammoth, who joined the league in 2024 as the 32nd franchise. Founded in 1917, the NHL governs its competition under a compr...
Boarding (pushing or checking an opponent violently into the boards) and checking from behind are treated as serious safety infractions. Both carry a minimum minor penalty and may result in a major penalty plus a game misconduct, depending on the ...
Each team designates one Captain (wearing a "C" on their jersey) and no more than three Alternate Captains (wearing an "A"). Only the Captain and Alternate Captains are permitted to discuss rule interpretations with the referee during the game.
The NHL operates under a comprehensive concussion protocol developed in conjunction with the NHLPA. Any player suspected of sustaining a concussion is removed from play and evaluated by a team physician in a quiet room.
Assessed when a minor penalty infraction results in an injury to the opposing player (most commonly high-sticking that draws blood). The penalized player serves four minutes.
Any check in which the principal point of contact is the head of an opponent is prohibited, regardless of whether the head was targeted intentionally. Elbowing an opponent in the head is subject to severe penalties and supplementary discipline.
All player equipment must meet standards established by the NHL and certified by recognized testing organizations. Helmets must be HECC-certified and properly fitted.
Play begins at the start of each period and resumes after each stoppage with a face-off. The visiting team's center places their stick on the ice first.
An NHL regular season game consists of three 20-minute periods of play with two intermissions of 18 minutes each. Each team plays 82 regular season games (the final season at this number before the planned expansion to 84 games beginning in 2026-27).
A game misconduct results in ejection from the game. A match penalty is assessed for deliberate intent to injure and also results in ejection, with the matter referred to the NHL Department of Player Safety for potential supplementary discipline (fines or suspensions).
A goal counts as one point for the scoring team. The player who shoots or last touches the puck before it enters the net is credited with the goal.
Don't shoot on the goalie after the whistle
Firing a puck at an opposing goaltender once play has been stopped is one of hockey's most serious code violations. It is viewed as a deliberate provocation and almost always draws an immediate physical response — typically a fight — from the opposing team. Veterans treat it as a cardinal sin regardless of intent.
Protect your goalie
Every skater is responsible for defending the goaltender from unnecessary contact, slashes, and harassment. If an opponent 'runs' the goalie, a teammate — typically an enforcer or tough forward — is expected to respond immediately. Failure to defend the goalie is seen as a breakdown of team duty and emboldens future aggression.
The goaltender is considered effectively off-limits as a physical target; protecting them is a foundational team obligation at all levels.
Don't attack a player who is down
Even in fights, attacking a player who has fallen to the ice or is otherwise defenseless violates the code absolutely. The expectation is that combatants remain standing and mutually willing. Jumping a downed or injured opponent marks the offender as dishonorable and invites retaliation from the entire bench.
Part of the broader fighting code ('The Code') that governed NHL pugilism for decades.
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The playoff handshake line is sacred
After a playoff series ends, all players from both teams line up at center ice and shake hands with every opponent, regardless of how brutal or contentious the series was. Skipping the handshake or going through it with visible contempt is considered a serious breach of sportsmanship condemned by players, coaches, and media.
Widely regarded as one of hockey's most honored and unique traditions; no equivalent exists in most other major team sports.
Don't target a player's known injury
Deliberately striking, slashing, or applying pressure to a spot known to be injured — a surgically repaired knee, a broken hand — is one of hockey's gravest violations. It is universally condemned as outside the bounds of competition and typically draws severe and immediate retaliation.
Don't turtle
A player who has delivered a questionable hit, chirped aggressively, or provoked a confrontation is expected to drop the gloves and answer rather than cover up or skate away. Curling up to avoid a fight ('turtling') is considered cowardice that damages a player's reputation and is seen as an implicit admission of wrongdoing without accountability.
Deeply embedded in NHL locker room culture, though less practically enforced as fighting has declined.
Answer the bell after a dirty hit
A player who delivers a hit perceived as late, blind-side, or head-targeting is expected to 'answer' for it — accepting a fight with the player they hit or their team's enforcer. Refusing physical accountability while playing physically is considered hypocrisy and disrespect for the code.
Enforcers fight their own weight class
The code dictates that heavyweight fighters ('enforcers') should seek out opposing fighters of similar stature rather than target skilled or smaller players. Siccing an enforcer on a star player who is not a fighter is viewed as predatory and deliberately circumventing the spirit of the code.
Governed the enforcer role during the 1970s–2010s; increasingly moot as the enforcer archetype has nearly disappeared from the contemporary NHL.
If a goalie fights, the opposing goalie must too
Although goaltenders are largely exempt from fighting expectations, an ironclad tradition holds that if one goalie leaves the crease to fight, the opposing goalie must skate out and engage them. A goalie who refuses while their counterpart brawls is seen as a coward and dishonors the tradition.
Goalie fights are extremely rare in the modern NHL; this norm is more historical than current but remains universally recognized.