Hockey is a fast-paced, hard-hitting game that is played recreationally and professionally across North America and much of the world. There are many facets that make up a hockey game, including rules such as icing and offsides, and penalties like tripping, elbowing, hooking, interference, slashing and crosschecking. Penalty killing and the power play make up a good portion of a team's success or failure on the ice.
Features
A power play in hockey occurs when one team receives a penalty. The player who is penalized must go into the penalty box, leaving his team short one player. The other team is then "on the power play." Minor penalties such as tripping and hooking are minor penalties and last for two minutes. Major penalties such as fighting or spearing an opponent with the end of a stick are major penalties and last for five minutes. With a minor penalty, the penalized player comes out of the box and the penalty is over if the other team scores on the power play. With a major penalty, he must stay in the box for the full five minutes, regardless of how many power play goals the opposition scores. A hockey team must have at least three players other than the goalie on the ice all the time, so no matter how many penalties they get, they can never be more than two players down.
Breaking Out
Hockey teams typically practice both penalty killing and the power play with set plays and strategies. For the power play, drills include gathering the puck and breaking out of your own zone and starting up the ice. When a team has a penalty, they are free to ice the puck, or shoot it the length of the ice, without a play stoppage, so teams on the power play often start a play deep in their own end. Break out plays usually start with one of the defensemen carrying the puck out of the zone, or the defenseman waiting with the puck behind the net and a forward circling behind to take it and start out.
Setting Up
Once the power play unit is into the opposition's zone, they must set themselves up. A team may have a handful of different ways they like to set up on the power play. One standard way is to have both defensemen back at the blue line, one forward in front of the net and two off to the sides. The player in front of the net is given the task of screening the goalie, deflecting shots and looking for rebounds.
Controlling Play
Once the power play is set up in the offensive zone, it is important to control the puck so the other team can't shoot it down the ice. Quick, short passes around the zone help to open things up until the puck gets to an open player for a shot.
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