No one will ever confuse hockey and soccer. While both games flow continuously much of the time and involve advancing a ball or puck past a goalkeeper to score a goal, after that most of the similarities end. The rules of each sport spell out many of the differences. International soccer, as well as typical recreation leagues, bases its rules on the Laws of the Game administered by FIFA, the international governing body of soccer. The NHL, the U.S. pro league, plays based on its Official Rules.
Team Size
Outdoor soccer teams have 11 players on the field at all times, including a goalkeeper. A team at the recreational, competitive or pro level may have a full bench of substitutes, who go into the game at stoppages in play. Official international and pro games allow only three substitutes during the course of a game. Hockey teams have six players, including a goalkeeper, on the ice at any time. NHL teams have either three or four forward lines that rotate on and off the ice every 40 seconds, substituting on the fly or during stoppages, as well as a smaller corps of defensemen. Indoor soccer actually resembles hockey in its six-member team sizes and frequent and unlimited substitutions, including line changes.
Playing Surface and Area
Hockey is played on an ice rink measuring 200 feet long and 85 feet wide. Boards and glass surround the rink. Much larger outdoor soccer fields measure from 100 to 130 yards long and from 50 to 100 yards wide. Indoor soccer arenas measure somewhat smaller than a hockey rink, at 180 feet by 75 feet ideally, but can be larger or smaller to adapt to a facility's space and may also feature boards and glass.
Time Periods
Outdoor soccer games consist of two 45-minute halves at the adult and older youth levels, with a 15-minute halftime. Regular games may end in ties, and playoffs require overtimes or penalty shootouts. In the NHL, games have three 20-minute periods, with a 15-minute intermission between each period. During regular season games, tied teams go into a five-minute, sudden-death overtime. In the playoffs, hockey play continues with as many 20-minute overtimes as needed.
Equipment
Players in soccer control a No. 5 adult-sized ball with their feet only, with the exception of the goalie, who can use his hands. Hockey players control a puck sized somewhat larger than a tuna can with sticks. The adult-sized goal in outdoor soccer measures 8 feet tall by 24 feet wide. A hockey goal is 4 feet tall by 6 feet wide.
Fouls
Soccer referees call fouls for excessive contact, tripping, bumping, jersey tugging and the like. They can award yellow cards as a caution for repeated fouls and red cards to eject a player for fouls from behind and violent behavior. Hockey officials can call minor penalties such as tripping, major penalties such as a dangerous check and misconduct penalties for abuse of officials; these entail sitting in the penalty box for two to 10 minutes. Ejection is also an option for fighting.
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