Few sports can match the speed, skill and excitement of ice hockey, but for those who can't skate or don't have access to ice rinks, street hockey provides a suitable alternative. Street hockey follows the same basic rules and regulations of ice hockey except that players compete on cement instead of ice and wear regular shoes instead of skates.
Playing Surface
Street hockey doesn't require any set rink dimensions. Players typically compete on any available concrete or asphalt area large enough to hold a game, with neighborhood streets or basketball courts often serving as impromptu rinks. Teams station nets at both ends of the area and typically use a center line for all offsides and icing calls.
Equipment
Street hockey players use traditional hockey sticks, although the blades usually feature plastic or fiberglass blades as opposed to wood, which doesn't slide quite as easily on concrete as on ice. Street hockey games might feature either a hard plastic ball or a plastic puck. While pucks might render a more realistic hockey experience, balls tend to handle the concrete surface better and allow for greater skill in stick-handling and passing. Street hockey nets should be no larger than their 6-by-4-foot ice hockey counterparts. In regulation street hockey games, rules require players to wear helmets, gloves, elbow pads and shin guards.
Teams
Like in ice hockey, street hockey permits six players per team on the court at one time. The six players consist of one center, one left wing, one right wing, two defensemen and a goaltender. Attempting to play with an extra player results in a penalty for too many men.
Penalties
Street hockey uses the same basic penalties as ice hockey, with players earning two minutes in a designated penalty area for infractions like hooking, slashing, tripping, elbowing, roughing, interference, cross-checking and high-sticking. More serious infractions, like butt-ending, spearing and fighting, earn five-minute penalties and possible ejections and suspensions, depending on the severity of the foul and the rules of the specific league. Most street hockey leagues don't allow checking, insisting that players play the ball and not the man. In these leagues, any attempted check results in an automatic roughing penalty.
Offside and Icing
In street hockey, the center line typically determines both offsides and icing. If a player crosses the center line before the ball, the referee will call offsides and whistle the play dead and stage a face-off at the nearest dot. Shooting the ball into the offensive zone from behind the center line without the ball contacting a teammate or an opposing player can result in an icing, with the subsequent face-off held deep in the defensive team's zone.
Timing
While neighborhood street hockey games seldom use a clock and instead play to a certain number of goals or until the players have to go home, organized street hockey leagues use a variety of time-keeping standards. Some leagues go by the NHL rule of three 20-minute periods, with brief intermissions in between. Other leagues opt for shorter periods, typically three 10-minute periods with clock stoppages on whistles or three 15-minute periods and a running clock. Still others lose the traditional period format and go with two 25-minute halves and a running clock. Tie games might go into sudden-death overtime or a shootout to determine a winner, depending on specific league rules.
Member Comments