- 5 skaters + 1 goalie per team.
- 3 periods, 20 minutes each. There's a 15 minute intermission between each period so the zamboni's can "cut" the ice and make it smoother. It's also the average wait time for a salad at Wolfe.
- Line changes happen constantly. A typical shift for a player is between 40 to 50 seconds.
- There are 2 referees and 2 linesman. The referees are watching for penalties and the linesman watch to see if the play is onside and whether or not the puck goes out of play.
- There are TV timeouts three times per period. If you see a red light near the penalty boxes, that means there is a TV timeout in progress.
- Offside — the puck has to enter the zone before any of the players. If you see an attacking player go into the offensive zone ahead of the player with the puck, the whistle will blow.
- Icing — if a player shoots the puck all the way down the ice the whistle will blow. If they shoot it the lenght of the ice but its played by the goalie, that nullifies icing and play continues.
- Goalie freezes the puck.
- Puck leaves the rink.
- A Penalty has been called (see below.)
- Minor penalties are 2 minutes. There are also double minor penalities, which are 4 minutes.
- The other team gets a power play (extra attacker). If they score during the power play, the player in the penalty box comes out and the teams go back to 5 on 5.
- Common Penalties: tripping, hooking, slashing, roughing.
- There are also Major penalites which are 5 minutes. Those are typically called for gnarlier things like intent to injure. If a major penalty is called on a player, that player stays in the penalty box for the full 5 minutes even if the other team scores.
- A team can be called for mulitple penalites. These can lead to 5 on 3 power plays which usually result in goals for the attacking team. It's a bit rare but very exciting when it happens.
- Odd-man rushes (2-on-1, 3-on-2).
- Big hits. The game has developed into more of speed and skill game, but there are still occasionally big hits. They can change the momentum of a game.
- Last 2 minutes of a close game.
- Pulling the goalie. If a team is down by a goal late in a game, they can pull their goalie for an extra skater. It leaves the net open for the other team to score an empty net goal. Goalies have occasionally scored into the empty net too. It's rare but it's cool as hell when it happens.
- 5 on 3 power play. It's rare but when it happens it's exciting. It's very difficult to defend when you only have 3 skaters.
- Go beserk when the Sharks score.
- Boo defiantly when a call goes against them.
- Don’t leave your seat when play is still happening. It's rude. It's the design equivalent of leaving 2 spaces after a period. Wait for the whistle.
- If you're not sure, ask Patrick. He's sitting right over there.