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This past week I was lucky enough to receive a request from loyal Illegal Curve reader “Hbomb” to come up with a Hockey Slang Dictionary – jargon that is present during everyday hockey broadcasts. I’m not sure if it had something to do with the Bud Light “Hbomb” was drinking or maybe him having a mild case of Penguins Cup Fever, but nonetheless here is a little guide of slang terms that we came up with that you have likely encountered while watching some puck:
#
4×6 – hockey net
5 hole – area between the goalie’s legs
7 hole – area between the arm of the goalie’s catch glove and his side
B
Biscuit – puck
Blowing a tire – a player losing his edge and falling
Blueliner - defenceman
Bread basket – goalie’s stomach area
Bonnet – helmet
Bucket – helmet
Butterfly - common style of goaltending where goalie’s pads are on ice and chest and shoulders are kept high to cover the majority of the net
C
Cage – hockey net
Can-opener - maneuver whereby defenceman places stick between an opponent’s legs and turns his body; also known as the “Bryan McCabe”
Cherry Picker – player who only remains in the offensive zone without a desire to help out defensively; Jason Spezza
Chucking the knuckles – hockey fight
Chicklets – teeth
Chop – slash
Coast to coast - act where a player rushes the puck up the ice from one end to the other
Cobwebs – what a player tries to rid himself of after being hit
Cue – hockey stick
Cup – portion of jock strap that protects a player; area of expertise of the “Puck Bunny”
D
Dance - hockey fight
Dangle - deke
Dish – pass
Dive - a player intentionally falling to draw a penalty
Dipsy doodle - see “Dangle”
Dump - process by which a player shoots the puck into the corner of the opponent’s offensive zone
Doughnut Boy – retired referee Don Koharski
F
Face wash – technique used by a player after a whistle to anger an opponent
Feed – pass
Flop - see “Dive”; goaltending technique of former NHL goalie Bob Essensa also known as “Flipper”
Freezing the puck - maneuver where goalie holds onto the puck for extended period of time forcing a faceoff in his own zone
G
Give and go – one player passes the puck, then skates and awaits for a return pass
Given ‘er – mantra whereby players give 100% effort
Goon – fighter; can display characteristics of a “Grinder”
Gordie Howe Hattrick – goal, assist, and fight in one game
Gretzky’s Office – area behind the net
Grinder - player of lower quality; “Checker”
H
Hammered - when one player hits other; can be the result of “Given ‘er”
Horseshoe – common warm-up drill in minor hockey
Howitzer - a hard slap shot
I
Iron - goal post
L
Lid - helmet
Lighting the lamp – scoring a goal
Lumber - hockey stick
M
Mitts - hockey gloves
Mugging - act of attacking another player without his knowledge, also known as “Todd Bertuzziing”
Mustard - something placed on a hard shot
N
Natural Hattrick – three goals in a row, in one game
O
On the fly – line change that occurs while play is going on
P
Paddle - goalie stick
Pansification – phrase coined by CBC personality Mike Milbury to describe a soft player; characteristic displayed by Joe Thornton during the playoffs
Pillows - goalie’s pads
Pipe - goal post
Puck Bunny - female choosing to engage in sexual activities exclusively with hockey players
Pulling the goalie - team removing their goalie from the game for an extra attacker on the ice; act a player engages by himself if “Puck Bunnies” are not present
Pylon – player that is of lower skill level; Illegal Curve’s Drew during recreational hockey games
R
Riding the pine – act in which a player remains on bench for prolonged period of time; common with “Goon” and “Grinder”
Rubber - hockey puck
S
Saucer pass - pass that is elevated slightly off of the ice
Shaft - hockey stick
Sin bin – penalty box
Snow angel – when a goalie lies down on the ice on his back with arms and legs spread; usually occurs when the goalie loses his vision of where the puck is located
Snowing the goalie - act of a player intentionally stopping in front of the goalie and thus spraying ice pellets
Splitting the D – hockey move where a player carries the puck in between two defenceman
Spinorama - perfected by Serge and Denis Savard where player spins around with the puck to avoid opponents
Stacking the pads – move where a goalie slides across the ice with both pads placed beside each other horizontally
Standing on your head – game in which a goalie proves to be almost impossible to beat
Stripes – referee
Stone Hands – time period in which a player cannot score; Evgeni Malkin during the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs; former Winnipeg Jet Ray Neufeld
T
Tic-tac-toe – three consecutive passes using three different players resulting in a goal
Top shelf – upper portion of the net; area where mamma hides the cookies
Trap – type of neutral zone defensive formation
Trapper - goalie’s glove
Twig - hockey stick
Twine - hockey net
U
Umberalla – type of powerplay formation
W
Waffle - goalie’s blocker
Wheels - player’s ability to skate fast
White Out – act of fans dressing in all white started by Winnipeg Jets fans in the early 90’s; often simulated but never replicated
Weasel - nickname for Commissioner Gary Bettman
Z
Zebra - referee
That’s all that the two of us could think of off of the top of our heads. If anyone has additional terms, add them in the comments section. I’d like to keep this on IllegalCurve.com for future reference – it could come in handy as more and more ‘Canes fans continue to jump on the bandwagon as the team advances (just kidding Carolina readers!).
The definition of a natural is incorrect. As written, that is a hat trick. A natural hat trick is one player scoring three goals in succession in one game. It doesnt matter what period they come in as long as there are no goals in between. It could happen with 1 in the first, second or third and be a natural hat trick, or they can come all in one period.
good call….consider it changed
Did you beat up Joe Beninati and steal his lingo book? I swear, for anyone in the United States that has to watch this clown on Versus, he uses every work on this list at least twice a night.
I’ve never heard anyone try and be more trendy when calling a game than him.
Your definition of ‘Weasel’ is spot on.
Good call on the “Waffle” definition. I thought I was the only one who still called a blocker a Waffle.
I think if you really want a challenge, try and make a dictionary for:
Mike Lange
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIHPd3vERUw
or
Randy Moller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3b_7S-sGBo
-Schrembs
saucerpass.com
@saucerpass
Further question on the natural I’ve never been clear on: Does it have to be three in a row by the same team? If Ovechkin scores, scores again, then Crosby scores, then Ovechkin scores, is that a natural?
@saucerpass: Doc Emrick uses “waffle board” all the time for the goalie’s blocker, including (in pure Emrick style) as a verb.
Hey Vic,
A natural hat trick is when a player scores three goals in succession, with no other players from either their own team, or the opposing team, scoring any goals in-between.
I guess, after searching through the internet, that I was wrong about the “Gordie Howe hat trick”.
It was always my belief that it included a goal, an assist and an elbowing penalty.
On wikipedia, it says it is a goal, an assist and a penalty OR a fight.
But I found an interesting article on CBC Sports claiming it is indeed goal, assist, fight, but it also says Gordie only ever accomplished this TWICE in his life.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/blogs/2008/10/the_mystique_of_the_gordie_how.html
I find it kind of amazing that his fights have become legendary enough to have a hockey term named after him even though he only had 22 confirmed fights in 33 seasons.
Here’s another great read about Mr Howe
http://redwingslegends.blogspot.com/2006/05/mr-hockey-gordie-howe.html
Turnbuckle- The area where the glass starts again above the dasher.
Facewash- The act of taking one’s sweaty glove and smearing it all over the opponent’s face in order to intimidate or provoke a fight.
Road Kills- These are the hoes the boys manage to sleep with when they’re on the road. A pick up. One night stand, in other words.
Not positive, but I think Shannahan is the run-away leader in GHowe Hat Tricks. I have heard that Rick Tocchet might actually have more, but since accurate stats weren’t kept, and nobody has delved into the archives, we may never get an official count.
Bender
A natural hatrick does not need to be scored in succession. A natural hatrick is when one player scores three goals on the other teams goalie(s). Empty netters don’t count and other players are allowed to score in between.
Furthermore, saucer pass should just be change to “sauce”
Other Terms:
Cheese/Upper 90 = Top-shelf
Toey: Toe-drag deke
Beauty: Really good hockey player (crosby or stamkos for ex.)
Chirp: Smack talk
Bender/Duster: Terrible hockey player that claims he’s good and wear’s really expensive gear
Yard-Sale: A huge hit that results in the players hear flying off
Scrap: Fight
Bar Down: Shot that hits the cross-bar then goes in
Celly: Celebration
Flow/Lettuce/Salad: Terms for great hockey hair
Gino: Goal
Jibs: Teeth
Bar down- when a player scores by shooting the puck off of the crossbar
Celly- celebration after scoring a goal