# Hockey Jargon

Posted by Neil in Columns,The HD Corner on May 11, 2009 — 12 Comments

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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!).

### 12 Responses to “Hockey Jargon”

1. blk4004 says:
   May 11, 2009 at 5:50 pm

   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.

2. Neil says:
   May 11, 2009 at 6:18 pm

   good call….consider it changed

3. saucerpass says:
   May 11, 2009 at 7:47 pm

   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

4. VicF says:
   May 12, 2009 at 12:47 pm

   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.

5. david says:
   May 12, 2009 at 11:46 pm

   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.

6. Posts about Butterflies as of May 13, 2009 | Sixways - Butterfly says:
   May 13, 2009 at 8:59 am

   [...] Fly Away 10 Backwards (Acoustic) 11 Back to Tennessee 12 Crazier 13 Bless the Broken Road Hockey Jargon – illegalcurve.com 05/11/2009 This past week I was lucky enough to receive a request from loyal [...]

7. rjbaked says:
   May 15, 2009 at 11:20 pm

   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

8. Flyers Hockey says:
   September 19, 2010 at 2:48 pm

   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.

9. dan m says:
   August 12, 2011 at 5:37 pm

   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.

10. jesus says:
    September 9, 2012 at 9:54 pm

    Bender

11. mdevine16 says:
    May 17, 2013 at 8:10 pm

    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

12. Alex Klott says:
    December 4, 2013 at 4:14 pm

    Bar down- when a player scores by shooting the puck off of the crossbar
    Celly- celebration after scoring a goal

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