On-Ice Terms Every Beer Leaguer Should Know

Ready to hit the ice, but no idea what everyone is yelling out there? Communication is key in hockey, and knowing your on-ice lingo can make or break your game. Imagine you're in your first beer league game, and the seasoned vets start yelling things like "wheel," "eat it," or "high slot". You don't want to be that guy staring blankly, wondering what the hell they're talking about. That's why we've put together this guide to hockey terminology every player should know. From "chirps" to "dangles," we've got you covered.

• "DEEP / DUMP / DUMP IT!" = Get the puck below the goal line
• "POINT / HIGH" = Some one is open on the point.
• "WHEEL" = Skate faster. Also it means to swing behind the net and break out
• "ONE HARD" = Pressure is coming and you need to make a quick decision
• "ONE SOFT" = Pressure is coming but you’ll have a moment to collect yourself
• and make a smart play
• "TIME" = No pressure is coming so you have a couple of seconds to make a play.
• "NO ONE / JUST YOU" = When there is no support around you. Normally yelled for no pressure breakaways or a teammate entering the zone with no support.
• "FEET" = The puck is in and / or around your skates.
• "SHOOT!" = Pretty obvious, but it means to take the damn shot.
• “SHOT!” = if the goalie is heavily screened sometimes they won’t have a good angle to know that the point (the opposing defenseman) is taking a shot at the blue line. I call it out when I see the guy starting his shot
• "ONE ON ONE / ONE-ONE" = It's just you vs one other player. No support around for either player.
• "TWO-THREE" = You have an odd-man rush!" (The logic here is that your teammate can theoretically see the defensemen in front of him, but shouting the number lets him know if it's a two on one or three on one, etc.)
• "EAT IT" = There are only a few seconds left in the period and we don't have enough time to do anything, so just keep the puck where it is. If you're battling on the boards, this means to step on the puck and tell the opposing players how much they suck for losing to your team.
• "NO" = Hey teammate, you may be thinking of passing to me, but I am not a viable option at the moment
• "EVEN!" = Our opponent's penalty is expiring and they are about to have a guy jump on the ice (sometimes goalies will bang their stick to indicate this, but they don't always do it)
• "REVERSE" = Pass the puck back behind the goal to your open teammate
• "SLOT" = On offense - teammate open between goalie and faceoff dots. On defense - there's an open opponent in that area - typically referring to low slot area.
• "HIGH SLOT" = same as above but referring to the area between the face off dots and top of the faceoff circles
• "HARD AROUND" = when already in possession, a small dump along the behind the net to your teammate
• "SCREEN!" = (typically yelled by the goalie) either you're blocking my view of the puck and I need you moved, or an opponent is blocking my view and I need you to move them.
• "ICE IT / CLEAR" = Ice the puck
• "EMPTY" = The other team has an empty net
• "OFF" = There's a delayed offsides
• "ICE" = Hey everyone, it's gonna be an icing (check that ref has hand up to confirm or goalie will have glove hand up to confirm)
• "DROP" = Hey player in front of me, I'm behind you. Feel free to give me a drop pass if you like.
• "UNDER!" = Hey confused goalie, the puck is under you.
• “LOOSE!” = You think you’ve got the puck but it’s loose so keep moving and find it. Ref typically yells this.
• “MINE / YOURS” = communicate who’s going to take the puck if you’re both skating towards it
• "CROSS" = Pass the puck across the ice (east/west), there's someone open over there.
• "STEP-UP / GAP!" - to tell a player who's defending against an attacking player to stop backing up and to close the gap between them."
• "COVERED / GOT YOU COVERED" = tell a player they can leave their position cause you got them covered.
• "COVER" - Said to your goalie when he's got a puck next to him, telling him that you're not ready to skate it up, he should cover the puck with his glove and take the whistle for a quick breath.
• "SWITCH" = Telling the teammate playing your position that you're ready to switch back.
• "BACK DOOR!" = There's an enemy forward all by himself on the weak side of our net. Basically gets our D-men to put their head back on a swivel and find/cover them before they get and easy tap-in.
• "BOARDS" = bounce the puck off the boards, use them as a tool, much like Billiards. Learn your angles!
• "CHIP IT UP!" = Golf term, meaning to softly nudge the puck up the ice, usually with a little lift or using the boards to bank it, but not too hard so that it is far out of reach. Usually used to clear the puck from the defensive zone and forcing the opposing team to get back on-sides to regroup. Usually a play that involves the Defensemen gaining possession,
• "CRASH THE NET" = Go skate to the net as fast as you can and look for garbage rebounds, screen the goalie, and tie up the defensemen. The objective is FAST AND NOW, DAMMIT.