Pro hockey players are bland, there, I said it. Ever hear Sydney Crosby, Elias Pettersson, or Conner McDavid in an interview? It’s painful…
“I’m just doing my job.”
Sydney Crosby
“When we work together well, we have a good opportunity of scoring.”
Elias Pettersson
Sound-bite ready, they are not. However, down and dirty hockey players in lower levels, all have a language of our own. Mostly for team-mates enjoyment, it’s ‘colourful’ language that’s a bit of English, a bit of French, a smattering of Eastern Canadian – and all ‘locker room talk’.
“All hockey players are bilingual. They know English and profanity.”
Gordie Howe
Hockey slang as adding a whole new depth of fun — but maybe a bit difficult to understand for new (and old) fans. So before you play in your next game, here is our hockey dictionary to help you chirp when your team is down and celly when they pull off the win.
A
APPLE
An Assist
“Doug gave Derek a sweet apple in last nights game, sauced one right over the D’s stick”
ALLEY-OOP
A super high lifted pass to a streaking team-mate
B
BAR-DOWN or BAR-DOWNSKI
A shot that ricochets down off the inside of the crossbar into the net creating a resounding “ping” that can be heard throughout the rink.
“Hex went bar down with only 2 minutes to go in last nights game! It was a Beauty! He ******** rocked it!”
BARN
A hockey rink
“Checking out a new barn tonight – hope the dressing rooms aren’t too small”
BASKET
The net
“John scored a sweet clapper that put the biscuit through the 5-hole and into the back of the basket.”
BEAUTICIAN
The popular player that’s both good on the ice, and with the opposite sex
“Hey, that Jarod last night was a bit of a beautician last night eh, like he scored a slapper from the point, and then give that slapper his point.”
BEAUTY or BEAUT
A great shot, perfectly placed and perfectly executed – or one that simply looks great
“Zach? He scored a beauty from the point!”
BENDER
A player that’s obviously new as their ankles bend out when they’re standing up
“Hey Brandon you ******** bender!”
BISCUIT
The puck
“Didn’t we just talk about about John putting that biscuit through the goalies 5? Why the **** are you asking me again??”
BOTTLE ROCKET
A shot that hits the goalies water bottle (which is usually resting on top of the net)
“Erwin went in close and scored an absolute unit bottle rocket from the crease.”
BREEZERS
Hockey pants – mainly in Minnesota / Wisconsin
“Oooooooh yaaaaaaa – those a some nice new breezers ya got there bud!”
BUCKET / BRAIN BUCKET
A players helmet
“Hey Kodie, did you see Erwins new bucket, why is he the only guy on the team with a white one? ******** Poser! Next it’ll be yellow laces and a tinted visor!”
C
CAGE
A full wire visor, wore by beer leaguers mainly usually right after they’ve had a chic-let removed from an errant high-stick and their girlfriend threatens to leave them if it happens again
“Hey Rick, you’re wearing a cage tonight? Yeah man, I took a stick to the mouth, spat out a chiclet and my gf was not happy when I went home, I got it in the ****. It’s either a fishbowl or a cage, and I ******** sweat like a rabid dog in a bowl”
CAROM or CAROM PASS
A rebound off the boards
“Hughes picked up a sweet carom, deked the d and scored top-cheese”
CELLY
Celebration – usually performed after scoring a goal. When learning hockey, it’s important to copy the greats, like Ovechkins dropping his hot stick and warming his hands on it, or Tiger Williams riding his stick like a horse, or any 25% of NHL players when they jump up on the glass with their back
“If I score a clapper from the blue tonight, I’m going to celly like it’s ******** 1999”
CHERRY-PICKER
A selfish, either lazy or arrogant player, that glides blue line to blue line just looking for a lazy outlet pass, usually shouting for them, and then slamming his stick when they don’t get it because it’s 2 inches in front of them
“Hey ******** Lawrence ******** , stop being a ******** lazy ******** cherry-picker and go help your ******** line-mates.
********!”
CHICLETS
Teeth
“Did you see Mikes mouth last night? He was spitting chiclets after that guy high sticked him – what was that ******** guys number again?”
CELLY
Celebration – usually performed after scoring a goal. When learning hockey, it’s important to copy the greats, like Ovechkins dropping his hot stick and warming his hands on it, or Tiger Williams riding his stick like a horse, or any 25% of NHL players when they jump up on the glass with their back
“If I score a clapper from the blue tonight, I’m going to celly like it’s ******** 1999”
CHERRY-PICKER
A selfish, either lazy or arrogant player, that glides blue line to blue line just looking for a lazy outlet pass, usually shouting for them, and then slamming his stick when they don’t get it because it’s 2 inches in front of them
“Hey ******** Lawrence ******** , stop being a ******** lazy ******** cherry-picker and go help your ******** line-mates.
********!”
CHICLETS
Teeth
“Did you see Mikes mouth last night? He was spitting chiclets after that guy high sticked him – what was that ******** guys number again?”
His beautiful face just wouldn’t be the same without his missing chiclets
CHIPPY
Used to describe a game that has some cheap shots from each team that the referees are not catching – usually on close games, or games that are extremely one sided
“Holy crap Dan, this game’s getting chippy”
CHIRP / BEAK
Trash talking – the skilled art of telling someone you’re not a fan of them, without actually telling them, you’re not a fan of them
“Danny was chirping at the ref all night last night after missing that obvious cross-check, gave him a right ******** earful”
CLAPPER
Comes from the noise of a sweetly executed slap-shot, usually from the point by a d-man.
“Jordan scored a clapper from the point, went bardown and the tendy looked like he forgot how to play.”
COAST-TO-COAST
When a player carries the puck themselves from around their goal area, all the way through and scores a goal
“Sweet goal Jordan, went coast-to-coast there!”
COUGHING UP THE PUCK
When a player loses possession of the puck
“Here – I got you some Buckleys… since you been coughing up the puck all night”
D
DANGLE
When a player takes the puck through numerous opponents by keep the puck on their stick
“**** Brent, sweet dangles around them d-man brother!”
DEKE
A deke feint or fake is where a player draws an opposing player out of position or is used to skate by an opponent while maintaining possession and control of the puck. The term is a Canadianism formed by abbreviating the word decoy.
“That Pettersson completely deked Kassian and made him look like a pylon”
DINGER
A shot that goes off the post – comes from the “DIINNGG” noise the puck makes when it hits the steel post
DIRTY
A supremely good deke or play around an opposing player
“Jor, sweet play bud, that was dirty!”
DRAW
A face-off
“Hey Rick, you ain’t won a draw all game, I’ll ******** take it next time!”
DUSTY
A player that gets little ice-time
“That ******** cherry-picking Lawrence.. That ******, I’m sure he’s only doing that coz he’s a little dusty.”
E
EGG
When a game ends 0-0
“Jeez, I didn’t think that game would be an egger”
F
FACE-WASH
The act of putting the sweaty, dirty and smelly palm of your glove right in the face of that centre that just cross-checked you into the boards and giving them a deserved ‘rub’
“Ha, did you see Jarod face-wash that guy after he ******** took him out?”
FAN
When a play whiffs, fails or misses a pass or a shot
FILTHY
Another word for a great play, see dirty
FISHBOWL
A full transparent visor with a transparent cage underneath.
“Yeah, yeah, that **** Brendan’s a tough guy with a fishbowl on.”
FLAMINGO
Bailing out of blocking a shot by the act of raising one leg
“That Kevin, he’s the only ******* Canadian flamingo I know.. dude, you gotta block those ******** clappers buddy”
FLOW
A vibrant head of hair that flows out of the back and sides of a players bucket.
“Bretts flow doesn’t even cross the blue line after his skates have touched the slot – sweet flow Brett, sweet flow!”
FIVE-HOLE
The gap between a goalies leg pads, right underneath the groin
“No John, stop it.. this is the third time you’ve talked about that goal through the 5, ******** drop it!”
FLOOD
When the Zamboni has just finished resurfacing the ice after a game, quite a bit of water is usually left, and players wait for it to dry before getting on the ice
“They just started the flood, bud – few more minutes before we go on”
FOR THE BOYS (OR GIRLS) or FERDA BOYS
The selfless act of scoring a beauty for the benefit of their team-mates, a trophy winning chirp, or working hard in the corner to create a scoring opportunity.
“Hey Boys, I’m looking forward to my cider tonight after scoring that monster of a clapper. As a registered beautician, I have to score one for the boys!”
G
GARBAGE GOAL or PICKING UP THE TRASH
A goal scored by a close rebound
“That Brian, always scoring those garbage goals!”
GETTING LIT UP
When a goalie lets in lots of goals
“**** Adam – you got lit up today!”
GINO
A goal
“Mike, you up for 2 Gino’s tonight bud?”
GONG-SHOW
A game that’s out of control, from a lot of big-hits, or a high-scores
“Man that game was a gong-show, I can’t believe we won 10-2!”
GOON
A Goon is an Enforcer and an unofficial role. The term is sometimes used synonymously with “fighter” or “tough guy”. An goon’s job is to deter and respond to dirty or violent play by the opposition. It can be both a compliment and a chirp.
“Hey Rick, ya ******** Goon!”
THE GORDIE HOWE HAT-TRICK
The act of scoring a goal, getting an assist, and getting into a fight – all in the same game
GRENADE
A bad pass to a team-mate that flips and rolls towards them before they can pick it up on their stick
“That Stephan was chucking me grenades all night long – **** man, practice eh”
GROCERY STICK
The worst player that sits on the bench pretty much all game who separates the offence and defence like a grocery stick on a conveyor belt at the store.
“That Smyth dude, he’s suck a ******* grocery stick”
H
THE HOUSE
The area in front of the net
“Get out there and protect the house boys!”
HOSER
This is one of the first chirps, and comes from before the time of a Zamboni. It refers to the losing side that had to hose down the ice after the game.
“Ah **** off bud, ya just a bunch of hoser’s”
HOT-DOGGER or HOT-DOGGING
Doing fancy moves – like dekeing around players, spin-o-rama’s or volley shots – usually against lesser players
“That Adam, always ******** hot-dogging”
K
KRONWALLED
A huge hit by a defence-man. Named after Red Wings Niklas Kronwall
“**** man, you just got Kronwalled by that dude!”
L
LETTUCE
A head of hair that doesn’t quite qualify as ‘flow’, but still longer and better than a salad.
“Hey Adam, pass me the mousse bro, I gotta put some dressing on the old lettuce before heading out after the game”
LIGHT THE LAMP
To score a goal, coming from the red light that goes on after a goal is scored
“Light that lamp bud, light that lamp!”
LINEY
The linesman in a game, usually there are just 2 of them in a beer / rec league game, which means they miss 33.3% of the calls, than games with a referee.
“Hey Liney, are you ******* kidding me, you didn’t see the offside there – better get some goggles man!”
LIP SWEATER
A moustache
“That Ben, he’s got a bigger lip sweater than his sister!”
M
MUFFIN
A weak shot on net
“Hey Will, bud, ya gonna let any more muffins in tonight man?”
O
ONE ON! (or TWO ON or THREE ON or MAN ON)
Telling a team mate there is one opponent closing in on them.
“Brad, man on, man on!”
P
PIGEON
A less skilled player, that hangs around the net and requires ‘feeding’ by other players to score goals by collecting the rebounds or the trash of their more talented line-mates.
“You ******** pigeon, Bri. My mom could play in this league with the Sedins if she was a ******** pigeon!”
PILLOWS
Comes from the large pads on a goalies legs
“Ya got some new pillows for tonights game goalie?”
PIPES
The goal posts
“Lucky we got Luc between the pipes tonight boys!”
PIZZA
An awful pass up the middle of the ice that is intercepted by the opposing team.
“Hey, you’re serving up more pizzas that a 5 dollar all you can eat pizza palace at kicking out time!”
PLAY-MAKER
A team-mate that’s great for puck handling and passing, but not necessary scoring
“Brians a great play-maker, always there to support Danny”
PLUMBER
Not the best player on the team, but a hard working player that back-checks, fore-checks and digs deep in the corners
“Mark, you’re such a plumber, good game tonight”
POINT
Just inside either corner of the blue line of the opposing team, where the defenders will usually position themselves
PUCK-BUNNY
May or may not be a Rocket, but Puck-Bunnies are women that have an affinity for hockey players, and go out of their way to be with them. Their knowledge of the game can range from non-existent to extensive, but it doesn’t matter to a hockey player.
“Hey, Zach, did you see those puck-bunnies upstairs?”
PYLON
An extremely slow player that can be easily skated around
“Hey bud, you’re a ******** pylon out there, get some grease on!”
R
RIDE THE PINE
When a player spends the entire game sitting on the bench, and not getting any if much playing time. Usually reserved for benders and dusters.
“Coach, why are you making me ride the pine?”
ROCKET
A very attractive woman in the stands (or male!)
“Holy **** man, did you see Jarods mom in the stands? She’s an absolute rocket!”
S
SALAD
A short, but nice, head of hair. Not as long as lettuce, or flow.
“Sal is having trouble keep his salad, now that his hairlines receding”
SAUCE
A pass from one player to another that flies a little above the ice, usually over an opposing players stick, where the puck floats perfectly flat and lands just before the players stick.
“There was nothing but sauce on that pass by Yuri on that break-out”
SAUCY PAWS or SILKY MITTS or SOFT HANDS
Sweet soft hands, can move the puck round easily, confusing opposing players with slick moves.
“Jordan has some saucy paws, man did you see him take it round Brandon?”
SEND IT or SEND HIM
On a breakout – shouted to the puck carrier to let them know there is a team mate in a good forward position to receive a pass
THE SHOW
The big leagues, the NHL, AHL etc
“**** man, I would have had a shot at The Show, but I was a late bloomer, so instead I’ll dangle these mother-******** in this beer league”
SIEVE
A goalie that lets in a lot of goals – lots of holes for players to snipe at
“Hey tendy, you’re a ******** sieve bud!”
SIN BIN
The penalty box
“Jeez Jarod, ya in the sin bin again?”
THE 6X4
The goal
THE SLOT
The area right in front of the net in between the circles – usually the best position to score from
SNIPE
A well-placed shot that scores a goal, usually without the goalie touching it
“Holy **** Brad, the was a nice snipe man!”
STANDING ON HIS / HER HEAD
When a goalie is making huge and outstanding saves
SUCKER-PUNCHED
When someone punches someone in the face, and the person getting punched has no way of defending themselves.. either they’re down on the ground, or they’re looking the other way – it’s a cheap shot.
“That Brandon, the little ******, suckered him square on the beak when he was down”
STRIPES
Referees or linesman, references their black and white uniform
“For ****’s sake stripe, that call was not off-side!”
STONED
A great shot, stopped by an even greater save
“Will, holy ****, you stoned that guys shot bud”
SUICIDE PASS or SUEY
A pass that leads the receiving player into a tough body-check from an opposing player
“OJEW@DD@(@SJ)#(D*@*@*@ – Hey dude, I think you’re concussed from that suey from Jack!”
SUNBURNED
When a goalie lets in lots of goals – because the light of the lamp gives them a sunburn
“Sorry dude but you got sunburned out there”
SWEATER
A hockey jersey
“Hey Jack, ya seen our new sweaters for this season?”
T
TAKE A LOOK
Advising a team mate there are no attackers near and they should look to find the play – some one to pass to or to just skate with the puck
TAPE-TO-TAPE
When a pass goes from your stick directly onto your team-mates stick with them having to make little effort to take it
TENDY or TENDER
The goal tender
“The tendy tonight was giving up easy rebounds”
TEST THE GOALIE
Shooting on goal
“**** – that was a **** game… We didn’t test that goalie at all”
THREADING THE NEEDLE
Dangling multiple defenders to then shoot on net
TIC-TAC-TOE
Quick tape-to-tape passes
“Beauty goal! That was some dirty tic-tac-toe out there”
TIME
Usually shouted when a team-mate has space and time to pickup the puck and choose a play without pressure from the other team
“Jordan, you got time bud, TIME!”
TOP CHEESE or TOP CHEDDAR
The 2 top corners of the goal
“Mark, did you see my goal, top cheese bud, top cheese!”
TOP SHELF or WHERE DOES MAMA KEEP THE COOKIES
The area of the net just below the cross-bar
“Doug sniped top-shelf and celly’d like a rock-star”
TRAFFIC
Lots of players in front of the net
“Hey Marc, you made some sweet saves out there despite there being a ton of traffic!”
TURTLE
When one of the players in a fight doesn’t want to and just crouches or falls to his knees and covers himself.
“That ***** Brandon, he just turtled up”
TWIG
Hockey Stick. Hockey Sticks used to be made of wood, then aluminium then composites.
“Ben, ya bought a new twig for tonights game? That’s got 2 goals all over it tonight”
W
WHEEL
Instructing a team mate to skate with the puck – likely because they have a chance for a break away
“Mike wheel it bro, WHEEL IT!”
WHEELS
A fast skater
“**** off bud, your sister has better wheels that you!”
“Wheels on ya bag, no wheels on the ice!”
WINDMILL
When a goalie moves all of their arms and legs and makes a beauty of a save
“Did you see Rask’s windmill last night?”
WRAP-AROUND
Taking the puck from one side of the goal, around the back, and scoring on the other side.
“Hey Ron! Sweet wrap-around bud!”
Y
YARD-SALE or YARDIE
From when a player is hit so hard, that he loses his equipment, gloves, helmet, and stick and is left on the ice
“**** did you see Matt’s yardie tonight?”
Got any more funny slang terms in hockey? We’d love to hear from you – contact us and let us know!
Thank you for Hockey Dictionary entries from
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