A Celebration on Ice and Snow, Beijing 2022: SkiingIce Hockey

Ice hockey is a highly competitive team sport played on ice which combines elements of both ice sports and ball games. The tactics of ice hockey are similar to those used in some summer sports, but the speed is faster, the competition is more intense, and the tactics are more varied. In the Olympic Winter Games, the feld of play measures 60m×26m and is surrounded by dashboards and protective shielding. Each team has a roster of up to 20 skaters and two goaltenders.

During a game, a team is allowed a maximum of six players on the ice. Players are equipped with an array of protective equipment. Male players must wear visors. Female players and players aged under 18 must wear cages. Players under 20 are required to wear mouth guards. Goaltenders must wear special equipment to avoid injuries, and they can wear helmets in different colours. Reasonable body contact is allowed in the men’s games but not in women’s.

An ice hockey match in the Olympic Winter Games consists of three 20-minute periods with a 15-minute intermission after the frst and second periods.

According to the regulations of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), overtime follows the third period when the score is tied after 60 minutes of regular time and can consist of a 5-minute period, a 10-minute period or a 20-minute period. “Sudden-death” will be applied for the overtime periods, meaning that the game ends once the winning goal is scored. Except for the gold medal game, if both teams have the same score at the end of the overtime period, then the Penalty-Shot Shootout (PSS) procedure will apply. Five different shooters from each team will take turns to shoot alternately until a decisive goal is scored, and each player can only shoot once in this period. If the game is still tied after five shots by each team, the PSS will continue with a tie-break shoot-out by one player from each team until the decisive goal is scored.

In the gold medal game, if there is no decisive goal at the end of the overtime period, 20-minute overtime period should repeatedly apply until a goal is scored.

Copyright: Guide to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022– A Celebration on Ice and Snow

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