Ice Hockey, explained.
The NHL and the international game: systems, special teams, expected goals and the economics of a hard cap.
10 articlesTacticsExplainerGuideEconomicsAnalysis
- TacticsPenalty kill systems in hockey: box, diamond and wedge23 minA penalty kill defends four against five by conceding something on purpose. Here is what the box, the diamond and the wedge each give up, and why.
- TacticsHockey zone entries explained: the blue line decides it22 minA zone entry is how a team gets the puck over the attacking blue line. Carrying it in beats dumping it in, and the reason is possession, not speed.
- TacticsThe hockey power play explained: why four cannot cover five21 minHow a power play in hockey really works: minor, double and major penalties, the umbrella and the 1-3-1, the one-timer, and why the zone entry decides it.
- ExplainerThe NHL playoff format explained, from points to the Cup19 minHow the NHL playoff format works: the loser point and what it does to a race, the divisional bracket and wild cards, and playoff overtime with no shootout.
- ExplainerNHL penalties explained, from a minor to a match penalty21 minNHL penalties explained: minors, majors, misconducts, coincidentals, delayed calls and penalty shots, plus why the standard visibly moves across a season.
- ExplainerNHL Overtime and Shootout Rules: Five Minutes, Three a Side19 minRegular season overtime is five minutes of sudden death, three skaters a side, then a shootout. A penalty makes it four on three. The playoffs do the reverse.
- GuideThe NHL draft explained: teenagers, rights and the slide22 minThe NHL draft explained: eligibility and the September cutoff, seven rounds, rights windows by route, the slide rule and why it stays unpredictable.
- ExplainerIcing and offside hockey rules, and the sense behind them20 minHow the icing and offside hockey rules work: why offside keys on the puck, the tag-up, hybrid icing, the exemptions and the faceoff that follows.
- EconomicsHow the NHL salary cap works, and why LTIR is not free money19 minThe NHL salary cap explained: where the number comes from, how escrow enforces the split, what LTIR actually buys, and the arithmetic behind a buyout.
- AnalysisExpected goals in hockey explained, and where the model breaks18 minHow expected goals works in hockey, why location tells you less than in football, and the rebounds, screens and goaltending the model cannot see.
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