HOCKEY SLANG summary
Jerry Dunn
Hi,
Thanks to everyone who sent hockey slang for my book, "Idiom Savant: Slang
As It Is Slung" (Henry Holt & Co., NY, spring 1997). Here's the summary I
said I'd post.
No doubt I've made some boneheaded errors, especially in usage. Please
send any corrections or additions to me by e-mail:
I hope you can add example sentences to some definitions, to show how the
terms are properly used.
It's nice of you to help. Thanks again very much!
Cheers,
Jerry Dunn
The summary:
banana n. a wicked, curved hockey stick.
bandwagon fans n. those who adopt a team only when itąs doing very well.
łThere are more bandwagon Rangers fans than any other team, thanks to
ESPN.˛
barn burner n. a high-scoring game.
blades n. skates.
blast n. a slap shot with high velocity. łThatąs a blast from the slot.˛
boarding v. driving or riding an opposing player into the boards; not legal.
brain bucket n. a helmet.
butt-ending v. hitting another player with the blunt end of the hockey
stick; not legal.
cherry-picker n. a player who spends his time behind opposition defenses,
waiting for breakaway passes.
crease n. the defined area that belongs to the goalie, a rectangle
measuring four by eight feet.
deke n. a quick fake-out move against an opponent. Also, v. to show
puck-handling skill. łWow, Fedorov really deked his way around Leetch.˛
drop the gloves v. to fight. Ant. turtle: to not fight. łUlfie is such
a coward. He hits from behind, then turtles.˛
five hole n. the space between a goalieąs pads. łHe shoots for the five
hole.... He scores!˛
floater n. a player interested only in scoring; not a physical type.
łForsberg is a floater.˛
freeze the puck v. to pin the puck against the boards.
garbage goal n. one scored from the crease and generally involving little
skill. łHe put the rebound back in while the goalie was down from
stopping the first shot. Pretty much a garbage goal.˛
Gretzky, in his office adj. when Wayne Gretzky has the puck behind the
opponentąs net. (Gretzky is known as the most dangerous player behind the
net that the game has ever seen.)
hat trick n. three goals scored by one player in a single game. łMario
Lemieux scores his third goal to complete the hat trick!˛ Rel. Texas hat
trick: four goals.
have the jets v. to be a very fast skater.
the ice is tilted adj. when a superior team plays the role of aggressor
in another teamąs defensive zone.
lingerie department n. the upper portion of the goal net. "I need to
practice slapping it into the lingerie department."
the mug n. Lord Stanleyąs Cup.
one-timer n. a shot taken immediately from a pass, without stopping it.
play in traffic v. to skate in a fast-moving throng of players.
"Gretzky's playing in traffic again...he makes his move...and he makes the
steal!"
plumber n. a hardworking, gritty player. Syn. grinder.
poke check v. to knock the puck from an opponentąs possession by jabbing
at it with the blade of your stick.
power play n. for a team to have a numerical advantage on the ice because
opponents are sidelined with penalties.
puckhead n. an avid fan. łLenny hasnąt missed a game for 12 years -- a
total puckhead.˛
put the biscuit in the basket v. to score a goal. Syn. dent the twine.
łThat last shot really dented the twine.˛
roof it v. to score a goal that hits the top of the net. łBure was in
close, saw the opening, and roofed it.˛
run the goalie v. to bowl over the other teamąs goalie for the purpose of
putting him off his game; not legal.
separator n. a maneuver in which a player tries to łdistract˛ an opponent
by lifting his stick between the other playerąs legs; usually greeted by
extreme anger from the opponent.
sin bin n. the penalty box. łWhen the Montreal Forum closed, the Montreal
Canadians gave the actual penalty box to Chris Nilan, since heąd spent so
much time in the sin bin.˛
slot n. the area directly in front of the net, outside the crease.
smother the puck v. for the goalie or his teammates to cover the puck by
falling on it; illegal except for goalie.
spin-o-rama n. a 360-degree turn with the puck in place, a difficult
maneuver. łSergei Fedorov does a nice spin-o-rama in the Nike ad.˛ Rel.
Savardian spin-o-rama: a spectacular 360 performed to score a goal, named
after Denis Savard when he played for the Chicago Blackhawks.
stand on his head v. for a goalie to perform unbelievably well, stopping
everything in sight. "Roy is simply incredible tonight! Heąs been
standing on his head to make save after save.˛
stone v. for a goalie to stymie shots as if he were a stone wall.
łRoenick gets the puck, breaks down the right wing, and passes in front to
Daze for the one-timer. Oh, my -- Roy stoned him.˛
tape to tape adj. describes a perfect pass.
top shelf adj. when a shot scores in the upper part or top corner of the
net. łYazerman puts it top shelf...˛ Optional addition: ...where they
keep the peanut butter. Syn. upstairs.
twinkle toes n. a player who learned to figure skate before learning to
play hockey; he has some good moves, but isnąt a very good player.
undress v. to fake a player out of his jock, easily move around someone
with the puck. Rel. lose your jockstrap: to be badly fooled on a deke.
wraparound n. a goal scored by a player who skates from behind the net
and quickly stuffs it past the goalie. The player is usually still behind
the net when the attempt is made.
--
Jerry Dunn
jd...@west.net
Sandy Beeser
In article <jdunn-30099...@term2-3.vta.west.net>, jd...@west.net
(Jerry Dunn) wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Thanks to everyone who sent hockey slang for my book, "Idiom Savant: Slang
> As It Is Slung" (Henry Holt & Co., NY, spring 1997). Here's the summary I
> said I'd post.
>
> No doubt I've made some boneheaded errors, especially in usage. Please
> send any corrections or additions to me by e-mail:
>
> jd...@west.net.
>
You forgot dasher ( as in dumps one off the dasher, or sometimes the
dasher board) and my favorite is the "flamingoing" or "doing the
flamingo", in which a defensive player, generally a forward approaches a
defenseman awaiting a one timer, and instead of taking one for the team,
the defensive player lifts one leg up to let the puck pass, and for that
breif period of time looks like a flamingo. The latter term will likey
draw the ire of many on this newsgroup
because I'm relatively certain that Don Cherry forst used the term. There
are a lot more. just listen to a game and you will get all kinds of them.
Sandy
Chris
Texas Hat Trick: 4 goals in a game (you know, everthing is bigger in
Texas)