Learn to Watch Hockey with these Top 10 Tips!

Here are my top 10 tips for how to watch hockey! Whether you occasionally tune in during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, are considering a good alternative to soccer or football or basketball, or are already a diehard fan, this video will clue you in on some ways to better understand the greatest sport on Earth. Comment below with any questions (or additional tips) you have, and stick around for more videos throughout the 2022-23 NHL Season!

WATCH NEXT:

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:48 (1) Understand Hockey vs Other Sports
2:10 (2) Use Clues to Track the Puck
3:21 (3) Watch Hockey at a Macro Level
4:11 (4) Hockey = Many Little Plays
4:59 (5) Pay Attention to the Referees
6:14 (6) Anticipate TV Timeouts
7:27 (7) Watch Other Teams & Players
8:59 (8) Anticipate Line Changes (Forwards & Defense)
10:20 (9) Watch the Goaltender on the Penalty Kill
11:31 (10) Hang out with Us!

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[TwistedWristerHockey]

Why do you enjoy watching hockey, and what other questions/tips do you have?

[TheHugeCaniac]

I think most importantly one of the best things about getting into hockey is the lack of commercial breaks compared to say the NFL or NBA it just seems like you get more time of play than any other sport

[bd]

My wife and I have never been sports fans but we recently moved to a bigger city and they have a local NHL team. We both have fallen in love with the sport! We go see them play home games as often as we can and our Autistic son loves it too! It’s action packed and I’m amazed at how talented these guys are to not only skate, but to be so skilled at playing WHILE skating. The atmosphere inside the stadium is unreal.

[johncrouch]

Hockey in person is outstanding, fast paced and exciting! Probably the best sport there is to see live in person.

[juhaniseppala]

My number one tip for someone who haven't watched much hockey yet is find something to connect with emotionally in addition to having a favourite team. Is it a second or third favourite team? Is it a player? Is it a certain skill set on the ice? Even when I'm watching the game as a neutral, e.g. neither team ranks among my favourites I tend to pick out certain things and look out for those while watching the game. That makes me more invested in the actual watching experience as opposed to the game just happening in the background while I'm constantly being distracted by social media or some other things within my reach.

[maximilianmaier]

I would replace (2) with "Just be patient and give it a few games"
Being able to track the puck is really something that comes automatically with just a little bit of hockey watching experience.

[davidbindewald]

I got into hockey last year with my native German ice hockey league, and now I've finally reached the Nhl. Next season will be the first full Nhl season I will be following. The thing I love most about watching hockey is its fast pace. It just goes from end to end so quickly and that makes it so exciting. Something I don't like is the moments when someone fires the Puck and you have no idea where its gone, thanks on your tips on that.

[JasondenHollander-qjhp]

Nice. As an Aussie who spent time in Toronto and fell in love with hockey I find it hard to sell to fellow Aussies due to how hard it is to follow where the heck the puck is as you need to combine tradies g the play, reading the body language of players and preempting wtf is going on.

[elibarnett]

I used to always pair Soccer and Hockey together in the group of sports that I didn’t care for. Mainly because i did not grow up in a state where either one of them was big, and because they are usually low scoring. But I recently moved to Denver and started following the Avs. And man was I wrong. It is sooo fast paced and action packed, and the stadiums are electric when watching the games in public. Im still trying to learn all of the rules and lingo. But man Im falling in love with this sport.

[sparkyshore]

To be more precise about TV timeouts, there are three scheduled in each period, coming after the first normal stoppage after the 6, 10, and 14-minute marks of the period. This means not after an icing (or any other scenario where one team or the other isn't allowed to change), and not after a goal, but also not in the middle of a power play, not less than a minute after the previous TV timeout, and not in the last 30 seconds of any period or the last two minutes of the third period. Now, in the playoffs, there's one timeout after the ten-minute mark of each overtime period following the first stoppage of any kind (including icings etc.), where they may or may not cut to commercial but will still take two minutes to scrape the ice. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[shuabmohamed]

I’m from Edmonton so naturally I’ve been into hockey whether it was my choice or not. I’ve been watching more and more each year but last year was when I watched the whole playoffs, but my favourite part of it is the fast pace and unbelievable goals by McDavid

[danieltroche]

I love the intense pace and action. Watching a game live is definitely a vibe! I love the game but need to learn the nuances of the sport. I am hooked though!

[dxs]

I’m a newbie to hockey. Haven’t watched it much in my life and never played it. Lately I’ve been getting more and more into it after watching the Avalanche play a night early this month. I’ve been trying to catch more games and learn the rules and lingo and try to understand more about what’s going on. As to answer your question, I like the fast paced flow of the match. It’s pretty amazing to see how much control these guys have going that fast and to be able to track the puck in a split second where I can barely even see where it’s at lol 😂. The sport is way more exciting than I remember it being

[CanonTheDog_]

If I'm honest, I learned mostly about hockey from my best friend, only within the past month or so actually gaining proper interest in the sport despite his various attempts for years, and frankly I am mostly watching for the gladiators on ice aspect because I deeply enjoy large men yeeting each other and themselves after various objects, but I nonetheless appreciate this video breaking down what I need to know to actually keep up with anything he says in conversation, and to further my enjoyment of gladiators on ice. Thank you, Twisted Wrister Hockey, you've earned a sub. May your days be pleasant.

[mattwyro]

This was awesome thank you. I really like the tip about watching the plays develop than just trying to track the puck. I think that is going to make a difference for me.

[gabrielveloro]

I live in Palm Springs and I’m starting to get into hockey because of the Firebirds! 🔥

[BahamutBreaker]

Really good video on a topic that is underserved and needs more guides out there, like this one, to help ease hockey-curious people into becoming fans.

[andrewe]

I'm fairly new to watching hockey (last season was my first season) and my favorite part is how close and defensive they can be, and how every little mistake or goal can matter

[LM-htez]

Awesome video Nick! The biggest one In my opinion Is anticipating play. The biggest complaint I've heard from new fans/casuals is when they can't follow the puck

[nooraj.]

Thanks for all the inventive and engaging off-season content! The last season was my first following hockey and I thought maybe my interest might die down over the summer, but I'm really excited for the upcoming season. I'm hoping to follow (7) and watch games by some teams that have a totally different style of play from the ones I've cheered for last season. So far my favorite thing about watching hockey has just been gaining the ability to follow the flow of play in more detail – there's so much more going on on the ice than you can perceive at first.