{"database": "pelican", "table": "content", "rows": [["ryan", "musings", "In [a previous post of this series](https://www.ryancheley.com/2025/01/27/how-\nto-watch-a-hockey-game-three-rules/) I laid out some basic rules of hockey. In\nthis post I'll hopefully provide some tips on what to watch during your first\nfew hockey games.\n\n## What should I 'watch' though?\n\nThis is a tough question and depends on if you're watching on TV or in person.\n\n### On TV\n\nIf you're watching on TV you're limited by whatever the camera and director\nare showing you. Hopefully they're pretty good at what they do and they'll\nhelp to show you what is interesting. You'll also have the benefit of replays.\n1\n\nWatching the action on TV will be your best bet. The commentators will do a\nreasonable job of explaining the play. For some of the best NHL broadcasts\nyou'll want to watch a Canadian feed. This might not be an option depending on\nwhere you live, but in general, watching a Canadian feed of a Canadian team\nwill be really helpful.\n\nIf, for whatever reason, you're watching an AHL game2 the best broadcasts to\nwatch, in my opinion, are the Lehigh Valley Phantoms called by [Bob\nRotruck](https://www.phantomshockey.com/staff/bob-rotruck/) and Cleveland\nMonsters called by [Tony Brown](https://www.tonybrownpxp.com/). Each of these\nis a single broadcaster doing both the color commentary and the play-by-play\n... and they honestly get **so** excited it's hard to NOT get excited with\nthem.\n\n### In Person\n\nFor your first in person game, just try and follow the puck as best you can.\nIf for whatever reason you can't do that, pick a spot on the ice to\nconcentrate on, preferably near one of the goalies. Which one? The goalie of\nthe team you're not rooting for is a good choice! Then you can just kind of\nwatch the action there.\n\nKeeping in mind [the rules](https://www.ryancheley.com/2025/01/27/how-to-\nwatch-a-hockey-game-three-rules/) start by focusing on just one rule - either\nicing or offside - for an entire period. Once you feel comfortable recognizing\nthat rule during gameplay, switch your attention to watching for the other\nrule in the next period. For example, if you spent the first period watching\nfor icing, spend the next period looking for offside plays.\n\nHopefully after a full game you're able to see them when icing or offside\nhappen. If not, it just means you'll need to come back and try again \ud83d\ude01.\n\n## What not to worry about\n\nHockey is a fast paced game. No, like really fast. Don't worry too much about\nanything other than watching for the puck, if you can, and trying to pick up\nicing and offside. You'll see other stoppages in play when a penalty is\ncalled. The refs will make [hand\ngestures](https://www.chicagowolves.com/gameday/hockey-101/penalties-and-\nsignals/) to indicate the call on the ice and someone will be sent to the box.\n\nDon't worry about whether or not a fight will break out. They don't always,\nand if they do, each player will be assessed a major penalty and will spend 5+\nminutes in the penalty box.\n\nDon't worry too much about learning the positions. The goalie is an obvious\none (that's the person with all of the pads, the bigger stick, and the giant,\nwell painted mask in front of the net), but trying to distinguish between a\ndefender and a center ... like just don't worry about it!\n\n## Conclusion\n\nHockey is an amazing sport to watch, whether in person or on TV. It can take a\nlittle bit of time to get used to the fast pace, but hopefully this series has\ngiven you some tips to enjoy it and understand what's going on.\n\n  1. and refreshments that are much less expensive! \u21a9\ufe0e\n  2. home of my beloved Coachella Valley Firebirds \u21a9\ufe0e\n\n", "2025-01-31", "how-to-watch-a-hockey-game-what-to-watch", "In [a previous post of this series](https://www.ryancheley.com/2025/01/27/how-\nto-watch-a-hockey-game-three-rules/) I laid out some basic rules of hockey. In\nthis post I'll hopefully provide some tips on what to watch during your first\nfew hockey games.\n\n## What should I 'watch' though?\n\nThis is a tough question and depends on if you're watching on \u2026\n\n", "How to Watch a Hockey Game - What to Watch", "https://www.ryancheley.com/2025/01/31/how-to-watch-a-hockey-game-what-to-watch/"]], "columns": ["author", "category", "content", "published_date", "slug", "summary", "title", "url"], "primary_keys": ["slug"], "primary_key_values": ["how-to-watch-a-hockey-game-what-to-watch"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2288792058825493}