Mad about Dimensions

I'm currently pretty mad about ice hockey after watching the New Jersey Devils get shutout by the Philadelphia Flyers, It was embarrassing, three power play goals scored one after the other in the first 11 minutes of the game. The Devils defense was a mess, the Flyers looked like they were on nice stroll through the park with the low level of trouble they underwent as they thoroughly dismantled the Devils Penalty Killing unit. So let's talk about ice hockey rinks and the two official standards for dimensions and markings.

Let's start with the North American rinks since they follows the NHL specification for rink dimensions and markings. Can we get picture up?

Great job Barry.

The standard rink dimensions in North America is 200 ft by 85 ft with a corner radius of 28 ft. Not every rink in North America follows this sizing but most can be assumed to be around that size. It is important to note that unlike the International ice hockey rink size, which I will get to later, this is not a maximum size but the specific size needed to be a NHL regulation sized rink. At least, I have not found anything that says otherwise, though there might be rinks in the NHL (or in the minor leagues like the AHL and the ECHL) that are smaller than the regulation size. It is unlikely though for a few reasons that relate to how the dimensions of the rink effect the way the game is played.

The small dimensions, well smaller than the international rink, means that there is less room to move around. This means that the North American style of play is more physical so as to create space for coordinated plays. It also allows chippy board play, bouncing the puck off the side boards, to be more effective as opposing players are more likely to close enough to the boards such that it would be hard to break up that kind of play. Another effect of the smaller rink is a greater emphasize on taller and larger players as they are the players best able to dish out and receive the type of play emphasized in the NHL. This is why you will often hear some hockey fans say someone is too small for the NHL but the player flourishes in European leagues or in minor professional hockey leagues.

The international standard for rink dimensions is 200 ft by 100 ft with a corner radius of 28 ft. The international standard is a bit different from the North American standard as it seems to be less strict. My understanding is that it is more of a maximum dimension for the rink and that some are smaller but within some margin for error. This comes from a few stories in the news about the rinks made for the recent Winter Olympics in Russia being made to be as big as is allowable by the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) specifications.

The larger rink leads to some key differences in the way Europeans play. The larger rink allows players to hit top speed more easily as well as focus on a more finesse orient play style. Players can focus more skill and puck movement because there is a lot of space to move around already since space is not at a premium. There is not as much of  a need for the players to throw out checks or big hits on other players to create space, though the physical edge is still there as there is no real detriment to having more open ice. This also allows smaller players, well they are not really small but like between 5'6 and 5'10, to flourish as there is less of a focus or need to give or receive a hit.

There are a lot more differences between the two styles of play but they are more a result of evolving in separate leagues with different focus and do not have nearly as large effect on how the game is played like the different rink dimensions. Like in the NHL, there is the trapezoid behind goal which restricts where the goalie can play the puck. That came about due to the "dead puck" era caused by goaltenders that were highly skilled in puck handling like Marty Turco and Martin Brodeur.