Something about hockey you should know (Part 4)

3. New competition rules:

Number of players and playing time: 
– The first ice hockey tournament to be held in 1920 has a lot of differences from the modern one: matches are held outdoors on ice. of course, the law of forward passes does not apply, the ice rink has an area of ​​56 x 18m (currently international standards are 60.98mx 30m) and plays 2 halves in 1 match, 20 minutes each. Each team consists of 7 people competing in the ice rink, the rest will move outside the field. After that, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) held a meeting and decided to apply “Canadian Law” – 6 people per team and 3 innings in 1 match. 
– Each match has 3 innings lasting 60 ‘(20’ each). The break time between rounds is from 15’30” to 17”.

Yard: 
– Standard yard is 60.98m (200ft) long, 30m (100ft) wide and divided into 3 areas: defense, neutral and offensive. Other information: 
During the IIHF meeting held in 1969, officials agreed to allow the use of body laws to obstruct opponents in all three areas in a playground similar to that in the Professional Hockey Tournament (NHL). Previously, the law using the body to obstruct an opponent was only applied in the defense area in international hockey competition. IIHF has described this change of the rule as “the most dramatic and significant change in competition rules in the history of international hockey” because it made the game more intense. Laws first applied at the 1970 World Hockey Championships caused controversy: IIHF President Bunny Ahearne feared it would make ice hockey “a sport for people who like violence”. 

Several other legal changes were made in the early 70s: in 1970, the athletes must wear helmets; and by 1972 goalkeepers were required to wear protective masks. In 1992, IIHF switched to a play-off rule to find the championship team, other medal matches ending in a tie would be determined to win or lose by penalty shootout. IIHF decided to test a new law in 1997 allowing the application of offside law. Thus, the situation of offside trap in the intermediate area will make the match slower and reduce the number of points scored. At the 1997 World Hockey Championship, teams were allowed to decide whether or not they wanted to test this law. Although no team accepts it, the new rules still apply. IIHF described it as “the biggest rule change since allowing the use of the body to block an opponent in all three playing areas on the field in 1969. The new rules almost make the game even better.