Explaining hockey lingo for NHL, Carolina Hurricanes fans

Carolina Hurricanes playoff hockey is full swing for the eighth consecutive year.

The Canes are in the Eastern Conference Final of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs.

With the playoffs well underway, WRAL Sports compiled a list of hockey terms for fans to know:

Apple: A term used to describe an assist in hockey.

An assist is awarded to the player or players (maximum of two) who touched the puck prior to the goal, provided no defender plays or possesses the puck in between.

Barnburner: A slang term used to describe an exciting hockey game. It typically refers to a close game between the two teams.

Bucket: A slang term used to describe a hockey player’s helmet.

Biscuit: A slang term used to describe the hockey puck.

‘Bunch of jerks’: The Carolina Hurricanes’ postgame “Storm Surge” celebration began in the 2019-2020 season.

After a win, the Hurricanes players gather at center ice, lining up around the center faceoff dot and start a Viking “Skol” chant, clapping their hands above their heads. In the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings have a similar “Skol” chant.

After the chant, the players all skate and jump into the boards.

In 2019, the Hurricanes used to have choreographed celebrations. It included the players playing games of "Duck, Duck, Goose," and players acting like human bowling pins.

The Canes on-ice postgame celebrations drew the ire of leading Canadian hockey commentator Don Cherry who called the team “a bunch of jerks.”

Instead of rebutting the claim, the team adopted the label, using it as a battle cry in future games.

The team has since sold “bunch of jerks” T-shirts and had the word “jerks” spelled out in fan seating at the Lenovo Center.

Celly: A shortened term for a player’s celebration after a goal.

Checking: Checking is a defensive tactic where a player uses physical contact to disrupt an opponent with possession of the puck or to take them off the puck.

It involves using the body, specifically the shoulders, upper arms, hips and elbows, to make contact with an opponent.

The goal of a check is to separate the opponent from the puck, force them to give up the puck or to disrupt their play.

Chiclets:  A term hockey players use for the word “teeth.” The Barstool Sports podcast “Spittin’ Chicklets” has further popularized the term. The podcast is hosted by former NHL players Paul "Biz Nasty" Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney as well as hockey blogger Brian "Rear Admiral" McGonagle.

Chirp: A term used to describe when someone talks trash to the opposing team.

Crease: The crease is a designated area in front of the net, usually marked by a blue semi-circle, where the goalie is allowed to stand and play the puck. It's essentially the goalie's protected zone.

Attacking players are generally not allowed to enter the crease unless they have possession of the puck.

Crosschecking: Cross-checking is a penalty called when a player uses the shaft of their stick between both hands to forcefully hit or push an opponent, with the stick blade not touching the ice.

Dangle: When a player is a deke (or decoy) by making moves to fake out the goalie or opposing player.

It’s also used to describe the act of stick-handling

Dropping the gloves: “Dropping the gloves” refers to when a player accepts a challenge from an opposing player to fight bare-knuckled.

Face-off: A face-off is a procedure used to start or restart play. Two opposing players face each other at a designated spot on the ice, and the referee drops the puck, which they then compete to control and take possession. A face-off happens at the start of each period.

Filthy: This is another term for a great deke or pass, like “dirty.”

Forecheck: Forecheck is a defensive strategy where players from the team out of possession apply pressure on the opposing team in their own zone or the neutral zone to try and regain possession of the puck.

Hat-trick: A hat-trick is when a player scores three goals in one game.

High-sticking: A foul where a player intentionally or inadvertently plays the puck with their stick above the height of the shoulders above the cross bar of a hockey goal.

It's a minor penalty, typically resulting in a two-minute penalty for the offending player. 

The penalty is assessed because high-sticking can lead to serious injuries, particularly to the head, face and neck.

Legend of the Octopus: The Legend of the Octopus is a sports tradition during Detroit Red Wings home playoff games involving dead octopuses thrown onto the ice rink.

It began in the 1952 playoffs when two brothers, Pete and Jerry Cusimano, who owned a fish market, decided to throw an octopus onto the ice at Olympia Stadium in Detroit, with the eight tentacles of the octopus symbolizing the eight wins it took to win the Stanley Cup at the time.

Lettuce: A slang term used to describe a player’s hair.

Offsides: Offsides occurs when an attacking player enters the opposing team’s offensive zone (the part of the rink behind the blue line) before the puck does. Essentially, the puck must enter the zone before any of the attacking team’s players.

When an attacking team's player crosses the blue line into the offensive zone before the puck, it's considered an offside. 

When an offside is called, play is stopped, and a face-off occurs at the closest face-off dot to where the puck was when the offside happened.

Penalty box: The penalty box is where a player goes to serve a penalty for a rule infraction.

The duration of the penalty determines how long the player sits in the box, which can impact the game's flow and create opportunities for the opposing team.

The slang term “sin bin” is sometimes used instead of “penalty box.”

Power play: A power play occurs when a team has numerical advantage on the ice because the opposing team has a player serving a penalty in the penalty box.

It creates a situation where one team plays with five players against four or even three, depending on the severity of the penalty.

Typically, a team with the numerical advantage is in a better position to score a goal with fewer opposing players on the ice.

Pulling the goalie: “Pulling the goalie” refers to the strategic move where a team, typically when trailing in the game, replaces their goaltender with an extra skater to increase their offensive presence in hopes of scoring a goal.

Pulling the goalie creates an empty net, giving the opponent a chance to score easily.

Slapshot: A slapshot is a powerful, high-speed shot in hockey that a player takes from a long distance from the goal. The disadvantage is the long time to set it up as well as its low accuracy.

Top shelf: The upper section of the goal’s net between the crossbar and the goaltender’s shoulders.

Shootout: A shootout is a tie-breaking procedure used in the regular season after regulation time and overtime end with a tie.

There are no shootouts in the NHL playoffs.

In a shootout, each team selects three players to take penalty shots, alternating with the away team going first. The team with the most goals after three rounds wins.

If it's still tied, a sudden-death phase begins, with teams sending out one player at a time until a winner is declared.

Sweater: A term used to describe a hockey jersey.

Yard sale: When a player gets hit so hard that he loses all his equipment (stick, helmet or gloves) and they’re left on the ice after the play