How long hockey game

This means that the game actually takes 60 minutes to play with a few more minutes added on for the quick stoppage between periods and the warmups.

A recreational game will usually last for about 1 hour 15 minutes from the start of the warmup until the teams leave the ice at the end of the game.

Let me tell you, all the players are trying to get the game started again quickly when there is a stoppage on the ice. Nobody wants the precious time to be running away while you are not playing and waiting for the puck to drop. Some leagues will have stoppage time in the last few minutes of the game so a team in the lead cannot waste time by causing a lot of stoppages.

In higher end minor hockey leagues the games do have stoppage time, and will have an intermission between the 2nd and 3rd periods for the ice to be cleaned. These games typically take about 2 hours to play. These games would involve highly skilled 15 to 18 year olds who have a chance to get drafted into college or a junior hockey league. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Sid the Kid has won almost everything he can, but how many times did he win hockey's ultimate prize?

Skip to content When you are going to watch a hockey game how much time should expect to be there? How long is an NHL hockey game in real time?

This all adds up to a game ending 2. How long are the intermissions between periods? This time is taken for the ice to be cleaned and repaired as well as any in-house entertainment. How long between regulation and overtime? Embed from Getty Images Length of a game in the NHL Playoffs In the playoffs, there is no shootout to decide a game if it is still tied at the end of an overtime period.

Have you ever wondered how long a hockey game is? Since there are three periods in a regular game, you might be surprised to find out that the game can take a few hours to decide a winner.

So what makes an average game take so long to finish? Here is the breakdown of how long an average hockey game takes and more.

NHL games consist of 60 minutes of playtime that breaks down into three separate periods. If the score between both teams is tied, both teams enter a five-minute overtime. If there is no winner after the five-minute overtime, a shootout then decides a winner. While regulation is sixty minutes across three periods, hockey fans can expect around 2. However, NHL playoff games may take more time due to the commercials and additional overtime periods.

So how does a sixty-minute clock turn into 2. Here are some of the reasons why the amount of time is closer to 2. A total of minutes and 30 seconds took the place of actual ice hockey game time playing between both teams. During the season, the NHL got rid of tie game opportunities via new overtime rules.

That meant that before the season, fans might have invested hours into a match to see a tie ultimately. NHL teams now continue into a shootout to decide a winner via what team scores with the rule change. If the score is tied after sixty minutes, the game will extend to a 5-minute overtime followed by a shootout. During the playoffs, teams will play sudden-death overtime to settle a tie which is also made up of minute periods.

Prior to the season, games would be played with 2 x 30 minute periods without stop-time [ source ]. The NHL only introduced stop-time as of the season, along with minute intermissions. By the season, the intermission lengths were increased by an additional 5 minutes to fifteen minutes total. Today, the intermissions are standardized at 18 minutes long there are exceptions — read below.

From the moment of puck drop until the end of the game, you are looking at approximately 2. Some games may last longer or shorter depending on various circumstances mentioned below. Keep in mind that in between both the first and second period, there is an intermission of 17 minutes from play for nationally televised games.

Otherwise, play can be resumed after a minimum of 15 minutes and 30 seconds i. Furthermore, the game clock will stop between plays resulting from goals, penalty calls, icing, puck-out-of-play, broken glass and more.

The more stops between plays, the longer the game will last. Finally, if extra time is required i. When it comes to international, national and junior leagues, they all follow the same standard 60 minutes as the NHL 3 x minute periods. See the list of the most popular leagues below that follow suit:.