How many hockey periods

This game has millions of fans on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. By popularity, it is second only to football. The rules and regulations were finally formed in the middle of the twentieth century. In particular, it allowed to give a short answer to the question of how many periods in hockey. There are three. But there are a number of significant details.

From the history of hockey

It is customary for Canada to be the motherland of hockey . No one is going to challenge her primacy, but it should be noted that some medieval Dutch winter landscapes depict a game that we all love so much. To confuse it with anything is impossible. Of course, in those ancient times no one wondered about how many periods in hockey. Played, most likely, until you get bored. But by the beginning of the twentieth century, this folk game experienced a complex evolution and every year increasingly acquired the features of professional sports. Without observing the general rules for the game, it became impossible to live further. We had to develop common rules and, among other things, determine how many periods in hockey are enough to determine the winner. Gradually agreed on the figure 3.

How many hockey periods are currently

The current regulations for holding a hockey match have all the same three periods. But the problem here is that to determine the winner of them is often not enough. And if the third period of the main time of the hockey match ends with a draw, the referees appoint additional time. Otherwise it is called "overtime". In the regular championship of the Continental Hockey League, according to the regulations, there can not be a draw. And in case if overtime does not reveal the winner, the teams exchange free throws, shootouts. Before the victory of one of the teams. To understand this game, the important thing is also how long the period lasts in hockey. Its duration is 20 minutes of "clean" time. This means that when the game stops for some reason, and it happens during the period often enough, the stopwatch that measures the playing time stops at the same time. The break for rest between periods is 15 minutes.

Playoffs

But the most interesting happens in the final part of the championship, otherwise known as the "playoffs". At this stage, the game becomes aggravated and becomes extremely dynamic. Its outcome is often completely unpredictable. There are no shootouts at the end of the match. In the final games, the question becomes irrelevant: "How many periods in hockey?" If three main-time periods do not reveal the winner, then their number becomes unlimited. The game continues until the first washer. And in some cases, it drags on very long. The longest match in the history of the Continental Hockey League took place between the teams of Severstal and Lokomotiv on February 25, 2013. He finished on the 119th minute victory of "Severstal" with a score of 3: 2. And we can confidently predict that this record will not last long.