Captain: Every team selects a captain (and assistant captains). The captain wears a "C" on their jersey and the assistants wear an "A." It is the captain’s responsibility to interface with the referees and with the league in recreational hockey.
Catching glove (Catcher): The goalie has a catching glove on the non-stick hand. The catching glove is somewhat like a baseball first base glove but is specially designed to absorb the high velocity of a hockey shot. A goalies hands, catcher (and blocker) should be slightly a head of the body. Click here to see how Carey Price from the Montreal Canadiens does it.
Center ice: Center ice is the area around the red centerline of the rink. Center line: The center line bisects the middle of the rink. It is red, 12 inches wide, and on many rinks it is a dashed line.
Center: In ice hockey, the center is the middle player of the forwards. The center normally takes the face offs.
Change on the fly: A team may change its players even as play continues. This is known as "changing on the fly." A player coming on the rink cannot play the puck until the player they are replacing is off the rink. Click here to one of the ways that Paul Maurice former head coach of the Tornto Maples Leafs teachs the pros how to do it.
Charging: Charging is called for taking two steps before applying a body check. It is a two minute minor penalty. It should never occur in a well disciplined game of no check hockey.
Check: A check is used to gain the puck from an opponent. Body checking and stick checking are the two forms of checking used to accomplish this end. The term check is sometimes used to indicate a player that is being covered closely in one on one defensive situation - for example: "make sure you cover your check closely as they come into the neutral zone." (See also "Finish a check" and "Close Checking")
Chip it out: When a team wants to get out of their zone, they can pass the puck to one of their wings who is close to the point. If the wing cannot catch the pass and begin to skate into the neutral zone they can "chip" it by just touching it and directing it into the neutral zone. Chipping the puck is considered a very conservative style as the puck as it is difficult to begin a formal rush toward the opponent and it is likely that the other team will get possession.
Clearing: In ice hockey you clear the puck out of your defensive zone by shooting it out of the zone - and not to a teammate. If you pass to to a team mate it is called a "clearing pass."
Close Checking: This term is usually applied to a team strategy. Each opponent player is assigned to a player and is shadowed and touched similar to man on man defense in basketball or football. This technique can sometimes slow very fast skaters.
Closing the Gap or Gap Control: A retreating defender adjusts speed and skating pattern so the distance between the defender and the puck carrier is lessened in order to get the puck carrier within poke checking range.
Coast to Coast: A player skates from their end to the opponents end without passing or losing the puck. Click here to see some nice moves on a coast to coast goal.
Crease: The semi-circular area in front of the goal is the goaltender’s crease. A goal cannot be scored when an offensive player is in the crease. If an offensive player skates through the crease play will be stopped. The semi-circular area in front of the official scorekeepers box is the referee’s crease. No player may enter the referee’s crease when the referee is assessing a penalty and reporting it to the scorekeeper.
Cross: Two offensive players exchange positions to accomplish isolation and force a decision by a defender.
Cross-checking: When a player hits or pushes another player with their stick with both hands on the stick and no part of the stick on the ice cross checking is called. It is a two minute minor penalty.
Crossover: The crossover is a skating technique is which one skate is placed in front of the skate on the opposite leg. It can be done while skating forward or backward. Crossovers are used to maneuver in the corner or to accelerate on an open portion of the rink. Click here to see a good lesson on the basics and starting steps to learning to use crossover skating.
Cycling: Cycling is an offensive strategy used to keep control of the puck by keeping it close the boards. Offensive players make short passes to each other along the boards until they see an opening to pass to a teammate who is moving into the slot for a shot. Click here to see a brief example from the Hockey Night in Canada, Think hockey series on cycling the puck in the offensive zone.