Hockey questions, answered.

Bifrost Sports is free for players and teams, and the free features stay free: following, stats, standings, Game Center, team chat, the schedule, RSVPs, the sub pool and collecting team fees (in beta). Leagues and rinks in the beta don’t pay either. If your team collects dues through Bifrost Sports, a small processing fee is added to each payment, so the team keeps every dollar it’s owed.

Reviewed October 10, 2026

Bifrost Sports hasn’t set its price for leagues and rinks after the beta. Leagues and rinks in the beta don’t pay.

Reviewed October 10, 2026

No. Everyone on the roster needs a free Bifrost Sports account, but not the app: each RSVP request also goes out by email with I’m In and Can’t Make It buttons, and a team fee (in beta) opens a pay page in any browser after signing in. Parents, partners and the guy in the stands can open a shared team link or subscribe to its schedule in Apple or Google Calendar without signing up at all.

Reviewed October 10, 2026

Adult rec leagues and teams in the US can join the Bifrost Sports beta by invite, with accounts for players 18 and up, and a rink can join by reaching out to us. The app runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac today. Android is on the roadmap, and until then Android teammates RSVP by email and pay team fees (in beta) in a browser.

Reviewed October 10, 2026

Not yet: Bifrost Sports accounts are for adults 18 and up, and youth hockey is on the roadmap. At rinks that sell sessions on Bifrost Sports, parents can book their kids in from their own account (in beta).

Reviewed October 10, 2026

Bifrost Sports doesn’t sell your players’ data or share it for targeted advertising. The details are in our privacy policy, in plain language.

Reviewed October 10, 2026

Yes. Delete your Bifrost Sports account any time in the app: Settings, then General, then Delete Account. If you can’t sign in, email support@bifrostsports.com from the address on your account with the subject “Delete my account”, and it’s done within 30 days. For a copy of your data, ask support and you’ll get it in a portable format. The details are in our privacy policy.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Source: Bifrost Sports privacy policy, Section 6A

Email support@bifrostsports.com. A real person at Bifrost Sports reads every note and writes back, usually within a day.

Reviewed October 10, 2026

Bifrost Sports was founded by Justis Gyori, CEO, and Ben Friedrich, CTO, and the two of them build the app together. Justis is also a GM and a goalie. He runs an adult rec team, so RSVPs, subs and team fees land on him every week. Most of what Bifrost Sports does started as a problem one of us hit at the rink. Meet us on the About page.

Reviewed October 10, 2026

No. Bifrost Sports isn’t affiliated with any league or governing body. Its scoring follows the USA Hockey, NHL, PWHL and NCAA rulebooks so your scoresheet matches the game you play.

Reviewed October 10, 2026

Icing is shooting the puck from your own half of the ice all the way past the other team’s goal line, and outside a few exceptions each rulebook lists, play stops. Where the rulebooks differ is the moment it’s called.

• USA Hockey: icing is complete the instant the puck fully crosses the goal line (Rule 624).
• NHL and PWHL: a race. The linesperson judges whether an attacker or a defender would touch the puck first, decided by the time the first player reaches the end-zone faceoff dots, and a race too close to call is icing (NHL Rule 81, PWHL Rule 83).
• NCAA: icing, unless an onside attacker with no opponent between them and the goal line is clearly in position to touch the puck first, judged by the same dots (Rule 85).

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 624 · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 81 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rule 83 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 85

A regulation hockey game is three 20-minute periods of actual play in the NHL, the PWHL and the NCAA. USA Hockey sets three 20-minute periods as the most a game can run, with a 15-minute intermission and an ice resurface between periods.

When periods run shorter, USA Hockey scales youth minors to match: 1:00 in periods of 12 minutes or less, 1:30 in periods under 17 minutes and 2:00 from 17 to 20, while adult minors are always 2:00. Intermissions are set at 18 minutes in the NHL, 17 in the PWHL and 12 or 15 in the NCAA.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rules 402 and 636 · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 77 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rules 34 and 79 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 82

Hockey overtime is sudden victory, so the first goal wins, but its length and the number of skaters depend on the rulebook.

• NHL and PWHL: a regular-season game tied after three periods gets up to five minutes of three-on-three, then a shootout. Playoff games add full 20-minute periods until someone scores (NHL Rule 84, PWHL Rule 86).
• NCAA: five minutes of three-on-three in the regular season. Still tied, the game ends as a tie and a three-player shootout follows. Postseason games play 20-minute sudden-victory periods (Rule 91).
• USA Hockey: recommends a five-minute rest, then a 10-minute sudden-victory period, repeated until someone scores, and lets affiliates and local governing bodies set their own overtime and shootout format (Rule 638).

On Bifrost Sports, a league sets its rules per season, and each season has a public rules page. What each result is worth in the table is in our standings guide.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 84 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rule 86 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 91 · USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 638

A hockey shootout gives each team three shooters in the NHL and the NCAA and five in the PWHL, then goes to sudden death, one shooter a side, until it’s decided.

The PWHL lets a team send the same shooter as often as it likes, while the NCAA’s first three shooters wait until everyone else on the bench has shot. USA Hockey leaves the format to affiliates and local governing bodies, and its casebook says shootouts usually run three or five players a side, then sudden death.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 84.4 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rule 86.4 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 91 and Appendix B · USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 638 and its casebook

Fighting draws at least a five-minute major under USA Hockey, NHL, PWHL and NCAA rules, and what comes with it differs.

• USA Hockey: a major plus an automatic game misconduct for every fighter, and an extra minor for the player who started it (Rule 615).
• NCAA: a disqualification, which ends the fighter’s game and sits them out the next one (Rules 23 and 48).
• NHL: a major. The aggressor also gets a game misconduct, and the instigator an extra minor and a 10-minute misconduct (Rule 46).
• PWHL: says fighting “is not part of” its game, gives a major, and lets the referee eject willing combatants (Rule 46).

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 615 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rules 23 and 48 · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 46 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rule 46

Not in non-check adult leagues or in women’s hockey under USA Hockey rules, which ban body checking at 12U and below, in all girls’ and women’s play and in non-check adult classifications.

No-check isn’t no-contact: USA Hockey still allows players battling for the puck, holding their position and angling an opponent off it, and penalizes deliberate contact with no play on the puck. A local governing body can ban checking at any level, and when a checking team plays a non-checking one, checking is off.

The NCAA bans body checking anywhere on the ice in women’s games. The PWHL allows a limited form: angling and same-direction contact to separate a player from the puck, while opposite-direction hits, leaving your lane to hit and extending an arm, shoulder or hip are illegal.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 604 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 94 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rule 52

You can pass the puck with your hand only inside your own defending zone under USA Hockey, NHL and PWHL rules; elsewhere, a hand pass to a teammate stops play for a faceoff (in the NHL and the PWHL, once the passing team gains possession). The NCAA allows no hand pass in any zone.

Knocking the puck down with an open hand is fine, but under USA Hockey rules closing your hand on it stops play, and picking it up off the ice is a minor. USA Hockey also never allows a goal off an attacker’s hand, even one that deflects in off another player.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 618 · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 79 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rule 81 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 84

No: playing the puck with your stick above shoulder height is against the rules in USA Hockey, the NHL, the PWHL and the NCAA.

USA Hockey stops play right away, unless the puck goes to an opponent who takes possession. Goals are judged differently: USA Hockey and the NCAA disallow an attacker’s goal off a stick above the shoulder, while the NHL and the PWHL disallow one off a stick above the crossbar. A defender who bats the puck into their own net still gives up the goal under USA Hockey rules.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 621 · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 80 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rule 82 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 84

The trapezoid is the NHL’s restricted area behind each goal: a goalkeeper who plays the puck behind the goal line outside it takes a two-minute minor for delay of game.

It’s marked with red lines that widen toward the end boards. The PWHL enforces no trapezoid, and the USA Hockey and NCAA rulebooks don’t have one.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rules 1.8 and 27.8 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rule 1.8

A coach can challenge a call in the NHL and the NCAA, but not in the PWHL or under USA Hockey rules.

• NHL: a coach can challenge offside or a missed stoppage before a goal, goaltender interference, or a puck-over-glass minor. A failed challenge costs a two-minute minor, and a second one four minutes (Rule 38).
• NCAA: some plays can be reviewed only on a coach’s challenge, including offside before a goal, goaltender interference and a puck directed in by a hand or a kick (Rule 93).
• PWHL: every goal is reviewed, but a team can’t ask for a review (Rules 37 and 38).
• USA Hockey: no video review. The referee’s decision is final and can’t change once play resumes (Rule 502).

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 38 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 93 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rules 37 and 38 · USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 502

A minor penalty is two minutes, a major five and a misconduct ten in USA Hockey adult games and in the NHL, the PWHL and the NCAA, and a game misconduct sends a player off for the rest of the game.

A double minor is four minutes in the NHL, the PWHL and the NCAA. USA Hockey youth games can run shorter penalties to fit shorter periods: minors scale down to 1:00, and affiliates can cut majors to 3:00 and misconducts to 6:00, never for adults.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rules 402 to 405 · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rules 16 to 23 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rules 16 to 23 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rules 16 to 23

In the NHL and the PWHL, yes: a player who sends the puck straight out of play from their own defending zone, with no deflection, gets a two-minute minor for delay of game.

USA Hockey penalizes it only when it’s deliberate, and an accidental one is just a faceoff. The NCAA keeps the offending team from changing players before the next faceoff, and its list of delay-of-game penalties includes shooting the puck over the glass from the defending zone.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 63 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rule 65 · USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rules 610 and 631 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 67

No. None of the USA Hockey, NHL, PWHL or NCAA rulebooks stops play for a pass across the center red line; offside is judged only at the attacking blue line.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 630 · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 83 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rule 85 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rules 86 and 87

Up to 20 players can dress for a USA Hockey game, no more than 18 of them skaters (22 players and 20 skaters in a few top youth tiers), and an NHL team dresses 18 skaters and two goalkeepers. The PWHL allows 19 skaters and two goalkeepers, and the NCAA 19 skaters and up to three goalkeepers.

For a beer league night, the number that matters is the floor: under USA Hockey rules a team needs six players to start, and the game is a forfeit if a team drops below four.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 201 · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 5 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rule 5 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 5

Not under USA Hockey rules: adults must wear a helmet with the chin strap fastened, while every player below the adult classification, goalkeepers included, must wear a HECC-certified facemask.

USA Hockey still strongly recommends a certified helmet, a full facemask and a mouthpiece for every player at every age. College and pro rules go further: the NCAA requires a certified face mask on every player, the PWHL a full visor or cage, and the NHL a visor for anyone with fewer than 25 NHL games.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 304 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 9 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rule 9 · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 9.7

An NHL win is worth two points and an overtime or shootout loss one, while the PWHL pays three for a regulation win, two for an overtime or shootout win and one for an overtime or shootout loss.

The USA Hockey and NCAA playing rules set no points at all, so whoever runs the league decides. The whole picture, ties included, is in our standings guide.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rules 78.1 and 84.1 · PWHL Official Rulebook 2025-26, Rules 80.1 and 86.1 · USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 638 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 91

An NHL rink is 200 feet long and 85 feet wide with corners rounded on a 28-foot radius, and the NCAA aims for the same 200 by 85 with 20-foot corners. USA Hockey recommends 185 to 200 feet long and 85 to 100 feet wide, and at least 185 by 85 for regional playoffs and national championships.

International ice runs bigger: for its top competitions, the IIHF recommends 60 meters long and 25 to 30 meters wide, about 197 feet by 82 to 98 feet.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 1.2 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 1.2 · USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 102 · IIHF Ice Rink Guide (2016)

The red goal lines near each end are the line the puck must cross for a goal; the two blue lines split the ice into the defending, neutral and attacking zones and decide offside; and the red center line splits the rink in half and decides icing.

Under USA Hockey and NHL specs, the blue lines are 12 inches wide and sit 64 feet from the goal lines, the center line is 12 inches wide, and the goal lines are 2 inches wide and 11 feet from the end boards. The NCAA allows goal lines 10 to 15 feet from the ends (11 preferred) and blue lines at least 60 feet out (64 preferred).

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 103 · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rules 1.5 and 1.6 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 1.4

The hash marks are the short red lines on the outside of the four end-zone faceoff circles, and they set where everyone but the two centers lines up for a faceoff: the other players stay behind them, outside the circle.

Under USA Hockey rules they’re 2 feet long and 4 feet apart, and players stand behind them or about a stick length from their opponent. In the NHL and the NCAA they sit 5 feet 7 inches apart, and crossing into the space between them before the puck drops is a faceoff violation. USA Hockey rinks also mark L-shaped player restraint lines inside the circle, around the dot.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rules 104 and 613 · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rules 1.9 and 76 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rules 1.9 and 81

A hockey rink has nine faceoff dots: one at center ice, four in the neutral zone and two in each end zone. The center dot is blue and the other eight are red, and the center circle and the four end-zone circles are 30 feet across.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 104 · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rules 1.9 and 76.2 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rules 1.7 to 1.9

The goal crease is the marked area in front of each net: a semicircle with a 6-foot radius from the goal line, with two short lines running out from the goal line to meet it, outlined in red and filled light blue under USA Hockey and NHL rules.

USA Hockey puts those side lines 4 feet either side of center; the NHL and the NCAA put them 1 foot outside each post, 4 feet 6 inches long. If a rink is marked differently, USA Hockey officials still rule by the standard USA Hockey crease.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 103 and its casebook · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 1.7 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 1.5

A hockey goal opening is 6 feet wide and 4 feet high, measured inside the posts, under USA Hockey, NHL and NCAA rules. USA Hockey and the NHL paint the posts and crossbar red, and the net is white.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 105 · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 2.1 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 2.1

A regulation puck is vulcanized rubber, 1 inch thick and 3 inches across, and weighs 5.5 to 6 ounces under USA Hockey, NHL and NCAA rules. USA Hockey requires a lighter blue puck, 4 to 4.5 ounces, at 8U and below, and strongly recommends it at 10U.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 306 · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 13.1 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 13.1

NHL and NCAA boards stand 40 to 48 inches above the ice, ideally 42, and the NHL adds safety glass 8 feet above the boards at each end and at least 6 feet along the sides.

USA Hockey sets no board height. It requires boards that are white on the ice side with a contrasting kick plate and doors that swing away from the ice, recommends clear shielding around the whole rink except in front of the player benches, and strongly recommends netting above it to protect spectators.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 1.3 · NCAA Ice Hockey Rules 2024-26, Rule 1.3 · USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 102

Hockey ice is usually about 1 to 1.5 inches thick, and the IIHF recommends 2.5 to 3 centimeters, roughly an inch. NHL ice crews describe building theirs to about 1.5 to 2 inches.

Thicker isn’t better: thick ice makes the refrigeration plant work harder and is harder to maintain, so the IIHF says to check thickness and evenness weekly. A common way is a cordless drill and a tape measure. In Bifrost Sports, the Rink Logbook has a ready-made ice depth log whose cadence shows when the next check is due.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: City of Steamboat Springs, Howelsen Ice Arena FAQ · IIHF Ice Rink Guide (2016) · NHL.com, Predators reinstall the ice (2024) · NHL.com, Bell Centre ice set for 2023-24

Hockey ice runs about -5 °C, or 23 °F, at the surface for a game in the IIHF’s rink design values, with a slightly warmer -3 °C for practice; an NHL ice crew aims for about 22 °F on game day.

Warmer ice saves energy: the IIHF puts the saving from raising the ice temperature 1 °C at 40 to 60 MWh of electricity a year for a year-round rink.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: IIHF Ice Rink Guide (2016) · NHL.com, Predators reinstall the ice (2024)

Most rinks freeze the ice from below: a refrigeration plant chills a coolant, usually a brine or a glycol, that is pumped through pipes in the floor under the ice.

That two-loop setup is called an indirect system: the plant’s refrigerant, such as ammonia, stays in its own loop, and only the coolant runs under the ice. Bifrost Sports’ Rink Logbook includes a ready-made compressor room log for the plant’s readings.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: IIHF Ice Rink Guide (2016) · US EPA, Substitutes in Ice Skating Rinks

An older rink running R-22 (HCFC-22) can keep using it: US production and import of HCFC-22 ended on January 1, 2020, but the EPA says continued use of existing equipment isn’t banned and R-22 can still be used to service it.

With no new production, the EPA’s fact sheet for rinks tells them to plan for the future. Its list of acceptable refrigerants for rinks includes ammonia and, for new rinks, carbon dioxide (R-744).

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: US EPA, Ice Rinks and the Phaseout of HCFC-22 · US EPA, Technicians and Contractors: Frequent Questions · US EPA, Substitutes in Ice Skating Rinks

The rules call for a white surface (the NHL requires it, USA Hockey recommends it), so crews freeze a thin first layer of ice and paint it white, until none of the concrete shows through.

The lines, circles and logos go in between thin layers of ice: paint the white, add ice, paint the lines and circles by hand, add ice, lay the logos, then keep flooding to full thickness.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 1.3 · USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 101 · NHL.com, Bell Centre ice set for 2023-24 · NHL.com, Predators reinstall the ice (2024)

An ice resurfacer shaves a thin layer off the top of the ice with a long blade, augers the shavings into a snow tank, and lays down a thin coat of warm water that freezes into a smooth new surface.

The IIHF puts the flood water at 30 to 60 °C, and resurfacing is one of the biggest loads on the refrigeration plant. NHL rules have the ice flooded between periods, and USA Hockey’s standard intermission leaves time for a resurface.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: City of Steamboat Springs, Howelsen Ice Arena FAQ · IIHF Ice Rink Guide (2016) · NHL Official Rules 2025-26, Rule 1.1 · USA Hockey Playing Rules 2025-29, Rule 636

They can: the EPA names fuel-fired resurfacer exhaust as a source of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and particles in arena air, and tells arenas to ventilate continuously while the rink is occupied and to monitor air quality.

Minnesota requires arenas to measure CO and NO2 at least twice a week after using a fuel-powered resurfacer, and Wisconsin’s health department suggests considering an electric machine when it’s time to replace one. Bifrost Sports’ Rink Logbook has a ready-made air quality log for those readings.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Sources: US EPA, Indoor Air Quality and Ice Arenas · Minnesota Department of Health, Ice Arena Rules (Chapter 4620) · Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Recommendations for Enclosed Ice Arena Management (2025)

Humid air condenses on the cold ice, so rinks dehumidify to prevent fog over the ice, soft ice, a dripping ceiling and moisture damage to the building.

The IIHF’s design values cap relative humidity at 70% for a hockey game with the rink air around 6 °C, and it treats fog or a dripping ceiling as a sign of moisture damage to take seriously.

Reviewed October 10, 2026 · Source: IIHF Ice Rink Guide (2016)