How Long Is A Hockey Game

Hockey is a fast-paced sport that requires skill, dexterity, and agility. It’s packed with action and excitement, and it has a passionate fan base who love to take part in the game and watch the action unfold. But how long is a hockey game?

The length of a hockey game can vary, depending on the level of play and the league rules. In the National Hockey League (NHL), a regulation game consists of three periods of twenty minutes, with a seventeen-minute break between periods. Overtime periods are five minutes each, with a seventeen-minute rest period after the second overtime. If necessary, a Shootout will occur, with three players from each team participating in six rounds of “sudden death” shootout attempts. The team with the most goals scored at the end of the Shootout is declared the winner.

International hockey games, or those outside of the NHL, may range from two to four periods, usually of fifteen minutes in duration.

In general, a typical professional hockey game will take between two and two and a half hours. This includes the time needed for a warm-up, the length of the game itself, and the intermission between periods.

In addition to the regulation length of a typical professional hockey game, the time on the clock is not always running. For example, during penalty time, time stops. Other stoppages include injuries, when officials stop the game while they decide a penalty, and when players switch sides.

To sum it up, the length of a typical hockey game ranges from two to two and a half hours, not counting warm-up time or stoppages in play.