Okay, so I’ve been getting into hockey lately, and I was wondering, how long do these games usually take? I mean, I know they play for 60 minutes, but it always seems like it goes on for way longer than that. So, I did a little digging.
First, I grabbed my phone and searched “how long is a hockey game”. The search results said the games are made up of three 20-minute periods. Okay, that’s simple enough, right? 60 minutes total. But then I remembered all those breaks in between periods, and all the times the play stops for penalties, goals, and whatever else.
So, I dug a bit deeper. It turns out that those intermissions are usually around 15-17 minutes each. That adds up quickly! Two intermissions per game, that’s like 30-34 extra minutes right there. Then I started thinking about all the stoppages in play. Every time there’s a penalty, a goal, or just some random reason to stop the clock, it all adds time to the game.
Here’s what I found out:
- Game time: 60 minutes (three 20-minute periods)
- Intermissions: 15-17 minutes each (so about 30-34 minutes total)
- Stoppages: This is where it gets tricky. It can vary a lot depending on how the game is going.
I watched a few games and tried to time how long the stoppages were. Sometimes it was just a few seconds, other times it felt like forever! After the games, I checked the official time, it was longer than I expected. It’s tough to get an exact number, but it definitely adds a good chunk of time to the game.
Then there’s overtime. If the game is tied at the end of the third period, they go into overtime. And this isn’t just a few extra minutes, it’s sudden death! I even read somewhere that they play with fewer players during overtime to make it more exciting. The game ends as soon as someone scores. That can add even more time to the game, but it’s usually not too long.
So, putting it all together, I figured that a typical hockey game usually lasts somewhere around 2.5 hours. Some games might be a bit shorter, some might be longer, but that seems to be a pretty good average. I recorded 5 games as samples to verify my conclusion. It is close to what I thought.
Honestly, it’s way longer than I initially thought! But hey, that just means more hockey to watch, right? It’s all part of the fun, I guess. Next time I watch a game, I’ll have a better idea of how long it’ll actually take. And maybe I’ll bring some extra snacks, just in case!
