Hockey
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
8correct to beat the crowd
147 free Hockey trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
50 free hockey trivia questions with answers. From Wayne Gretzky's untouchable records to the Miracle on Ice, hockey has delivered some of the most thrilling moments in sports history. This quiz starts with easy hockey trivia for kids and new fans: how many periods in a game, what a hat trick is, what the Zamboni does, which trophy the champion lifts. Then it skates into the harder stuff: the Original Six, the biggest trade in NHL history, record-holding goalies and the men behind the game's most famous photographs. There are 147 questions, so it works for a youth team bus ride, a family quiz, a classroom or a bar. Every answer has been checked against a real source and each question shows where it came from.
30 of 147 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which NHL player holds the all-time record for most career goals?
Alex Ovechkin
Alex Ovechkin scored his 895th goal on April 6, 2025, passing Wayne Gretzky's 894 — in his 1,487th game, the same number Gretzky played in total.
Q 02What is the name of the trophy awarded to the NHL champion each season?
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup, bought by Lord Stanley of Preston in 1892 and first awarded in 1893, goes to the NHL playoff champion and is North America's oldest professional sports trophy.
Q 03How many players from each team are typically on the ice during regular play (excluding goalies)?
5
Three of them are forwards and two defencemen; the sixth is the goaltender.
Q 04Which country won the men's ice hockey gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics?
United States
Beating the Soviets 4-3 did not clinch it: the medal was only settled two days later against Finland.
Q 05What is a "hat trick" in hockey?
Three goals in one game
A hat trick is three goals by one player in a single game; three in a row with nobody else scoring between them is a natural hat trick.
Q 06Which NHL club has won the league championship the most times?
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens have won 24 Stanley Cups, the most of any club; the last came in 1993 against the Los Angeles Kings.
Q 07Which penalty gets a player ejected for the rest of the night?
Game misconduct
A game misconduct ejects the player for the rest of the game; the NHL records it as ten penalty minutes, the IIHF as twenty.
Q 08What nickname is given to the area directly in front of the goal where most goals are scored?
The slot
The slot is the area directly in front of the goaltender between the faceoff circles. It is prime scoring territory because shooters have the best angle on the net from this position.
Q 09Which player was nicknamed "Le Magnifique"?
Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux, 'Le Magnifique', won the Stanley Cup as Penguins captain in 1991 and 1992 and the Hart Trophy three times, in 1988, 1993 and 1996.
Q 10How many periods are in a standard hockey game?
3
The clock runs only while the puck is in play, so an hour of hockey takes about two hours and twenty minutes.
Q 11Which Bobby Orr moment is captured in one of hockey's most famous photographs?
His overtime goal to win the 1970 final
He was already airborne because Noel Picard had tripped him a split second after the puck went in.
Q 12What is "icing" in hockey?
Shooting the puck down the ice untouched
A shorthanded team is allowed to do it, which is why penalty killers fire the puck the length of the rink.
Q 13Which player was sent to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988 in a deal known simply as 'The Trade'?
Wayne Gretzky
Q 21What is the standard dimensions of an NHL hockey rink in feet?
200 × 85
An NHL rink is 200 by 85 feet with corners cut to a 28-foot radius; Olympic sheets are the same length but 15 feet wider.
Q 22Which NHL star's blond hair, skating speed and end-to-end rushes earned him the nickname 'the Golden Jet'?
Bobby Hull
Bobby Hull's slapshot was clocked at over 100 mph in an era when players wore no helmets.
Q 23What happens during a shootout in the NHL?
Each team takes three penalty shots
Each team takes three penalty shots, and if it is still level after three rounds each, sudden-death rounds follow one shot at a time.
Wayne Gretzky went from Edmonton to Los Angeles on August 9, 1988; an MP demanded Ottawa block the deal, and Oilers owner Peter Pocklington was burned in effigy.
Q 14What is the name of the trophy awarded to the NHL's most valuable player during the regular season?
Hart Memorial Trophy
The Hart Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the player judged most valuable to his team during the regular season. It is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.
Q 15In what year was the NHL founded?
1917
The NHL was founded in Montreal on November 26, 1917, when NHA owners suspended that league rather than keep dealing with Toronto owner Eddie Livingstone.
Q 16Which goaltender holds the NHL record for most career wins?
Martin Brodeur
Martin Brodeur retired in 2015 with a record 691 regular-season wins, and also holds the marks for games played (1,266) and shutouts (125).
Q 17What does the Zamboni machine do?
Resurfaces the ice between periods
Frank Zamboni built the first one in 1949 for his own rink in Paramount, California; the name is now a genericised trademark.
Q 18Which NHL team plays its home games at Madison Square Garden?
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers have played at Madison Square Garden since 1968. Known as "The World's Most Famous Arena," MSG is located in Midtown Manhattan.
Q 19What is a "power play" in hockey?
Playing with an extra skater during a penalty
Two penalties at once can leave a side two men short, giving the other team a five-on-three.
Q 20Who coached the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to the "Miracle on Ice" gold medal?
Herb Brooks
Herb Brooks coached the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that defeated the Soviet Union in the famous "Miracle on Ice" game. His demanding coaching style and innovative strategies were key to the underdog team's success.
Q 24Who scored the overtime 'Golden Goal' for Canada against the United States in the men's final at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics?
Sidney Crosby
Sidney Crosby scored 7:40 into overtime, off a pass from Jarome Iginla.
Q 25What is the blue line in hockey used for?
It divides the rink into three zones
The lines are also what offside is judged against: the puck must cross before the attackers do.
Q 26Which award goes to the NHL's best defenceman each season?
Norris Trophy
The Norris Trophy, first awarded in 1954, goes to the season's top defenceman; Doug Harvey won seven of the first nine.
Q 27Which country won six of the first seven Olympic men's ice hockey golds, from 1920 to 1952?
Canada
Canada won gold in 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1948 and 1952, losing only 1936 to Great Britain; it then waited 50 years for its next, in 2002.
Q 28What is the "Original Six" in NHL history?
The NHL's only teams from 1942 to 1967
They played nobody but each other for 25 seasons, until the league doubled in size in 1967.
Q 29What is "offsides" in hockey?
Entering the attacking zone before the puck
A linesman stops play, and the faceoff comes back out to the neutral zone.
Q 30What is the NHL record for points in a single season?
215
Wayne Gretzky set the record with 215 points in 1985-86 — 52 goals and 163 assists, the latter itself a single-season record.