A fundamental rule I forgot to mention in the last article is how long games are. Each game is divided up into periods. The higher the level, the longer the period. In amateur, professional and international games, the periods are 20 minutes. When a kid first starts playing hockey, the periods are 15 minutes but the clock doesn't stop during the game unless a player gets injured. Teenagers play with 10 minute and then 12 minute periods but with the clock stopping on whistles. In the NHL, in the regular season, if there's a tie, overtime lasts for 5 minutes. If no one scores, the game ends in a tie. In the playoffs, overtime is 20 minutes long, and if no one scores they get a short break and have another overtime. And they keep that routine going till someone scores.
In the United States, the FOX network was complaining they couldn't get viewers. They tried to convince the NHL to change a basic, fundamental, not-real-hockey-unless-it's-played-with-this-rule rule. They wanted to make the game 4 periods of 15. The reason is cause in a 3 period game, there are only 2 intermissions. With 4 periods, there are three, so people will have more time to go to the bathroom or get a snack. Well, Canadians are fully annoyed, while Americans are split. The people who don't like hockey will watch it if the rule changes, and the people who like hockey are upset. FOX, don't touch the game. Now, back to my guide.
