Key takeaways
- Studies describe hockey shifts of roughly 30 to 80 seconds, separated by several minutes on the bench.
- A typical player totals about 15 to 25 minutes of ice time in a 60-minute game, depending on role.
- A 1976 study of 10 games counted 14 to 21 shifts per player, with continuous play of about 40 seconds per shift once stoppages were taken out.
- The reviews describe each shift as driving the heart rate towards its maximum and relying heavily on anaerobic energy, with fatigue building within shifts and late in games.
- Teams substitute whole lines at once, often 'on the fly' during play; under NHL rules, a team that ices the puck cannot change lines at the stoppage.
Watch a hockey bench for a few minutes and you will see players hop over the boards in groups, skate hard and come straight back. A shift in hockey is short, and sports scientists have measured just how short. This guide summarises three studies indexed in PubMed, then explains why shifts are so brief and how teams change lines.
Three studies of shift length, 1976 to 2024
| Study | What it found |
|---|---|
| Green and colleagues, Journal of Applied Physiology, 1976 (10 games) | 14 to 21 shifts per player; playing time of 20.7 to 28.0 minutes per game by position; an average of 85.4 seconds per shift, with an average of 2.3 play stoppages of 27.1 seconds, "producing a continuous playing time of 39.7 s" |
| Montgomery, Sports Medicine, 1988 (review) | A typical player plays 15 to 20 minutes of a 60-minute game; each shift lasts 30 to 80 seconds, with 4 to 5 minutes of recovery between shifts |
| Vigh-Larsen and Mohr, Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 2024 (review) | On-ice shifts of about 30 to 80 seconds with longer spells of passive recovery, adding up to about 15 to 25 minutes of ice time per player |
Across nearly half a century of research, the picture is consistent: shifts of roughly half a minute to just over a minute, separated by several minutes of rest.
From shift length to ice time per game
A little arithmetic shows how the numbers fit together. A player who takes 20 shifts averaging 45 seconds plays 20 × 45 = 900 seconds, or 15 minutes, the low end of the range in the reviews. Push it to 25 shifts of 50 seconds and the total is 1,250 seconds, about 21 minutes.
Role matters too. The 1976 study's range of 20.7 to 28.0 minutes varied with position, and the 2024 review notes that forwards show a more intense activity pattern than defensemen.
The physiology behind short shifts
The answer is physiology. The 2024 review describes hockey as repeated bursts of fast skating, rapid changes of speed and direction, and frequent physical contact. During each shift:
- The heart rate climbs towards its maximum. The 1988 review reported peak on-ice heart rates above 90% of maximum, averaging about 85%.
- Anaerobic energy carries the load. The 2024 review describes heavy reliance on the body's fast, short-lived energy systems, and pronounced breakdown of phosphocreatine during repeated intense actions.
- Nearly half the distance is covered at high-intensity skating speeds, according to the same review.
The 2024 review says multiple factors likely interact to impair exercise tolerance during each shift, including pronounced phosphocreatine breakdown, and the 1988 review associates lactic acidosis with the onset and persistence of muscle fatigue. The fuel cost is real even over a short game: the 2024 review reports pronounced falls in muscle glycogen despite the relatively brief playing time, including severe depletion in a substantial share of individual muscle fibres, and the 1988 review found blood lactate elevated above resting values, confirming the anaerobic nature of the game. The 2024 review adds that player tracking suggests the ability to skate at high intensity is compromised in the final stages of a game.
Line changes and changing on the fly
Wikipedia's ice hockey article explains the mechanics: substituting a whole unit at once is a line change, and doing it while play continues is changing on the fly. The same article notes that NHL teams usually divide players into four lines of three forwards and three pairs of defensemen; hockey line combinations explained covers how coaches build them.
Stoppages are the other chance to change, with one notable exception. Wikipedia's glossary records that the NHL adopted a rule under which a team that ices the puck cannot make a line change at the resulting stoppage, to discourage icing the puck to "get a whistle" and change lines, and that many, but not all, other leagues have followed; what icing is in hockey explains the rule itself.
Shift numbers beside the rest of the rules
The studies above describe how long players stay on; the rules decide when they may change. Hockey rules for beginners covers the basics behind the play itself.
In Hockey Career Pro League Game, one of our sports career games, every shift is graded from A to F against coach objectives, so each short spell on the ice counts; the game guide explains how, and hockey career games compared sets it beside our other hockey games.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
How long is a typical hockey shift?
How much ice time does a player get per game?
Why are hockey shifts so short?
What does changing on the fly mean?
Sources
- Green H, et al. Time-motion and physiological assessments of ice hockey performance. J Appl Physiol 1976;40(2):159-63 (PubMed abstract) (opens in a new tab)US National Library of Medicine — accessed
- Montgomery DL. Physiology of ice hockey. Sports Med 1988;5(2):99-126 (PubMed abstract) (opens in a new tab)US National Library of Medicine — accessed
- Vigh-Larsen JF, Mohr M. The physiology of ice hockey performance: An update. Scand J Med Sci Sports 2024;34(1):e14284 (PubMed abstract) (opens in a new tab)US National Library of Medicine — accessed
- Ice hockey (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed
- Glossary of ice hockey terms (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed
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