An
open or
closed disc, a
hockey puck is used in a variety of sports and pastimes. Here are designs for
ice hockey
and several floor hockey variations. They're all made to perform the same purpose as a ball in a
game of
ball.
Ice hockey
is played with a closed disc composed of
vulcanized rubber. A
'Flat Ball'
has been used to describe the
closed disc. Although open disc designs have only been used on floors, hockey pucks are built for usage on ice, dry surfaces, or underwater.
Ringette rings are toruses, and hockey pucks in the shape of open discs should not be mistaken with them.
Ringette rings are devices made to be used in the ringette sport. There are two types of
ringette rings: one for use on ice and the other for use on dry surfaces, as in a
gym ringette. A rubber pneumatic torus is used in the ice game of
ringette.
The sport and game pucks, which are closed discs, are the focus of this article.
The word puck has an unknown origin. According to the Oxford English
Dictionary, the name is derived from the Scottish Gaelic puc or the
Irish poc, which means 'to poke, hit, or deliver a blow' and is used in the sport of hurling for striking or pushing the ball.
A
vulcanized rubber hard disc is required for
ice hockey. A conventional
ice hockey
puck is
black,
1 inch thick (25 mm), 3 inches in diameter (76 mm), and weighs between 5.5 and 6 ounces (156 and 170 g); other pucks are heavier or lighter.
Silkscreened team or league logos are commonly found on one or both faces of pucks. To decrease bouncing during play, pucks are frozen before the game.