There are six positions in hockey: three forwards—comprised of a centre and two wingers—two defencemen, plus one goaltender.

The centre is responsible for taking faceoffs and covering the middle of the ice at both ends of the rink. They typically skate greater distances than other positions as they play deep in both the offensive and defensive zones.

The centre is flanked on the right and left by wingers, who generally play along the boards on their respective sides of the ice. They are primarily relied upon as goal scorers.

Defencemen play behind the forwards and are tasked with stopping opposing forwards. In the defensive end, they clear space in front of the net, cover the space in the corners and move the puck out of the zone; in the offensive zone they are typically situated just inside the blueline.

The goaltender’s job is to prevent the puck from going in the net. They remain in their crease the entire game and wear different equipment than forwards or defencemen in order to better protect them from pucks.