History of the Rink

All players are well aware of the surface they are playing on. They know the length of the ice and the amount of room they have to play in the neutral zone. Advancements in the game of hockey have led to frequent modifications to the markings on the playing surface. Please note that the below layouts reflect the expectations from the National Hockey League, but there have been teams throughout history, particularly the earlier years, who have had some discrepancies with their hockey markings.

Throughout the history of the NHL, there have been many variances from rink to rink such as Edmonton's center ice facing the players benches or the shorter rinks like the one in the Chicago Stadium. There were quite a few of these abnormalities, but for the sake of the overall history of the NHL, the following graphics will be based upon the typical 200 by 85 foot rink.

Vintage Rinks (1917-1949)

Modern Rinks (1950-Present)

Vintage Rinks

1917-1949

1917-1918 Season

The rink started out with only a face-of dot and a line between each of the goal posts to show where the nets should set. Those lines cannot be seen in the image as they are covered by the net itself.

1918-1919 through 1925-1926 Seasons

The playing surface was divided into three zones, with forward passing permitted in the middle "neutral zone." Kicking the puck was also permitted in the neutral zone.

Blue lines were added to the ice.

Neutral Zone: 40 feet.
Defensive Zones: 80 feet.
Goal line (not painted) to end boards: 10 feet.

1927-1928 Season: The Art Ross goal net was adopted as the official net of the NHL. The shape of the hockey goal net greatly reduces dangerous rebounds coming from the back of the net.

The opening is 6 feet by 4 feet. The base depth is 44 inches, while the deepest parts of the top shelf extend to 24 inches. Since the back curves in a 'B' shape, the hockey net itself is specialized in design.

1926-1927 through 1928-1929 Seasons

The blue lines were moved 10 feet closer to each of the end boards to expand the neutral zone.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line (not painted) to end boards: 10 feet.

1929-1930 through 1930-1931 Seasons

Additional face-off dots are added to the ice surface, 10 feet in front of each goal. Every time a goaltender failed to clear the puck after making a save, a face-off would be held at the dot in front of his net. No player other than the goalie was permitted to stand between the face-off spot and the net.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line (not painted) to end boards: 10 feet.

1931-1932 through 1932-1933 Seasons

Three additional face-off dots are added in the neutral zone along each blue line, inside the neutral zone.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line (not painted) to end boards: 10 feet.

1933-1934 Season

L-Shaped boundaries were placed in front of each net defining a goaltenders safe area. The boundary was 8 feet by 5 feet.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line (not painted) to end boards: 10 feet.

1934-1935 through 1936-1937 Seasons

Two 20 foot diameter "penalty shot" circles were added, one in front of each goal, centered at 38 feet from the goal lines. If a player was tripped preventing him from shooting while on what we now call a "breakaway", a player takes a penalty shot which must be taken from inside this circle. A full goal crease was also painted on the ice at this time.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line (not painted) to end boards: 10 feet.

1937-1938 Season

Two face-off dots are added in each defensive zone. The dots in front of each of the goals are removed. The goal line was also introduced as new rules governing icing the puck were introduced.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 10 feet.

1938-1939 Season

The width of each of the blue lines were increased to 12 inches wide.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 10 feet.

1939-1940 through 1940-1941 Seasons

The goal crease is modified to 7 feet by 3 feet.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 10 feet.

1941-1942 through 1942-1943 Seasons

Twenty-foot face-off circles are added at center ice and in each corner. The penalty shot circles are replaced with short penalty shot lines 28 feet in front of the goal. Minor penalty shots are taken from the line while major penalty shots allow the player to skate in on the goaltender.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 10 feet.

1943-1944 through 1944-1945 Seasons

The center red line was introduced to speed up the game and reduce offside calls. The red line is 12 inches in width.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 10 feet.

1945-1946 through 1946-1947 Seasons

The penalty shot line is removed and all penalty shots are now taken from center ice.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 10 feet.

1947-1948 through 1948-1949 Seasons

The area inside each goal net is painted white to make it easier for referees and goal judges to determine if a goal has been scored. (Not visible in the image because of the net.)

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 10 feet.

Modern Rinks

1950-Present

1949-1950 through 1950-1951 Seasons

The entire surface is painted white following the popularity of the white goal area among fans and officials.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 10 feet.

1951-1952 through 1960-1961 Seasons

The size of the goal crease is increased to 8 feet by 4 feet. Faceoff-circles were expanded to 30 feet in diameter and hash marks were added to the defensive zone circles to keep players onside when lining up for a face-off. The referee's crease was also added. Its position would vary from rink to rink.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 10 feet.

1961-1962 through 1963-1964 Seasons

"Crosshairs" were added to face-off dots in defensive zones.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 10 feet.

1964-1965 through 1972-1973 Seasons

Though some teams had already started using checkered red lines, they are now listed as required in the NHL rule book. Its purpose was to help TV viewers distinguish the red line from the blue lines. This would become less important once color TV became widely available.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 10 feet.

1978-1979 Season: The NHL began allowing teams to sell advertising space on their rink boards. However, the first board ad would not appear until 1980 (Minnesota North Stars). Ads tend to run between around 12 feet in length, and 30-33 inches in height.

1973-1974 through 1981-1982 Seasons

Cross-hairs updated to T shaped markings.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 10 feet.

1982-1983 through 1983-1984 Seasons

Double hash marks and modified defensive zone face-off dots replace previous markings.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 10 feet.

Modified face-off dots are still 1 foot in diameter, but no longer completely filled in. These would replace the solid neutral zone dots in the 2002-2003 season.

1984-1985 Season
After decades of using the Art Ross frame, the goal frame is reinvented to the general style that is still in use today. The iron pegs that held the goal in place are replaced with magnetic pegs.

1984-1985 through 1985-1986 Seasons

Rink visual of the new goal frames. No ice markings were changed since the 1983-1984 season.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 10 feet.

1986-1987 through 1989-1990 Seasons

A round goal crease was added, surrounding the traditional rectangular crease.

Neutral Zone: 60 feet.
Defensive Zones: 70 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 10 feet.

Throughout the 1990s: Advertisements started to appear on the ice, soon resulting in four advertising locations inside the neutral zone for nearly every team. These ad spots allow for a maximum of 81 square feet in size.

1990-1991 Season

In an effort to increase offense by giving players more room to operate behind the net, the goal lines, blue lines and defensive zone face-off circles were all moved out one foot further rom the end boards.

Neutral Zone: 58 feet.
Defensive Zones: 71 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 11 feet.

1991-1992 through 1994-1995 Seasons

The rectangular goal crease is eliminated, L-shaped markings with both lines five inches long are placed just inside the edge of the semi-circle crease. The entire goal crease and area occupied by the net are tinted blue.

For the 1993-1994 season, the magnetic pegs were replaced with plastic ones.

Neutral Zone: 58 feet.
Defensive Zones: 71 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 11 feet.

1995-1996 Season

The goal area inside of the net returns to its previous white color.

Neutral Zone: 58 feet.
Defensive Zones: 71 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 11 feet.

1996-1997 through 1997-1998 Seasons

L-Shaped positioning marks are added to the two face-off spots in each defensive end.

Neutral Zone: 58 feet.
Defensive Zones: 71 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 11 feet.

1998-1999 through 2001-2002 Seasons

The goal lines, blue lines, faceoff circles are all moved two feet closer to the neutral zone, creating more room for player movement behind the net. To cut down on in-the-crease violations, the size of the crease was altered to only extend one foot beyond each goal post.

Neutral Zone: 54 feet.
Defensive Zones: 73 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 13 feet.

2002-2003 through 2003-2004 Seasons

The neutral zone face-off dots now match the style of the defensive zone dots.

Neutral Zone: 54 feet.
Defensive Zones: 73 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 13 feet.

2005-2006 through 2013-2014 Seasons

After the 2004/2005 Lockout, several changes were made to the rink. The neutral zone was shortened to again to allow for more room in each defensive zone. The faceoff circles and goal lines were moved 2 feet closer to the end zones. Trapezoids were added behind the goal lines to limit the area in which goaltenders could touch the puck behind the goals.

Neutral Zone: 50 feet.
Defensive Zones: 75 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 11 feet.

2013-2014 Season: Small adjustments were made to the goal frame. (Old configuration illustrated in green)

The bottom depth of the goal frame was changed from 44 inches to 40 inches.
The side radius is reduced from 20 inches to 18 inches.
The total width of the bottom of the frame changed from 96 inches to 88 inches.

2014-2015 Season to Present

The hash marks outside the end zone circles were moved from 3 feet to 5 feet 7 inches separation. The trapezoid grew by two feet from each goal post to create a little extra room for the goaltender to play or recover the puck around the net.

Neutral Zone: 50 feet.
Defensive Zones: 75 feet.
Goal line to end boards: 11 feet.

2018-2019 Season: The NHL allowed teams to sell four new in-ice advertisements. These were located in each of the four corners of the rink, between the goal line and the end boards. These ad spots allow for a maximum of 44 square feet in size.

Unlike the four center ice placements, the league will take over control of the corner inventory come playoff time in order to sell a package that will span across every game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs through the Stanley Cup Final.

Now that you know how the rinks have changed over the years, head on over to our NHL center ice archive to see how they looked with your favorite teams.

NHL Center Ice Archive