The Definitive Online Sports Stylebook

The Ben Watanabe Sports Stylebook

hockey terms

  • women’s sports

    All competition levels at or above the college level are women’s sports, regardless of whether some competitors are younger than 18 years old: women’s basketball, women’s tennis, women’s swimming, women’s track and field It is not necessary to identify the gender if the sport is generally known to be played by only female athletes: field

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  • men’s sports

    All competition levels at or above the college level are men’s sports, regardless of whether some competitors are younger than 18 years old: men’s basketball, men’s tennis, men’s swimming, men’s track and field It is not necessary to identify the gender if the sport is generally known to be played by only male athletes: baseball,

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  • boys’ sports

    All competition levels at or below the high school level are boys’ sports, regardless of whether some competitors are 18 years old: boys’ basketball, boys’ tennis, boys’ swimming, boys’ track and field It is not necessary to identify the gender if the sport is generally known to be played by only male athletes: baseball, football

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  • girls’ sports

    All competition levels at or below the high school level are girls’ sports, regardless of whether some competitors are 18 years old: girls’ basketball, girls’ tennis, girls’ swimming, girls’ track and field It is not necessary to identify the gender if the sport is generally known to be played by only female athletes: field hockey,

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  • TD Garden

    The home arena for the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics located in Boston. No “the” when using the full name. On subsequent reference, the Garden is acceptable.

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  • Madison Square Garden

    The home arena for the New York Knicks and New York Rangers located in Manhattan. No “the” when using the full name. On subsequent reference, the Garden is acceptable.

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  • NHL team nicknames

    In general news and sports coverage, the full city and team name should be used on first reference in copy. However, in all headlines and on first reference in copy where the NHL context is obvious, only the full team name needs to be used: Flyers drop Game 3 as power play falters again; The

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  • injured reserve (NHL)

    The device by which injured NHL players may be removed from the active roster to be replaced by a healthy player. In all headlines and on subsequent reference in copy, IR is acceptable. A normal IR stint lasts at least seven days. To be eligible for long-term injured reserve, a player must be out for

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  • faceoff

    One word when used as a noun or adjective: win the faceoff; the face-off circle Two words when used as a verb: the teams are set to face off at 7 p.m. ET

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