from Pat Pickens of the New York Times,

Like most sports, the N.H.L. has its own language — but it is clear to those who play the game, whether they are from Moose Jaw or Minneapolis, Moscow or Malmo.

Yet because so much of the sport is rooted in Canada, hockey talk tends to come off a little differently to those with an untrained ear.

It’s a game sometimes played in “barns” by “boys” wearing “sweaters.” An on-target shot might be “marked” or “labeled.” Members of a team’s top-two forward lines are skilled players who “pot” goals. Those with a ferocious shot are often called snipers. Others may set up goals by “dangling” — or skillfully maneuvering — around defensemen.

Forwards on third or fourth lines were once called enforcers or goons. Today, those players are more likely to be called checkers, muckers or grinders. They play with “jam.”

Jam has long been part of the hockey lexicon, but it reached the mainstream because Peter Laviolette used the term on HBO’s “24/7” leading up to the 2012 Winter Classic.

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