A hockey puck is 3 inches wide and 1 inch thick. It weighs from 5.5 to 6 ounces. The 2026 to 2027 NHL rulebook sets those numbers in Rule 13. Game pucks are black discs of vulcanized rubber. The home team keeps them frozen until they go into play.
The puck in numbers
- Width: 3 inches across, listed as 7.6 cm in the IIHF rulebook
- Thickness: 1 inch, listed as 2.5 cm by the IIHF
- Weight: 5.5 to 6 ounces, or 156 to 170 grams in IIHF terms
- Material: vulcanized rubber or another material the league approves
- Storage: frozen, at 14 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit in the NHL
- Hardest shot: 108.8 mph, by Zdeno Chara in 2012
- Pucks used: about 15 to 20 in a typical NHL game
What is a hockey puck made of?
The NHL rulebook lists “vulcanized rubber, or other approved material” as the puck’s material. The same rule says the league must approve every puck used in competition. The IIHF rulebook for international games uses the same material wording. Neither puck rule spells out the factory steps for making one.
The rubber in a puck is hardened, says a Seattle Kraken story on NHL.com. That hard rubber lets one puck take heavy wear in a game.
NHL game pucks hold more than rubber now. NHL.com said in 2023 that each puck carries infrared emitters. Cameras in the arena pick up those signals up to 60 times a second. The league turns that data into its NHL EDGE stats, such as shot speed.
Why are pucks frozen before games?
The rulebook requires it. Rule 13.2 says the home team supplies the pucks. They must stay “in a frozen condition” at the penalty bench. An off ice official controls that supply. The IIHF rulebook asks for the same frozen supply in the penalty box.
NHL pucks stay between 14 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit, according to NHL.com. They wait in a cooler at ice level. A cold puck has less friction on the ice, so it slides farther without sticking. It also bounces far less, which makes it easier for players to control. Frozen pucks “glide smoother and faster,” a 2018 NHL.com story said.
For Canadian readers, here is the 14 degree end of that range in Celsius.
- Start with 14 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Take away 32 to get minus 18.
- Multiply by 5 to get minus 90.
- Divide by 9 to get minus 10 degrees Celsius.
The same steps turn 20 degrees Fahrenheit into about minus 6.7 degrees Celsius.
The league has also tested a way to spot a warm puck. In the 2018 to 2019 season, the NHL tried pucks with a coating from PPG. The printing turned from purple to clear once a puck warmed above freezing. That color change told officials the puck needed replacing.
Cold also made tracking pucks hard to build. A developer told NHL.com in 2019 that freezing “kills all the electronics” inside a puck.
How fast can a hockey puck travel?
The NHL record for the hardest shot is 108.8 mph. Zdeno Chara set it at the 2012 NHL All Star Skills Competition in Kanata, Ontario. He topped the old mark of 105.9 mph, set the year before. In June 2025, NHL.com still called 108.8 mph the fastest shot in NHL history.
The top tracked game shot of the 2022 to 2023 regular season came in lower. Radko Gudas hit 101.71 mph on a shot attempt, NHL.com reported. Victor Hedman won the 2022 hardest shot contest in Las Vegas at 103.2 mph.
In metric, the record works out to about 175 km/h.
- One mile is about 1.609 kilometers.
- 108.8 miles multiplied by 1.609 comes to about 175 kilometers.
- So the record shot flew at about 175 kilometers per hour.
Goalies get very little time to react to a shot that fast.
- A mile has 5,280 feet, and an hour has 3,600 seconds.
- So 1 mph is about 1.47 feet per second.
- At 108.8 mph, a puck moves about 160 feet each second.
- The NHL rulebook puts each blue line 64 feet out from the goal line.
- A 108.8 mph shot covers those 64 feet in about 0.4 seconds.
Practice, youth and blue pucks vs game pucks
Kids often play with a lighter puck. USA Hockey uses a 4 ounce blue puck for players 8 and under. Hockey Canada prefers the same blue puck in games for players under 7. USA Hockey says young kids lack the strength to move a black puck well. It adds that a lighter puck lets young goalies practice stopping higher shots.
This table compares the game puck with the youth and training pucks.
| Puck | Color | Weight | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game puck | Black | 5.5 to 6 oz | NHL games, and the standard puck in USA Hockey |
| Youth puck | Blue | 4 oz | USA Hockey players 8 and under, Hockey Canada games under 7 |
| Training puck | Orange | 10 oz | USA Hockey 14U and older, only with sound puck skills |
USA Hockey suggests half blue and half black pucks for 10U and 12U practice. The same article says younger players should never use an orange puck. It also notes that Finland keeps kids on blue pucks until age 11. USA Hockey and Hockey Canada give the weight of these pucks, not the size.
In grams, the lighter and heavier pucks work out like this.
- One ounce is about 28.35 grams.
- The 4 ounce blue puck is about 113 grams.
- The 10 ounce orange puck is about 284 grams.
How many pucks does an NHL game use?
A full NHL game usually uses 15 to 20 pucks. That count comes from a 2019 Seattle Kraken story on NHL.com. Officials swap in new pucks during breaks in play. Extra pucks come out when one flies over the glass into the crowd.
Another NHL.com story from January 2019 gave a bigger number. It said the league’s tracking plan called for 40 sensor pucks per game.
Quick answers
How heavy is a hockey puck in pounds?
A hockey puck weighs a little over a third of a pound. A pound has 16 ounces. So a 6 ounce puck weighs 0.375 pounds. A 5.5 ounce puck weighs about 0.34 pounds.
Why are hockey pucks black?
Pucks are black so players and officials can see them against white ice. NHL.com gives that reason in its 2019 Seattle Kraken puck story.
Are pucks the same size in international hockey?
Yes, once you change the units. The IIHF rulebook sets the puck at 2.5 cm thick and 7.6 cm across. It must weigh from 156 to 170 grams. One inch is 2.54 centimeters, so a 1 inch puck is about 2.5 cm thick. Three inches come to about 7.6 cm. Using 28.35 grams per ounce, the weight range is about 156 to 170 grams.
What happens if a second puck lands on the ice?
Play keeps going. NHL Rule 13.3 says play goes on with the legal puck. That lasts until the play ends with a change of possession.
Who makes NHL pucks?
The NHL’s own online shop sells official game pucks under the Inglasco name. The NHL rulebook itself names no maker.
