how many quarters in hockey

In hockey, there are no quarters in the usual sense: standard ice hockey is played in three 20-minute periods, not four quarters.

Quick Scoop

For most people asking “how many quarters in hockey,” they’re thinking of ice hockey (like the NHL):

• Ice hockey uses 3 periods of 20 minutes each, with intermissions in between.

• So the answer is: 0 quarters in ice hockey, but 3 periods instead.

Field hockey is different:

• Modern field hockey is played in 4 quarters of 15 minutes each at top levels.

• This change to four quarters was widely adopted after 2014 to modernize the game format.

Simple way to remember

• Ice hockey (NHL, international on ice): think 3 periods, 20 minutes each.

• Field hockey (on turf/grass): think 4 quarters, 15 minutes each.

If someone says “hockey has quarters,” they almost certainly mean field hockey , not ice hockey.

TL;DR:

• Ice hockey: 3 periods, no quarters.

• Field hockey: 4 quarters of 15 minutes.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.