Loafing or Cherry Picking:

Loafing or cherry picking in ice hockey is when a player, the loafer (usually a forward), literally loafs — spends time in idleness — or casually skates behind the opposing team's unsuspecting defencemen while they are in their attacking zone.

The tactic is used sparingly as although it creates a breakaway opportunity for the defending team should they manage to take control of the puck and successfully pass it to the loafer, it also creates a five-on-four situation (during even strength play) for the attacking team. Also, a good defenceman usually keeps an eye open for the development of these potential situations where he would immediately backcheck once a loafer is spotted.

Occassionally, members of the Wolves have been accused of "loafing" for non-strategic reasons (ie. old age, over weight, dumb) but anyone who has seen the Wolves in action knows otherwise.

GORDIE HOWE HAT TRICK

In ice hockey, a Gordie Howe hat trick is a variation on the hat trick, wherein a player accomplishes the following in a single game: scores a goal, gets an assist, and participates in a fight. It is named after legendary hockey player Gordie Howe, who was known for both his scoring ability and his truculence. Despite the feat being named after him, Gordie Howe only ever recorded one "Gordie Howe hat trick" during his career on December 22, 1955 in a game between the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins.

The Gordie Howe hat trick is not a widely recognized formal statistic. In fact, the San Jose Sharks and the Ottawa Senators are the only teams in the NHL that record the franchise's Gordie Howe Hat Tricks.

PUCK BUNNY:

A puck bunny is a female ice hockey fan, often one whose interest in the sport is primarily motivated by sexual attraction to the players rather than enjoyment of the game itself.

The term is somewhat analogous to the term groupie as it relates to rock and roll musicians. It is often considered derogatory because although a puck bunny may appear regularly at ice hockey matches, possess knowledge of the rules and also cheer ferociously for her favorite teams, her actual motives are of a lustful nature and make her less of a "real" ice hockey fan.

Some female fans object to the term, as they are often viewed and described as puck bunnies simply by their presence at a game, regardless of their true intentions or motivations. Other female fans embrace the use of the term as a way of making a distinction between a puck bunny and a 'true' female fan of the sport.

Some sociology researchers dispute the existence of puck bunnies and suggest that female fans at games are just as knowledgeable as the male fans, and that the physical attractiveness of players does not play a significant role in attracting females to the sport.

Fans of any sport may be interested in their chosen sport at least partially because of sexual attraction to the sport's participants, regardless of the fan's gender. Hockey is one of the few sports that has such a widely-known and colorful term for this type of fan.

They are also referred to, at times, as simply 'pucks' or in the case of the girls who actually engage in sexual activities with players, 'pucksluts', or the more derogatory, usually only heard in the dressing room 'puckf***s'.

In recent years the puck bunnies attendant to the Melnick Division have not been multiplying as bunnies are expected to do. In fact, their numbers have been dwindling. This phenomenon may be the result of the increased age and or girth of the average player in the Melnick Division .

STAND-UP STYLE;

In ice hockey, the stand-up style, as the name suggests, refers to a style of goaltending in which the goaltender makes the majority of the saves standing up, not falling to his or her knees. Its strength is in protection of the upper part of the net, as the goaltender is free to make saves with the upper body and arms. This style is not as common as it used to be, with more and more goalies switching to the butterfly style.

The stand-up style is in contrast to butterfly style, where goaltenders protect the net against incoming shots by dropping to their knees and shifting their legs out. This style was best popularized in the NHL by Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy.

A third style evolved from the play of Czech netminder Dominik Hašek, termed the scramble style, where a variety of non-traditional movements were used to make saves. This included falling down supine in the crease, which led to the moniker "scramble style". Hasek once admitted that he would sometimes simply throw his head at an incoming puck.

A fourth style evolved from the play of several players in the Melnick Division, termed the stay down style where a player drops to his knees or even lays down and stays down apparently due the inability or lack of energy required to get back up.

DEKE:

A deke, sometimes known as a dangle, is an ice hockey technique which a player uses to get past an opponent or "fake out" a goalie. The term is a Canadianism formed by abbreviating decoy.

The deke may originally have referred to quickly pushing the puck forward or laterally with the forehand and catching it on the backhand (or vice-versa), but now is used as a name for any of a wide number of feints, fakes or skillful maneuveres to beat defenders or goaltenders.  The deke can be used to move the puck out of reach of an opposing player, move the puck past the opposing player, or quickly change direction of the puck so the opposing player is caught out of position. Dekes are usually used in combination with either a change of direction or speed, or both; the deke may refer to the entire sequence of actions as well as the maneuver(s) made with the stick.

There are many advanced dekes that players use, and all are customized by the player to suit the situation and his playing style. One such deke is the toe drag, performed by pushing the puck forward with the forehand before quickly pulling it back with the toe of the blade.  A variation of the toe drag is the backhand toe drag. Unlike the backhand shot, this does not refer to going in the opposite direction; rather, the same move is performed but with the wrists turned so the toe of the blade is down and the heel is up, with the puck being dragged with the backhand side of the toe. The angle of the stick adds further confusion for defenders, and the backhand toe drag can flow naturally from a faked shot where the heel of the stick passes over the puck. Since many Melnick Division players are already confused, this move can be very effective.

Many of these dekes and unnamed other techniques can be observed in slow motion in Melnick Division games. In Canada, the term deke has come to broadly mean deceiving someone.

NEUTRAL ZONE TRAP:

The neutral zone trap is a defensive ice hockey strategy used by a team to prevent an opposing team from proceeding through the neutral zone  by forcing turnovers in that area. The strategy is generally used to level the playing field for teams that are not as offensively talented as their opponent, though the trap can also be used by teams simply looking to protect a lead late in the game.

The most recognizable implementation of the trap sees the defence stationing four of their players in the neutral zone and one forechecker in the offensive zone. As the offensive team starts to move up the ice, the forechecker (generally the centre) will cut off passing lanes to other offensive players by staying in the middle of the ice, forcing the puck carrier to either sideboard. The defensive wingers—typically placed on or near the redline—will be positioned by the boards to challenge the puck carrier, prevent passing, or even keep opponents from moving through. The two defencemen who are positioned on or near the blue lines are the last defence should the play move past the wingers and the centre.

The trap was made infamous by the New Jersey Devils' 1995 Stanley Cup victory, and has been widely criticized for reducing scoring and making the game less exciting for fans. It has, however, proven to be very effective, especially in the playoffs.  

Often times in the Melnick Division players appear to be "trapped" in the neutral zone but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are springing a neutral zone trap. They probably just don't know which way to go.