We went to an AHL game last night and l am curious about something the hockey players were doing. They would like automatically know when to switch out players. THe players on the Bench would get up and start going over the wall. How do the people on the ice know when they need to go back to the bench?
l know its a stupid question but l am really curious.

sometimes they go off on their own, but most of the time the coaches yell out for a line change. the player will then try to get possesion & then dump the puck down so they can go out. ''shifts'' usually last around 40 seconds so they know for the most part when they r going to be going on the bench & when they r going to go in. the coach just tells the players on the bench which line he wants going in next. a line consists of players that r grouped together prior to the game starting

The Player on the bench probably usually follows that guy in the line up so he knows about how long that guy stays out so he starts getting up, and then the player on the ice will get tired and come off. Or the guy on the bench sees the guy in his position coming off the ice and gets up to get ready to go on the ice. either one.