Shift Tracking and One-Click Line Changes on the Rink Board

Tracking shifts during a hockey game is one of those things that sounds simple until you try to do it in real time. Who's on the ice? How long has the first line been out? When did the goalie's shift start? The Forecheck Hockey rink board handles all of this — and the latest update makes line changes as easy as clicking a button.

The Shift Tracker

Open the Scorekeeping panel (Panels > Scorekeeping or Alt+2) and expand the Shift Tracker section. You'll see a two-column layout: Home on the left, Away on the right.

Players are organized by position:

• Forwards — Centers, Left Wings, Right Wings
• Defense — Left D, Right D
• Goalies — separate section at the bottom

Within each group, on-ice players sort to the top (highlighted green), then off-ice players sorted by jersey number.

Starting and Ending Shifts

Click ON next to any player to start their shift. The button turns green and a timer starts. Click END to stop it.

Important: TOI only accumulates when the period clock is running. If you pause the clock for a whistle, all shifts pause too. This gives you accurate ice time without manual corrections for stoppages.

Goalie TOI

Goalie time on ice tracks automatically. Set a goalie as "active" in the scoreboard's SOG section, and their TOI accumulates whenever the period clock runs. No need to manually toggle goalie shifts.

One-Click Line Changes

This is the game-changer. If you've defined lines in the Rosters panel (Lines tab), line-change buttons appear above each team's player list in the shift tracker.

How it works:

1. You defined "Line 1" as a forward line (LW: #9 Smith, C: #19 Johnson, RW: #27 Williams)
2. During the game, Line 2 is on the ice
3. Click the "Line 1" button
4. The system automatically:
   • Ends all current forward shifts
   • Starts shifts for Smith, Johnson, and Williams
5. Done. One click. Three players changed.

The buttons are smart about position groups:

• Forward lines only affect forwards — your defense stays on the ice
• Defense pairs only affect defensemen — forwards stay put
• Full units change everyone

Line buttons highlight green when all their players are currently on the ice, so you can see at a glance which line is deployed.

Game View Integration

Press GV in the toolbar and watch it all come together:

• Players with active shifts appear at their position on the rink (C at center ice, wingers on the boards, D at the points)
• Each player shows their name, number, and live stats: G, A, PTS, TOI, and current shift time
• Off-ice players sit on the bench with the same stats
• Goalies appear in the crease with saves and save percentage
• Penalized players are in the penalty box with their countdown timer

When you do a line change, you can watch players move between the ice and the bench in real time.

Shift Reports

After the game, click the print icon in the shift tracker header to generate a shift report with:

• Total TOI per player
• Number of shifts
• Average shift length
• Longest and shortest shifts

This is invaluable for coaching decisions — especially for youth hockey where equal ice time matters.

Setting Up Lines

If you haven't created lines yet:

1. Open Rosters (Alt+3)
2. Go to the Lines tab
3. Select a line type (Forward, Defense, PP, PK, or Full Unit)
4. Name the line (e.g., "Line 1", "Top Pair", "PP1")
5. Select players from your roster for each position
6. Click Create Line

Lines carry over between sessions — they're saved to localStorage with your roster data.

Tips

• Create 3-4 forward lines and 2-3 D pairs before the game starts
• Use the "Start" and "End" bulk buttons at the top of each team column for quick full-line changes at the start of periods
• Expand any player's shift count to see individual shift details — you can edit or delete specific shifts if you made a mistake
• Game View is visible to spectators — parents watching via the spectator link see the live lineup and stats

The shift tracker turns the rink board from a play designer into a real game management tool. Try it in your next game — open the Rink Board, set up rosters and lines, and see how one-click changes feel on the bench.