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The "five-hole" is a nickname for the space between a goaltender's legs in hockey. If a player scores by shooting the puck or ball into the goal between the goaltender's legs, he is said to have scored "through the five-hole," or to have "gone five-hole."

[edit] Origin

The term five-hole derives from the target practice sheets or plastic tarpaulins used to cover the mouth of the hockey goal. These sheets (often with the image of a crouching goaltender printed on them) completely cover the space between the goalposts and crossbar except for five holes - one in each corner, and one small hole between the goalies legs. These holes were given points, 1 for the lower corners, 3 for the upper corners and 5 for between the legs. Players battle against each other to achieve the highest score in 5 shots, 10 shots, etc. These five holes represent the best places to shoot the puck in order to score.

Another theory as to the term's origin suggests it is based on five-pin bowling, a game invented in Canada where ice hockey is extremely popular: of the five pins, knocking down only the middle pin earns a score of five points, which is analogous to shooting a puck into the middle of a goal between the goaltender's legs.

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