My friend and I were having this stupid argument earlier today. He insists that NHL Dressing/Locker rooms are to be referred to as "locker rooms." I have always called them "dressing rooms."
A stupid poll, sure, but what's your take?
Growing up, we never had individual stalls or lockers with our names above them, so I would call those dressing rooms (and I'm pretty sure we did out East). If there are lockers though (like an NHL arena, or a gym), I think one can be excused for calling them as such.
I believe most NHL teams have both. They have the dressing rooms, which are smaller, where they keep their suits and stuff to change into after they shower after the game.
But the room in which they sit and hangout before the game and during the intermission and such is the lockerroom. This is what I always thought and believe to be true.
You must have lockers to be a locker room...hockey "rooms" have stalls. I'd be more apt to call it a dressing room than a locker room. Locker rooms are more for the local gym or back in high school.
Locker room is more associated with football. Clubhouse is a baseball term. I don't really know what they call them in basketball. For hockey, I sometimes just hear it referred to as "the room".
The distinction between dressing room and locker room dates back to the days when hockey was played on outdoor rinks.
When players would show up to use the rink for informal hockey they would use a large common room in the park building(restrooms, maintenance rooms, etc) to change from boots to skates, leaving their boots unattended and go out to play. No one wore pads or equipment to play informal hockey.
For actual formal games access was granted to the dressing rooms which in Montreal were four or six rooms adjoining the common room separated with grid wire walls, u-shaped wooden benches, no showers, pegs for gear/clothing - very primative. More often then not pads would be put on over clothing with a jersey following. Necessary when it is -20 - 25 F outside.
Locker rooms were in arenas. Usually you had a larger room with benches plus pegs / stalls / lockers, plus a toilet - some with showers. Also in some instances there was a small coach's room. The rooms were separated with cinder block or cement walls.
In essense the "stall" where these guys hang their clothes are for all intents and purposes their lockers.
Because they do not lock doesn't really change what they are.
It is a locker room.
And, in fact, on nhl.com you can get video tours of these rooms, and are commonly referred to as locker rooms by everyone in the videos. However, the captions for the videos mostly refer to them as dressing rooms. Guess there is no right or wrong.
edit: dressing room certainly seems to be more old school lingo, whereas locker room seems more recent. Probably because of the implementation of individual stalls in more recent/modern arenas.
Why is everybody so technical about this? Locker room is the general term in professional sports so people call any room you get dressed in for a sport a locker room.
Why is everybody so technical about this? Locker room is the general term in professional sports so people call any room you get dressed in for a sport a locker room.
Do you call 1/2 bathrooms a toiletroom?
No i'd call it the pooper.
Dressing room for the poll, though there is no wrong answer.
That's how it was always referred to when I grew up playing hockey and how it's still referred to today. I think all the play-by-play and colour guys use dressing room as well. I think in America it might be different though, I know on the odd occasion I end up watching NFL or college football, they refer to it as a locker room.
I'm surprised this poll is 11/19 in favour of locker room, might just have a lot of Americans on this morning.
That's how it was always referred to when I grew up playing hockey and how it's still referred to today. I think all the play-by-play and colour guys use dressing room as well. I think in America it might be different though, I know on the odd occasion I end up watching NFL or college football, they refer to it as a locker room.
I'm surprised this poll is 11/19 in favour of locker room, might just have a lot of Americans on this morning.
Yeah, that. I never heard a commentator say "locker room". It has always been dressing room.
Why is everybody so technical about this? Locker room is the general term in professional sports so people call any room you get dressed in for a sport a locker room.
I gave up trying to figure out english the day I realised that "you drive in a parkway, but you park in a driveway".
As for the question itself, I don't have a clue. But if we call it "bedroom" because we have our bed in it, why would we say "dressing room"? If we call a room for what's done in it, wouldn't the bedroom be a sleeproom? or sexroom?
