A puck is a hard rubber disc that hockey players strike when they can't hit one another.

Cannon’s line is a comic, slightly cynical “definition” that reframes hockey less as a game of skill than as a socially sanctioned outlet for aggression. By saying players strike the puck only when they “can’t hit one another,” he exaggerates to highlight the sport’s celebrated physicality—checks, fights, and intimidation—as central to its spectacle. The joke depends on inversion: the puck, ostensibly the game’s objective, becomes a consolation prize when direct violence is unavailable. As sportswriting, it also signals Cannon’s persona—wry, streetwise, and attuned to the entertainment value of conflict in American sports culture.