text: why does the hockey game timer count up instead of down? as far as i know all other sports timers count down just not hockey.  it counts up from 00:00 to 20:00 mins per period. canada and us, the two major countries for hockey, started using this timer.  for sports in all other countries, the timers all counted up to make it easier to announce. (ie: a goal with 7:47 left on the olympic clock would be read as 12:13, which is the time they announce.)