operate a player short

[keannu]

This is hard to understand. Is it "the team should operate with a player short" or "the teams should operate a player who is missed"? Is "operate" transitive or intransitive?

ex)Ice hockey is unsual among the major sports in that teams frequently play with different numbers of player. Penalties are given for various physical violations that go beyond the sport's permissive ruels of contact. Such penalties result in a player being sent to an isolated area called the penalty box, after which the offender's team must operate a player short.....

[SoothingDave]

You normally have 6 players on each team in an ice hockey game (5 skaters and the goalie). If a player commits a penalty (e.g. tripping another player, holding, hooking), then he has to sit in the "penalty box" for a few minutes. While he is being penalized, his team must play with only 5 players, while the other team continues to have 6 players. This creates extra scoring opportunities for the team which has the "man advantage."

If another penalty is assessed before the first one expires, it is possible for a team to have a "2 man advantage."

[keannu]

You normally have 6 players on each team in an ice hockey game (5 skaters and the goalie). If a player commits a penalty (e.g. tripping another player, holding, hooking), then he has to sit in the "penalty box" for a few minutes. While he is being penalized, his team must play with only 5 players, while the other team continues to have 6 players. This creates extra scoring opportunities for the team which has the "man advantage."

If another penalty is assessed before the first one expires, it is possible for a team to have a "2 man advantage."

What I'm saying is the grammatical structure of "operate a player short" which I can never understand.

[Rover_KE]

The expression is badly worded.

Think of it as meaning '. . .the offender's team must play with a man short.'

Rover