hockey player vs player

hockey player and player both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
hockey player	Yes	No	No	No
player	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, player is a hypernym of hockey player; that is, player is a word with a broader meaning than hockey player:

Other hypernyms of hockey player include athlete, jock, participant.

hockey player (noun)	player (noun)
an athlete who plays hockey	a theatrical performer
	a person who participates in or is skilled at some game
	someone who plays a music as a profession
	a person who pursues a number of different social and sexual partners simultaneously
	someone who takes part in an activity