ice-hockey player vs player

ice-hockey player and player both are nouns.

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

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

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

ice-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