On the ice, as in life, there are consequences for your actions. In hockey, the most common hockey rule violations can force a face-off, penalizing the team in control of the puck when it committed the violation. Other hockey penalties call for a player to be sent to the penalty box for a certain number of minutes, giving the opposing team a one-player advantage. A minor penalty is the lowest level of infraction in the game of hockey. More serious hockey penalties include double-minors, major, misconduct, game misconduct, match, penalty shot, and gross misconduct.
Different Hockey Rules for Different Leagues
Most fans know hockey rules as they pertain to the National Hockey League, the sport’s North American professional league. But different leagues, age groups, and affiliations do not observe the NHL rules precisely. Hockey rules and penalties are tailored for the league, with National Hockey League, college, junior, and youth hockey players each playing under their own set of rules. There are also differences between leagues in the United States, Canada, and countries around the globe. In almost all cases, the hockey rules and penalties are tailored for safety concerns. Youth hockey follows the USA Hockey rules, but local youth leagues can make adjustments to fit their local needs as long as the changes don’t affect the safety of players.
Hockey Rule Violations That Aren’t Penalties
For the uninitiated, hockey may seem like a chaotic, mad scramble with no seeming order. But a closer look reveals finely detailed roles for each player, and rules keeping the game fair and safe. A few hockey rules don't result in penalties, but instead stop play and require a faceoff to restart the action.
The most common of these occurs when a play is ruled offsides. That’s where an offensive player crosses the blue line from the neutral zone into the opposing team’s zone — called the attacking or offensive zone — before the puck enters the attacking zone. If an offensive player enters the attacking zone before the puck, the team on offense has to slow and reset the play, and allow all players to “clear the zone.”
Another play that brings a lot of whistles in hockey is icing, where a player shoots the puck the length of the ice crossing both the center line and the opponent’s goal line. In some leagues, like the NHL, icing is called only if an opposing player other than a the goalie touches the puck. Icing is waved off if the team icing the puck is killing off a power play or if it is first touched by a member of the team that iced the puck. An official may also blow the whistle and stop play without a penalty if a puck becomes dislodged in a player's equipment, the goal netting, or goes out of play.
Minor Penalties in Hockey
Most of the hockey penalties called in a game will be minor penalties, bringing a two-minute trip to the penalty box. This leaves that team short-handed, while the other team is on a “power play,” which means they have a one-person advantage. If the team on the power play scores, the remaining time on the two-minute penalty is erased and the player in the box is released, putting both teams back at full strength. Officials can issue double or triple minors resulting in four- and six-minute stays in the box. While there are many, many minor hockey penalties, a few are called regularly.
The most common minors include:
- High sticking — Making contact with an opposing player above the shoulder with your stick, whether intentionally or inadvertently. If the play results in an injury, the penalty can be increased.
- Holding — Grabbing a player’s body, sweater, or stick, or preventing them from getting to the puck.
- Hooking — Using the blade of the stick to hold an opponent and prevent movement.
- Cross-checking — A hit in which a player uses the stick, held with both hands, to check an opponent.
- Roughing — Striking an opponent during an altercation that the officials decide is not severe enough to earn a more severe penalty. If a player punches another with gloves on during a skirmish officials will sometimes give a roughing penalty.
- Tripping — Causing an opponent to fall by tripping with stick or body.
Major Hockey Penalties
A major hockey penalty can be assessed for some of the same actions in the minor category, but is, in the judgment of the officials, a stronger penalty for a more severe infraction. A major penalty comes with five minutes in the penalty box, during which that team plays shorthanded. A major penalty is not shortened if the team on the power play scores a goal. However, in the case of fighting, if both combatants receive fighting majors and are sent to the box, substitute players can step in and both teams play at full strength.
Some typical infractions that earn players a major hockey penalty include:
- Boarding — Checking, tripping, or pushing an opponent into the side or end boards.
- Spearing — Striking an opponent with the blade of the stick in a stabbing motion.
- Slashing — Striking an opponent with the stick; often seen as a chop to the lower body.
- Charging — A hit in which a player takes multiple strides to gain speed to punish an opposing player, or if a player leaves his or her feet to maximize the impact.
- Check from behind — A check that impacts an opposing player from behind, preventing the player from preparing for the impact.
- Check to the head — Any contact above the shoulder that puts the head at risk.
- Fighting — Many scrums break out around the net or after a whistle, but a fighting major is called when a player drops the gloves and throws blows at another player.
Misconduct Penalties in Hockey
A misconduct penalty comes with a 10-minute spell in the penalty box. However, while that player must sit in the box for 10 minutes, the team can substitute another player onto the ice and the teams remain at even strength. Misconduct penalties are often called in conjunction with another penalty, such as a fighting major when an officials believes a player needs time to calm down and tempers to cool.
Some of the actions that can result in a misconduct penalty include fighting off the ice, continuing to fight or attempting to continue a fight after it has been broken up and parties separated, throwing equipment onto the ice, or speaking to an official with profanity or abusive language.
Game Misconduct Penalties
A player assessed a game misconduct penalty is ejected from the contest and sent to the dressing room. Game misconducts are often assessed along with another penalty, such as a five-minute major. The game misconduct is added in the official’s judgement. For example, when a player is assessed a major for boarding an opposing player, but that player suffers an injury, the infraction can be upgraded to a game misconduct resulting in an ejection.
The penalty goes into the books as a 10-minute penalty, but the team can immediately substitute another player and the teams remain at even strength. However, if the game misconduct is paired with a five-minute major, another player from the team will be sent to the box to serve the five minutes.
A player who earns three game misconducts in a season in the NHL, or two such hockey penalties for stick infractions, boarding, or checking from behind, automatically gets a one-match ban.
In addition to a penalty that results in an injury, other examples of hockey penalties that can earn a game misconduct include leaving the penalty box before the penalty is up, striking a spectator, leaving the penalty box during an on-ice fight, racial slurs, attempting to injure nonplayer personnel like a coach, or returning to the ice after being ordered to the dressing room.
Hockey Match Penalties
A match penalty is essentially an ejection from the game. It goes in the scorebook as a 10-minute penalty, but the player is immediately sent to the dressing room. The player’s team must play shorthanded for five minutes just as with a major penalty. A match penalty is used when a player intentionally hurts, or tries to hurt, another player. Other infractions that can result in a match penalty include stick offenses, checking from behind, boarding, biting, checks to the head, or punching and injuring an unsuspecting player.
FAQs
Basic Rules
- Legal teams are 5 skaters and a goalie. ...
- All Leagues: Games are 30 minute straight play. ...
- No over-time during the regular season; tie games will be recorded as such.
- No slap shots (shots taken from above the waist) at all - not during warm-ups or games.
- Offside & icing is called in the Granite League only.
10 Important Hockey Rules
- Holding the stick. It all starts with a player learning how to hold a hockey stick correctly. ...
- Broken stick. ...
- Different penalties. ...
- Fighting. ...
- High stick penalty. ...
- Goal crease. ...
- Illegal checking. ...
- Face-off.
The objective of hockey is simple: score more goals than the opposing team. Players are not allowed to kick the puck into the net or purposely direct it in with any part of their body. During regulation time, each team uses five skaters—three forwards and two defencemen—plus a goaltender.
What are the 4 types of hockey? ›
Most people have heard about the more popular forms of hockey (ice hockey, field hockey, roller hockey, Shinny), so this article takes a look at some of the lesser known, but equally interesting variations of the sport we all love. Enjoy!
What is the golden rule in hockey? ›
1. Always back your partner — on the offensive blue line, in the neutral zone and especially in the defensive zone. 2. Always one defenseman in front of the net when the opposition has the puck in your zone or there is danger that they may gain possession.
What are the 3 lines in hockey? ›
Every NHL team has four forward lines of three players (left wing, right wing and center) and three defensive lines of two players (left and right defensem*n).
What are 3 penalties in hockey? ›
Major Hockey Penalties
- Boarding — Checking, tripping, or pushing an opponent into the side or end boards.
- Spearing — Striking an opponent with the blade of the stick in a stabbing motion.
- Slashing — Striking an opponent with the stick; often seen as a chop to the lower body.
Major Penalties
Officials may call a major penalty for the same offenses that are otherwise considered minor penalties if they were severe enough and done with the intent to cause harm to others. Examples of major penalties include fighting, butt-ending, spearing, and boarding.
How do penalties work in hockey? ›
Standard penalties are 2 minutes in length and players serve their penalties in the penalty box. While a penalty is being served, the opposing team receives a man advantage opportunity called a Power Play. A Power Play lasts for the duration of the penalty.
What is Rule 56 in hockey? ›
In 1922, the NHL introduced Rule 56, which formally regulated fighting, or "fisticuffs" as it was called in the official NHL rulebook. Rather than ejecting players from the game, as was the practice in amateur and collegiate hockey, players would be given a five-minute major penalty.
Scoring four goals in a hockey game is much less common than a hat trick. If a player scores four goals in a single game, it is sometimes referred to as a “Texas hat trick.” This term is less commonly used than a hat trick, and its origins are uncertain.
What is a squirt B in hockey? ›
In the United States, the levels of minor hockey are as follows: Mini Mite (ages 5-6) (Levels A) Mite (ages 7-8) (Levels AA, A, B) Squirt (ages 9–10) (Levels AAA, AA, A, B) Peewee (ages 11–12) (Levels AAA, AA, A, B)
What does AAA and AA mean in hockey? ›
USA Hockey designates four skill levels: Tier 1: The highest level of competition, also called "AAA", following the Canadian system. Tier 2: also called "AA" or "A". Tier 3: may also be called "A", the lowest level of competitive hockey. Recreational/Developmental: Includes house league and select.
What is the hardest type of shot in hockey? ›
Al Iafrate
At the 1993 All-Star Skills Competition in Montreal, Iafrate set a new record with a 105.2 mph slapper, a mark that stood for 16 years until Zdeno Chara broke it with a 105.4 mph slapper.
Is 0 allowed in hockey? ›
Beginning with the 1996-97 season, the NHL decreed that Nos. 0 and 00 could no longer be worn since they confused the League's digital database; today, only No. 1 through No. 98 are allowed, No.
What is the hardest lead to keep in hockey? ›
A two-goal cushion is often referred to as the “most dangerous lead in hockey,” so named because a team will squander it four out of every 10 times.
What is the first unwritten rule in hockey? ›
No Sucker Punches
One unwritten rule is when you drop the gloves, you do it head on. You don't jump someone from behind or sucker punch them, you look them in the eye and ask, "Do you wanna go?" or some similar invitation to drop the gloves.
Why is hockey called? ›
The name hockey—as the organized game came to be known—has been attributed to the French word hoquet (shepherd's stick). The term rink, referring to the designated area of play, was originally used in the game of curling in 18th-century Scotland.
What is hockey short for? ›
hockey Add to list Share. Hockey is short for ice hockey or field hockey, but it usually refers to ice hockey, the sport where people skate on ice and use big hockey sticks to whack a puck into a goal. For ice hockey, players wear protective gear and helmets.
Who is the father of hockey? ›
Major Dhyan Chand (29 August 1905 – 3 December 1979) was an Indian field hockey player, widely regarded as one of the greatest field hockey players in history.
...
Dhyan Chand.
| Major Dhyan Chand |
|---|
| Born | 29 August 1905 Allahabad, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India (present-day Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India) |
11 more rowsFive-on-three hockey is probably the most passive part of the game, as both teams are waiting to see what the opponent does next. Coaches often use a timeout when they get a 5v3 advantage, but why not have a plan and force the opponent to take their timeout instead?
What are some hockey phrases? ›
- Apple: an assist.
- Bar down: when the puck goes in the net off the bottom of the crossbar.
- Barn: an arena rink.
- Barnburner: a high-scoring game.
- Bender: a badly skating player whose ankles bend beneath him.
- Beauty: a pretty play.
- Biscuit: the puck.
- Bottle rocket: when a goal breaks the goalie's water bottle.
AAA hockey is the highest level of minor hockey. You don't HAVE to play AAA to make the NHL, but playing at the AAA level certainly does help in development.
Which line is best in hockey? ›
The first line is usually composed of the best offensive players on the team. Teams rely heavily on this line, which generates the bulk of the team's scoring. These players often see the highest number of minutes among forwards in a game and are usually part of the team's starting lineup.
What is a hockey line called? ›
The lines in hockey refer to the different lineups that teams utilize throughout the game. Each line typically consists of three forwards, a center and two wingers on either side of the center, and two defensem*n. Usually, teams field four lines of forwards and three lines of defensem*n.
What is the blue line in hockey? ›
The blue line in ice hockey is what divides the hockey rink into three zones: the defensive zone, the neutral zone, and the attacking zone. The blue lines also determine whether or not a player is offsides.
Does a 2 and a 10 count as 2 penalties? ›
A two and ten minute infraction counts as two penalties, as does a five and game. Two major penalties in a game would result in three penalties because a game misconduct is added to the two majors.
What is a 10 and 2 penalty in hockey? ›
ANSWER: If a player receives a Minor and Misconduct penalty he must serve the entire twelve minutes (2+10) consecutively. The additional player his team must place in the box is serving the shorthanded time (not the Minor itself).
How many types of penalty are there? ›
Punishment may take forms ranging from capital punishment, flogging, forced labour, and mutilation of the body to imprisonment and fines. Deferred punishments consist of penalties that are imposed only if an offense is repeated within a specified time.
Whats the worst penalty in hockey? ›
A five-minute penalty in hockey is a major penalty.
This penalty is given for a severe violation of the game rules and requires a five-minute time out for the player in the penalty box. This five-minute penalty is strictly enforced and does not end short if the opposing team scores a goal.
PENALTY TYPES & DEFINITIONS
- Minor Penalty: (Two-Minutes) Called for tripping, hooking, spearing, slashing, charging, roughing, holding, elbowing or boarding.
- Major Penalty: (Five-Minutes) Called for fighting or when minor penalties are committed with deliberate attempt to injure.
Match Penalties
A match penalty is any infraction that results in the ejection of a player from the game. This is one of the stiffest penalties in hockey. The player must leave the ice while one of his or her teammates serves the time given for the penalty.
What are the 5 penalties? ›
NFL 5 Yard Penalties
- Delay of game.
- Encroachment.
- False start.
- Illegal formation.
- Illegal forward handling.
- Illegal forward pass.
- Illegal kick.
- Illegal motion.
(b) Any player , except in Adult age classifications, who receives four penalties in the same game shall be assessed a game misconduct penalty . Any Adult player who receives five penalties in the same game shall be immediately ejected for the remainder of the game with no further suspension.
What is Rule 42 in the NHL? ›
Rule 42 of the NHL rulebook dictates that charging "shall mean the actions of a player or goalkeeper who, as a result of distance traveled, shall violently check an opponent in any manner.
What is a 50/50 in hockey? ›
In the National Hockey League (NHL), the phrase "50 goals in 50 games" (50-in-50) refers to a player scoring 50 goals within the first 50 (or fewer) games of his team's season.
What numbers are not allowed in hockey? ›
80, 84 and 94 are the three numbers not worn by any player that would be available. 85, 87, 96 and 97 are each worn by one player, but it is unlikely any player will request 87. In a few years it seems like 97 will be off the table as well.
What is 6 goals in hockey called? ›
A few players in NHL history have scored double hat tricks; that is, 6 or more goals in a game.
Why is hat trick called 3? ›
A player gets a hat-trick when they score three goals in one game, but the use of the term actually didn't start on the football pitch. The phrase came from cricket, and was used when a bowler took three wickets from three consecutive balls. The club would give the bowler a hat to celebrate this achievement.
Who scored 7 goals in one match? ›
The last player in these leagues to score seven goals in a match was László Kubala in 1952 for FC Barcelona.
Flamingo: when a player lifts one leg, standing like a flamingo, to get out of the way of a shot.
What does S and SM mean in hockey? ›
SB = Player's Shot Blocked by Opposing Player. SHG = Shorthanded Goals. SHT% = Shooting Percentage (G/SOG) SM = Player's Shot Missed Net. SOG = Shots On Goal.
What does 15o mean in hockey? ›
Atom: Age 9-10. Pee Wee: Age 11-12. Bantam: Age 13-14. Midget: Age 15-17. Juvenile: Age 18-19.
What are the major rules of hockey? ›
Basic hockey rules
- Players can only hit the ball with the flat side of their stick.
- Hockey players (other than the goalkeeper) are not allowed to use their feet, or any other parts of the body, to control the ball at any time.
- You can only score a goal from inside the 'striking circle' in front of the opponent's goal.
The sport involves four basic skills: skating, stickhandling, passing and shooting. These skills can be learned at any age, and the good hockey player continually works to improve and refine his or her skills. Physical size is not an important factor in becoming a skilled and successful hockey player.
What were the original rules of hockey? ›
1) The game was played with a block of wood for a puck. 2) The puck was not allowed to leave the ice. 3) The stones marking the place to score goals were placed on the ice at opposite angles to those at present. 4) There was to be no slashing.
What are the penalty rules in hockey? ›
When a player violates one of the rules of the game, he is given a penalty by a referee. Penalties are given for body fouls such as hitting from behind, elbowing and fighting. Penalties are also given for stick fouls like slashing, spearing, hooking, holding, tripping, cross-checking and high-sticking.
What is the most important thing in hockey? ›
Skating is one of hockey's most fundamental skills. Becoming comfortable moving on the ice is one of the cornerstones in building player confidence. The ability to turn and change directions smoothly can open up new pass and shot opportunities.
What is the most skilled position in hockey? ›
Without question, the goaltender is the most important position on a hockey team. Goalies can single-handily win any hockey game by recording what is known as a “Shutout”. A shutout occurs when a goalie does not give up a single goal in a hockey game.
Which country invented hockey? ›
The modern game of hockey emerged in England in the mid-18th century and is largely attributed to the growth of public schools, such as Eton. The first Hockey Association was formed in the UK in 1876 and drew up the first formal set of rules.
The brothers apparently believed the change would allow for more frequent rink cleanings while offering players additional rest and encouraging fans to visit concession stands. By the time the NHL rolled out several years later, the three-period structure was well underway and has remained a staple for over 100 years.
