Rules and Gameplay

While the general characteristics of the game remain constant, the exact rules depend on the particular code of play being used. The two most important codes are those of the IIHF and the NHL. Both of these codes, and others, originated from Canadian rules of ice hockey of the early 20th century.

Ice hockey is played on a hockey rink. During normal play, there are six players on ice skates on the ice per side, one of them being the goaltender. The objective of the game is to score goals by shooting the puck into the opponent's goal net at the opposite end of the rink. The players use their sticks to pass or shoot the puck.

With certain restrictions, players are allowed to redirect the puck using any part of their body. However, they may not catch or hold the puck in their hand, and using the hands to pass the puck to a teammate is prohibited unless the player is in the defensive zone.

Players are permitted to knock the puck out of the air to themselves using their hands, but they may not kick the puck into the opposing net. Unintentional deflections off the body or equipment, including skates, are allowed. Deliberately batting the puck into the goal with the hands or any other part of the body is prohibited.

Hockey is an off-side game, meaning that forward passes are allowed, unlike in rugby. Before the 1930s, hockey was an on-side game, meaning that only backward passes were allowed. Those rules emphasized individual stick-handling to drive the puck forward. With the arrival of offside rules, the forward pass transformed hockey into a true team sport, where individual performance diminished in importance relative to team play, which could now be coordinated over the entire surface of the ice as opposed to merely rearward players.

The six players on each team are typically divided into three forwards, two defencemen, and one goaltender. The term skaters typically applies to all players except goaltenders. The forward positions consist of a centre and two wingers: a left wing and a right wing. Forwards often play together as units or lines, with the same three forwards always playing together. The defencemen usually stay together as a pair generally divided between left and right. Left and right side wingers or defencemen are generally positioned on the side on which they carry their stick. A substitution of an entire unit at once is called a line change. Teams typically employ alternate sets of forward lines and defensive pairings when short-handed or on a power play. The goaltender stands in a semi-circle, usually blue, called the crease in the defensive zone keeping pucks out of the goal. Substitutions are permitted at any time during the game, although during a stoppage of play the home team is permitted the final change. When players are substituted during play, it is called changing on the fly. An NHL rule added in the 2005–06 season prevents a team from making any player substitutions after they ice the puck.

The boards surrounding the ice help keep the puck in play and they can also be used as tools to play the puck. Players are permitted to bodycheck opponents into the boards to stop progress. The referees, linesmen and the outsides of the goal are "in play" and do not stop the game when the puck or players either bounce into or collide with them. Play can be stopped if the goal is knocked out of position. Play often proceeds for minutes without interruption. After a stoppage, play is restarted with a faceoff. Two players face each other and an official drops the puck to the ice, where the two players attempt to gain control of the puck. Circles marked on the rink indicate the locations for the faceoff and guide the positioning of players.

Three major rules of play in ice hockey limit the movement of the puck: offside, icing, and the puck going out of play.

• A player is offside if he enters his opponent's zone before the puck itself.
• Under many situations, a player may not "ice the puck", which means shooting the puck all the way across both the centre line and the opponent's goal line.
• The puck goes out of play whenever it goes past the perimeter of the ice rink (onto the player benches, over the glass, or onto the protective netting above the glass) and a stoppage of play is called by the officials using whistles. It does not matter if the puck comes back onto the ice surface from outside of the rink, because the puck is considered dead once it leaves the perimeter of the rink. The referee may also blow the whistle for a stoppage in play if the puck is jammed along the boards when two or more players are battling for the puck for a long time, or if the puck is stuck on the back of either of the two nets for a period of time.

Under IIHF rules, each team may carry a maximum of 20 players and two goaltenders on their roster. NHL rules restrict the total number of players per game to 18, plus two goaltenders. In the NHL, the players are usually divided into four lines of three forwards, and into three pairs of defencemen. On occasion, teams may elect to substitute an extra defenceman for a forward. The seventh defenceman may play as a substitute defenceman, spend the game on the bench, or if a team chooses to play four lines then this seventh defenceman may see ice-time on the fourth line as a forward.

Offside

In ice hockey, a play is offside if a player on the attacking team does not control the puck and is in the attacking or offensive zone when a different attacking player causes the puck to enter the offensive zone, until either the puck or all attacking players leave the offensive zone. Simply put, for a play to not be offside, the puck must enter the attacking zone before attacking players, and the offensive team cannot play the puck when offside.

For determining offside, the position of the puck and players must be considered to be in the neutral or offensive zone. Usually, the puck enters or leaves the offensive zone when it completely crosses the blue line. A player is in the neutral zone if either skate is in the neutral zone or touches the imaginary plane extending upwards from the leading edge of the blue line; otherwise, they are in the offensive zone.

Being offside is generally not permitted; under some rule sets, an offside violation occurs as soon as a play goes offside (known as an immediate offside), while under others, it occurs only when attacking players play the puck after going offside and then failing to completely exit the offensive zone (known as a delayed offside). When an offside violation occurs, a linesman will stop play. To restart play, a faceoff is then held at the ice spot closest to the infraction, usually a neutral spot, or if there is a delayed penalty, at a spot in the defending zone of the defending team, which incurred the penalty. Even if the linesman erred in calling offside, the faceoff will still occur.

Faceoff Location

 

Delayed Offside Rule

Under the delayed offside rule, an infraction occurs when a play is offside and any attacking player touches the puck or checks a player in the offensive zone. For example, under the National Hockey League's (NHL) delayed offside rule, play is stopped immediately when an attacking player carries the puck into the zone while a teammate is already in the attacking zone, or when an attacking player in the neutral zone completes a pass to a teammate who is already in the attacking zone. A delayed offside occurs when a player on the attacking team is in the offensive zone before the puck and the attacking team causes the puck to enter the zone when the attacking team does not have possession. When a delayed offside occurs, a linesman will keep an arm up to signal it, and all attacking players must retreat back into the neutral zone without touching the puck or checking an opponent for the delayed offside to end. If an attacking player touches the puck during the delayed offside, play is stopped.

The NHL and International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) apply similar rules for determining offside. A player is judged to be offside if both of their skates completely cross the blue line dividing their offensive zone from the neutral zone before the puck completely crosses the same line. In both organizations, it is the position of a player's skates that are important. They cannot use their stick or other part of their body to remain onside. The lone exception to this rule is that an attacking player's skates may precede the puck into the attacking zone when they are skating backwards if they are in control of the puck. The position of the puck is used for determining offside. Offside is determined by the skate positions when the puck completely crosses the blue line. If the puck was in the attacking zone, touches the blue line, and then completely leaves the blue line back into the attacking zone, the puck is considered to have been in the attacking zone the entire time, so there is no determination of offside, and the puck did not completely cross the blue line.

If any individual player is in an offside position, their entire team is offside. A delayed offside occurs if the puck is passed or shot into the offensive zone while an attacking player is offside, but the puck has not been touched by a member of the attacking team. In most leagues, the attacking team may "tag up" by having all players exit the offensive zone. At that point the offside is waved off and they may re-enter the offensive zone in pursuit of the puck. If a member of the attacking team has control of the puck while offside, a linesman will stop play and a faceoff will be held at the faceoff spot nearest the point of the infraction. Typically, this means the spot closest to the blue line if the puck is carried into the zone, or in the case of a pass, the spot closest to where the pass originated. If a linesman judges that the attacking team acted to force a deliberate stoppage in play by going offside, they can move the faceoff into that team's defensive zone.

If a goal is scored from a shot (at the neutral or defensive zone) that creates a delayed offside, the goal will be denied, even if the attacking team clears the offensive zone before the puck enters the goal.

Immediate Offside Rule

Under the immediate offside rule, an infraction occurs and play is stopped as soon as a play is offside, even if the attacking team does not control the puck. Some levels of hockey use this rule, such as younger divisions of minor hockey sanctioned by USA Hockey.

Exceptions

Under both NHL and IIHF (Rules 83.1 and 83.2) rules, there are two conditions under which an offside can be waved off even with players in the attacking zone ahead of the puck.

1. A defending player has legally carried the puck out of their own zone, and then passes the puck back into their own zone only for the puck to be intercepted by an attacking player.
2. A defending player clears the puck out of their own zone, but the puck then bounces off another defending player in neutral ice back into their own zone.

During a faceoff, a player may be judged to be in an offside position if they are lined up within 15 feet of the centres before the puck is dropped. This may result in a faceoff violation, at which point the official dropping the puck will wave the centre out of the faceoff spot and require that another player take their place. If one team commits two violations during the same attempt to restart play, it will be assessed a minor penalty for delay of game.

Offside Pass

An offside pass occurs when a pass from inside a team's defending zone crosses the red line. When such a pass occurs, play is stopped and a faceoff is conducted in the defending zone of the team that committed the infraction

There are two determining factors in an offside pass violation:

1. Puck position when pass is released. Since the blue line is considered part of the zone the puck is in, if the puck is behind or in contact with the blue line when the pass is released, the pass may be an offside pass.
2. Skate position of the receiver. If the receiver has skate contact with the red line at the instant the puck completely crosses it, the pass is legal regardless of where the puck actually makes contact with their stick. Both of their skates must be completely on the far side of the red line when the puck crosses the red line into the attacking zone to be governed by the aforementioned offside rule.

This offside pass rule is not observed by all leagues. For instance, it was abolished by the IIHF, and its member countries' leagues (except the NHL) in 1998. The National Hockey League adopted the version used by the top minor leagues, under the terms of their 2005 Collective Bargaining Agreement, in which the centre line is no longer used to determine an offside pass. This was one of many rule changes intended to open up the game and improve scoring chances.

History of Offside

In the sport's earliest history, hockey was played similar to rugby, in which forward passing is not allowed. Also, hockey's offside infraction was influenced by the offside penalty from soccer. A legal pass could be made only to a teammate who is in an "onside" position behind the puck, thus forcing players to skate with the puck to move it forward. Therefore, a player cannot simply "stake out" in the offensive zone, receive a pass from a teammate in the neutral or defensive zones, then skate in and try to score on the opponent's goal.

In the event of an offside pass, the play was stopped and a faceoff conducted from the point of the infraction, regardless of where it occurred. The first significant relaxation of this rule occurred in 1905, when the Ontario Hockey Association began to allow defensive players to play the puck within three feet of their goal if the puck rebounded off the goaltender. In some cases, a black line was painted onto the ice surface at that three foot mark, which served as an early precursor to the modern blue lines.

Forward passing within the neutral and defensive zones was first allowed in the NHL in 1927, but after a season of extremely low scoring in 1928–29, the league first allowed forward passing in all zones. The result was immediate and dramatic as the number of goals scored per game more than doubled immediately. Under the NHL's new rule, there were no restrictions placed on where a player could be relative to the puck, resulting in players standing deep in their offensive zone while waiting for teammates to bring the puck forward. As a result, the NHL introduced the modern offside rule on December 16, 1929, effective six days later.

The rink was divided into three zones by two blue lines as of the 1928–29 season, and the centre line did not yet exist. Teams were allowed a forward pass in any of the zones, but the puck must be carried over a blue line by a skater. Frank Boucher and Cecil Duncan introduced the centre red line in the 1943–44 season, in an effort to open up the game by reducing the number of offside infractions and create excitement with quicker counter-attacks. The change allowed the defending team to pass the puck out of their own zone up to the red line, instead of being required to skate over the nearest blue line then pass the puck forward.

In the late 2010s, there were many goals being reviewed, due to a new Offside review system. There were complaints about how it affected the flow of the game. It is ruled differently now, where a team may request a review after a goal is scored during a play that team considers to be offside. If is ruled not offside, the goal counts and the team requesting the review is assessed a minor penalty.

Icing

In ice hockey, icing is an infraction that occurs when a player shoots, bats, or deflects the puck from their own half (over the center red line) of the ice, beyond the opposing team's goal line, without scoring a goal.

The icing rule has three variations: touch icing, no-touch (also called automatic icing), and hybrid icing. Many professional leagues use hybrid icing, while many amateur leagues worldwide use no-touch or automatic icing.

Icing occurs when a player shoots, bats with the hand or stick, or deflects the puck over the center red line and the opposing team's red goal line, in that order, and the puck remains untouched without scoring a goal. The rule's main purpose is preventing a defending team from delaying the game by, relatively easily, sending the puck to the other side of the rink to clear it from the opposing team's attack.

Icing is waved off when any of the following occurs:

• The team committing the icing is shorthanded (except under USA Hockey rules in competitions for 14-and-under age groups).
• The linesman believes a player on the opposing team (other than the goaltender) could have played the puck before it crossed the goal line.
• The puck is iced directly from a player participating in a face-off.
• The goaltender leaves his/her goal crease and moves in the direction of the puck (except under USA Hockey rules).
• The goaltender touches the puck.
• The puck crosses the goal line between the goal posts of the opposing team; this scenario rewards a goal to the team which hit the icing, such goals usually occur on an empty net against a team who replaced its goaltender with an extra attacker; missed empty net shots still count as icing.
• The condition for touch icing or hybrid icing is met.

Enforcement

Officials enforce the infraction. While an icing call is pending, the linesman raises an arm to indicate that a potential icing call may be made. If the icing is waved off, the official lowers their arm and gives the washout signal (extending both arms sideways from the body at shoulder height, similar to the "safe" sign in baseball but typically delivered from a less-crouched or fully upright position).

When icing occurs, a linesman stops play. Play is resumed with a faceoff in the defending zone of the attacking team, who committed the infraction. If there is a delayed penalty, it will happen at the attacking team's neutral spot. If the linesman erred in stopping play for icing, the faceoff is at the center face-off spot (unless there is a delayed penalty).

Variations

The icing rule has three variations:

• touch icing
• no-touch or automatic icing
• hybrid icing

Most leagues (IIHF, National Hockey League, American Hockey League, Kontinental Hockey League, NCAA college hockey, European professional leagues, and several minor North American leagues ECHL, Central Hockey League and SPHL) use hybrid icing. Most amateur leagues worldwide (such as USA Hockey) use no-touch or automatic icing.

In touch icing, a player on the opposing team, other than the goaltender, must touch the puck to cause the stoppage of play. If the puck is first touched by the goaltender or a player on the team that iced the puck, icing is waved off (canceled), and play continues. The touch icing rule can lead to high-speed races for the puck.

In no-touch or automatic icing, play is stopped for icing as soon as the puck crosses the goal line.

In hybrid icing, play is stopped for icing if the player on the opposing team reaches the faceoff dot first, instead of skating all the way across the goal line to touch the puck.

This type of icing is intended to reduce the number of collisions along the boards during touch icing, while still allowing the team that iced the puck to get to it first to wave off the icing. When the puck is shot around the end boards, travels down the ice and comes out the other end, the linesman judges who would have touched the puck first. If it is the defending player, he calls icing, but if it is the attacking player, he waves off the icing and lets the play continue.

History

The National Hockey League (NHL) introduced the icing rule in September 1937 to eliminate a common delaying tactic used by teams to protect a winning margin. A November 18, 1931, game between the New York Americans and Boston Bruins is cited as one extreme example that led to the ban on the practice. The Americans, protecting a 3–2 lead over the Bruins at Boston Garden, iced the puck over 50 times. The crowd became incensed and threw debris onto the ice, causing a delay while the teams were sent to their dressing rooms. When the teams met again that December 3 in New York, the Bruins iced the puck 87 times in a scoreless draw.

The rule was amended in June 1951 to state the icing infraction was nullified if the goaltender touched the puck. For the 1990–91 season, the league again amended the rule, stating the infraction was nullified if the puck passed through or touched the goal crease when the goaltender had been removed for an extra attacker. The NHL amended the rule a third time; icing was nullified if the goaltender moved towards the puck as it approached the goal line.

The 1970s-era World Hockey Association (WHA) never adopted the NHL rule of allowing shorthanded teams to ice the puck. In 2009, USA Hockey considered eliminating the shorthanded icing rule, having tested its elimination in Massachusetts and Alaska in the 2007–2009 seasons.

The IIHF adopted the no-touch icing rule after an incident in the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League in 1990, when Luděk Čajka, rushing to get to the puck in an icing situation, crashed into the boards, suffered severe spinal injuries, and died a few weeks later.

After some teams in need of a line change (player substitution) began deliberately icing the puck to stop play, and as part of a group of important rule changes following the 2004–05 NHL lockout, the NHL supplemented the icing rule prior to the 2005–06 season by not allowing the offending team to substitute players before the next faceoff, except to replace an injured player, when the goaltender must return to the net following an icing call. This change was made in an effort to speed up game play by reducing icing infractions, as well as to encourage teams to work the puck up the ice rather than taking the opportunity to rest their players. In some junior leagues (such as the WHL), the offending team is permitted to substitute players after an icing only if the puck was shot from the neutral zone (between the defensive blue line and the red line). If the violation occurs in the defensive zone, substitution is prohibited. Regardless, in all situations, if icing is called, and then a penalty is assessed that changes the on-ice strength of either team (from 5 on 5 to 5 on 4, for example), the offending team may substitute.

The NHL began using hybrid-icing rules in the 2013–14 season, after several decades of using touch icing, following the career-ending injury of Joni Pitkänen where he crashed against the boards when competing for the icing call. The IIHF also switched to hybrid after the conclusion of the 2014 World Championship.

On June 13, 2017, USA Hockey adopted a rule change that eliminated the shorthanded icing exception. The rule change establishes that when a shorthanded team ices the puck a subsequent icing infraction will be enforced; play will stop and a face-off will occur in the offending team's zone. The rule change is effective starting with the 2017–18 regular season, impacting 14U and younger age groups.

Starting with the 2017–18 NHL season, offending teams are not allowed to take a timeout after an icing. In the 2019–20 NHL season a rule change allowed the offensive team to decide at which end zone dot they wished the face-off to be held following an icing (intended to grant a positional advantage to teams stronger on a certain side).

Face-off Location

 

Periods and Overtime

A professional ice hockey game consists of three periods of twenty minutes, the clock running only when the puck is in play. There is a rest period between the three periods. The teams change ends after each period of play, including overtime. Recreational leagues and children's leagues often play shorter games, generally with three shorter periods of play.

If a tie occurs in tournament play, as well as in the NHL playoffs, North Americans favour sudden death overtime, in which the teams continue to play twenty-minute periods until a goal is scored. Up until the 1999–2000 season, regular-season NHL games were settled with a single five-minute sudden death period with five players (plus a goalie) per side, with both teams awarded one point in the standings in the event of a tie. With a goal, the winning team would be awarded two points and the losing team none (just as if they had lost in regulation). The total elapsed time from when the puck first drops, is about 2 hours and 20 minutes for a 60-minute game.

From the 1999–2000 until the 2003–04 seasons, the National Hockey League decided ties by playing a single five-minute sudden-death overtime period with each team having four skaters per side (plus the goalie). In the event of a tie, each team would still receive one point in the standings but in the event of a victory the winning team would be awarded two points in the standings and the losing team one point. The idea was to discourage teams from playing for a tie, since previously some teams might have preferred a tie and 1 point to risking a loss and zero points. The exception to this rule is if a team opts to pull their goalie in exchange for an extra skater during overtime and is subsequently scored upon (an empty net goal), in which case the losing team receives no points for the overtime loss. Since the 2015–16 season, the single five-minute sudden-death overtime session involves three skaters on each side. Since three skaters must always be on the ice in an NHL game, the consequences of penalties are slightly different from those during regulation play; any penalty during overtime that would result in a team losing a skater during regulation instead causes the other side to add a skater. Once the penalized team's penalty ends, the penalized skater exits the penalty box and the teams continue at 4-on-4 until the next stoppage of play, at which point the teams return to three skaters per side.

International play and several North American professional leagues, including the NHL (in the regular season), now use an overtime period identical to that from 1999–2000 to 2003–04 followed by a penalty shootout. If the score remains tied after an extra overtime period, the subsequent shootout consists of three players from each team taking penalty shots. After these six total shots, the team with the most goals is awarded the victory. If the score is still tied, the shootout then proceeds to sudden death. Regardless of the number of goals scored by either team during the shootout, the final score recorded will award the winning team one more goal than the score at the end of regulation time. In the NHL if a game is decided in overtime or by a shootout the winning team is awarded two points in the standings and the losing team is awarded one point. Ties no longer occur in the NHL.

Overtime in the NHL playoffs differs from the regular season. In the playoffs there are no shootouts. If a game is tied after regulation, then a 20-minute period of 5-on-5 sudden-death overtime will be added. If the game is still tied after the overtime, another period is added until a team scores, which wins the match. Since 2019, the IIHF World Championships and the gold medal game in the Olympics use the same format, but in a 3-on-3 format.

 

SPORTS

 

RESOURCES
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ice Hockey" which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.