Ice hockey penalties
Altercations often occur near the goal after a stoppage of play, since defensive players are extremely concerned with protecting their goaltender. All rulebooks call for penalties if an offensive player interferes with a goaltender’s ability to defend the goal.
A typical game of ice hockey has two to four officials on the ice charged with enforcing the rules of the game. There are typically two linesmen, who are responsible only for calling offside and icing violations, and one or two referees, who call goals and all other penalties.
In men’s hockey, but not in women’s, a player may use his hip or shoulder to hit another player if the player has the puck or is the last to have touched it. This use of the hip and shoulder is called body checking. Not all physical contact is legal — in particular, most forceful stick-on-body contact, and hits from behind, are illegal. There are many infractions for which a player may be assessed a penalty. The governing body for United States amateur hockey has implemented many new rules to reduce the number stick-on-body occurrences, as well as other detrimental and illegal facets of the game (Zero Tolerance).
For most penalties, the offending player is sent to the penalty box and his team has to play without him and with one less man for a short amount of time, giving the other team what is popularly termed a power play. A two-minute minor penalty is often called for lesser infractions such as tripping, elbowing, roughing, high-sticking, too many players on the ice, illegal equipment, charging (leaping into an opponent), holding, interference, delay of game, hooking, or cross-checking. More egregious fouls of this type may be penalized by a four-minute double-minor penalty, particularly those which (inadvertently) cause injury to the victimized player. These penalties end either when the time runs out or the other team scores on the power play; in the case of a goal scored during the first two minutes of a double minor, the penalty clock is set down to two minutes upon a score (effectively expiring the first minor). Five-minute major penalties are called for especially violent instances of most minor infractions which result in intentional injury to an opponent, as well as for fighting, checking from behind and spearing. Major penalties are always served in full; they do not terminate on a goal scored by the other team. The foul of ‘boarding’, defined as “check[ing] an opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to be thrown violently in the boards” by the NHL Rulebook is penalised either by a minor or major penalty at the discretion of the referee, based on the violence of the hit.
Two varieties of penalty do not always require the offending team to play a man down. Ten-minute misconduct penalties are served in full by the penalized player, but his team may immediately substitute another player on the ice unless a minor or major penalty is assessed in conjunction with the misconduct (a two-and-ten or five-and-ten). In that case, the team designates another player to serve the minor or major; both players go to the penalty box, but only the designee may not be replaced, and he is released upon the expiration of the two or five minutes, at which point the ten-minute misconduct begins. In addition, game misconducts are assessed for deliberate intent to inflict severe injury on an opponent (at the officials’ discretion), or for a major penalty for a stick infraction or repeated major penalties. The offending player is ejected from the game and must immediately leave the playing surface (he does not sit in the penalty box); meanwhile, if a minor or major is assessed in addition, a designated player must serve out that segment of the penalty in the box (similar to the above-mentioned “two-and-ten”).
A player who is tripped by an opponent on a breakaway – when there are no defenders except the goaltender between him and the opponent’s goal – is awarded a penalty shot, an attempt to score without opposition from any defenders except the goaltender. A penalty shot is also awarded for a defender other than the goaltender covering the puck in the goal crease, a goaltender intentionally displacing his own goal posts during a breakaway in order to avoid a goal, a defender intentionally displacing his own goal posts when there is less than two minutes to play in regulation time or at any point during overtime, or a player or coach intentionally throwing a stick or other object at the puck or the puck carrier and the throwing action disrupts a shot or pass play.
Officials also stop play for puck movement violations, such as using one’s hands to pass the puck in the offensive end, but no players are penalized for these offenses. The sole exceptions are deliberately falling on or gathering the puck to the body, carrying the puck in the hand, and shooting the puck out of play in one’s defensive zone (all penalized two minutes for delay of game).
Games are overseen by officials that are selected by the league for which they work. The most common officiating organization is USA Hockey, where referees are selected for games depending on their experience level (one, two, three, or four). Officials are divided into on-ice officials and off-ice officials.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
