Penalties

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 (most forceful stick-on-body contact is illegal) and there are many infractions that a player may be assessed a penalty for. The offending player is sent to the penalty box and their team has to play without them for a short amount of time, giving the other team what is popularly termed a power play for either two or five minutes.

A two-minute minor penalty is often called for lesser infractions such as:

• tripping
• elbowing
• roughing
• boarding
• high-sticking
• too many players on the ice
• illegal equipment
• charging (leaping into an opponent)
• holding
• interference
• delay of game
• hooking
• cross-checking

Slightly more egregious fouls of this type may be penalised by a four-minute double-minor penalty. These penalties end either when the time runs out or the other team scores on the power play.

Five-minute major penalties are called for especially violent instances of most minor infractions, which result in inadvertent injury to an opponent, as well as for fighting and spearing. Ten-minute misconduct penalties are served in full by the penalised player, but his team may immediately substitute another player on the ice.

The rare match penalties are assessed for deliberate intent to inflict injury on an opponent, whether or not an actual injury occurs. The offending player is ejected from the game and immediately replaced. Major penalties, except for fighting majors, are usually accompanied by a game misconduct penalty and are always served in full: they do not terminate on a goal.

A player who is tripped by an opponent on a breakaway - when there are no defenders except the goaltender between them 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.

Officials also stop play for puck movement violations, but no players are penalised for these offences. 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 penalised two minutes for delay of game).