Penalty (ice Hockey) - Enforcement of Penalties

Enforcement of Penalties

The referee(s) make most penalty calls. Linesmen generally may call only certain obvious technical infractions such as "too many players on the ice". When a penalty is called, the official will put an arm in the air; the official will stop play only once the offending team has control of the puck, or play is stopped by normal means. A delayed penalty is one in which the penalty is called but play is not yet stopped because the non-offending team retains the puck. The goaltender of the non-offending team will often go to the players' bench upon seeing the arm signal to allow an extra attacker on the ice until the play is stopped.

In the NHL, if the non-offending team scores a goal prior to play being stopped on a delayed minor penalty call, the penalty is waived. This used to be the case in college hockey as well, until the 2010-2011 season, when a rule change meant that the penalty would still be imposed even if a goal was scored. Major penalties and match penalties are enforced in the usual manner, in both college hockey and the NHL, whether or not a goal is scored.

The offending player(s) are sent to the penalty box where they must remain until the penalty has expired. Typically a team will not be allowed to replace the penalized player on the ice; the player will return directly to the ice once the penalty has expired. This creates a power play during which the penalized team will have one player fewer than their opponent and is said to be "short-handed". If two players on a team are in the penalty box at the same time, their team will be in a "five on three" situation (as is customary, the goalies are not counted in this expression). Additional players may be penalized, but a team will never play with fewer than three skaters on the ice. Additional penalties will be delayed until one of the earlier penalties has expired.

In leagues which play with a four-on-four overtime, the first penalty leaves the teams at four-on-three, while a second penalty to the same team during the first results in the opposing team adding a player, making the penalty five-on-three. If the first penalty expires without a goal being scored, the teams normally play five-on-four until the next stoppage of play when the teams will revert back to four-on-three. Similarly, in the Southern Professional Hockey League, where they play three-on-three overtime, each minor penalty results in the opposing team adding a skater to the ice. In the final two minutes of overtime, however, officials instead award a penalty shot to the team which would have received the powerplay, mainly to give the team a better chance at winning the game, since a powerplay would be cut short by the end of the game.

While goaltenders can be assessed penalties, the penalty must be served by another player from their team who was on the ice at the time of the infraction (the PIM will be charged to the goaltender). If the goaltender receives either (a) three major penalties (NHL Rule 28.2), (b) one game misconduct penalty (NHL Rule 28.4), or (c) one match penalty (NHL Rule 28.5) however, he or she is ejected for the remainder of the game and must be substituted.

While a team is short-handed, they are permitted to ice the puck as they wish. Being shorthanded during the final minutes of a game in which the opponents take their goaltender out for an extra attacker affords the short-handed team the ability to shoot at the empty net without the penalty of icing if they miss.