Understanding the Different Reasons for Stopping Play in Ice Hockey

Ice hockey is one of the most exciting sports to watch, especially when your child is playing. With all the action happening on the ice, it may be tough to understand why the officials must stop play, and why. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the distinct reasons for stopping play in ice hockey and what each reason means. As parents of children who play this sport, it's crucial to know what's happening on the ice, especially when your child is playing. So let's get started.

Offsides

This is one of the most frequent reasons for stopping play in ice hockey. Offsides happens when an attacking player crosses the blue line into the offensive zone (the area between the blue line and the end boards) before the puck crosses the Blueline. The attacking player(s) must wait until the puck crosses the blue line before entering the offensive zone.

Icing

Icing is another common reason for stopping play in ice hockey. This happens when a player shoots the puck from their side of the centre red Line, and the puck crosses both the centre red line and the goal line without being touched by another player. When icing is called, the face-off will take place in the defending team's zone, and the team who caused the icing will not be allowed to change players.

Penalties

In ice hockey, penalties are called when a player commits an infraction. These can include tripping, hooking, elbowing, slashing, and many other actions that may give one team an unfair advantage. When a penalty is called, the offending player must leave the ice and serve a time penalty in the penalty box, and their team will be short-handed for the duration of the penalty.

Goalie Covering the Puck

When the goalie covers the puck in ice hockey, it's a stoppage of play. This happens when the goalie has control of the puck and covers (or catches) it with his or her body or glove, preventing it from being played by either team. When this occurs, play is stopped, and a face-off takes place in the defensive team's zone.

Hand Pass

A hand pass occurs when a player intentionally passes the puck with their hand or arm to another player on their team. This type of pass is not allowed by the attacking team in the offensive zone, by either team in the neutral zone, it is allowed in the defensive zone, but only by the defending team. It is important for players to remember that a hand pass must be done in one continuous motion, if you catch and throw the puck a penalty will be assed for holding the puck.

Puck out of Play

There are times when the puck goes out of play, either by going over the boards or by hitting the netting above the glass. When this happens, play is immediately stopped, and the face-off will take place in the nearest zone. If the puck goes out of play due to a deflection off of a player or object in the rink other than the boards, the face-off will take place in the zone where the puck was last touched.

If the defensive team clears the puck over the boards in their defensive zone without being touched by a player on the attacking team a minor penalty will automatically be assed for delay of game. This rule was put in place to prevent a team form shooting the puck out of play preventing a scoring chance. In Australia many rinks that you play in do not have glass around the boards so there is some flexibly in this rule when you play at one of these rinks.

Injury

When a player is injured while on the ice, play may be stopped at the referee's discretion. The officials will determine how severe the injury is and decide if play can continue or needs to be stopped and when to stop play based on the injury rules outlined in the IIHF Rule book. If the player has to leave the ice, the team will need to substitute another player to replace them on the ice.

Understanding the reasons for stopping play in ice hockey is essential for parents of children playing the sport. While it's always exciting to watch, we must know when and why play is stopped to ensure each game is played fairly and safely. In this blog post, we’ve covered the five main reasons for stopping play in ice hockey, including offsides, icing, penalties, injury, and the puck going out of bounds. As parents, it's our responsibility to encourage our children to play fair, respect the rules of the game and have fun whilst doing so.