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Basic Rules There are many rules in ice hockey ranging from Equipment regulations to Ice surface requirements to on ice conduct to team make up requirements. In this edition of coaches corner we will cover two of the most basic rules of the game. Firstly we will cover Off Side. Offside Rule This is perhaps the most important rule to remember. If you have previously played inline hockey and are new to Ice Hockey then you should note that there are significant differences in the Off Side Rule. This rule has been designed to prevent a player from the opposing team to plant themselves in front of your goals for the duration of the game, thus changing the focus of the game from making your way up the ice using passing and your team mates to making one pass to the guy in front of the net and attempting to score. The off side rule is as follows: The Players of the attacking team enter their attacking zone before the puck. Two main factors in determining if a play is offside are - the player's skates position - if both of the player's
skates are completely over the offensive blue line before the puck has
completely crossed the blue line then the play is offside. If the puck goes out of the attacking zone, completely crossing over the blue line then all attacking players must cross out of the zone before the puck can be brought back in by an offensive player. There can be NO offensive players in the zone when the puck is taken into the zone again. If the defensive team bring the puck back into the offensive zone then all of the attacking players are immediately back onside. An attacking player, while in an offside position, cannot try to take the puck when it is in their offensive zone. They cannot try to pick up a loose puck and cannot apply pressure to a defensive player who has the puck in their own zone. The attacking player must immediately skate to outside of the blue line thus bringing them back into an onside position. If the puck crosses the blue line and makes the offensive players in the attacking zone offside, a player on the offensive team may "dump" the puck back into the offensive zone however all the players must first get back onside before making a play for the puck. The player who dumps the puck may not dump it on goal and may not score as the other players are in an offside position. If the player does shoot the puck on goal then a face-off will be called outside of the blue line. If a play is deemed to be offside then there will be a face-off outside of the blue line. If the referees determine that the play was deliberately offside then they may make the face-off take place in the offensive team's defensive zone. Icing Rule This is perhaps the second most important and frequently called rule in Ice Hockey. The Icing rule is called when the puck is shot by a member of the opposing team from before the Red Centre line to past the Goal Line of the other team. If the player does pass or shoot the puck from within their half of the rink to beyond the goal line then there will be a face off in the opposing teams defensive zone. This rule is enforced only when there are even numbers of players on the ice per team or when one team has more players than the other. If a team is "short handed" then they can "ice" the puck without being penalised. If the puck goes through the goal crease or if it goes
into the net then Icing is not called and a goal is awarded. If the
puck touches any part of the opposing team or if the opposing team could
have gotten to the puck before it has crossed the goal line then the
linesman may choose not to call the icing. |