The National Hockey League rules are the rules governing the play of the National Hockey League (NHL), a professional ice hockey organization. Infractions of the rules, such as offside and icing, lead to a stoppage of play and subsequent face-offs, while more serious infractions lead to penalties being assessed to the offending team. The league also determines the specifications for playing equipment used in its games.
The rules are one of the two standard sets of ice hockey rules in the world. The rules themselves have evolved directly from the first organized indoor ice hockey game in Montreal in 1875, updated by subsequent leagues up to 1917, when the league adopted the existing National Hockey Association set of rules. While designed to govern play of games organized by the league, the NHL's rules are the basis for rules governing most ice hockey leagues in North America.
The rules differ slightly from the rules used in international games organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) such as the Olympics (the NHL rules, however, are used in the World Cup of Hockey). The IIHF rules are themselves also based on Canadian rules of ice hockey dating back to the early 20th century. The NHL and IIHF differ in the treatment of fighting and in playing rules, such as icing, the areas of play for goaltenders, helmet rules, officiating rules, timeouts and play reviews.
Hockey rink
Near each end of the rink there is a red goal line spanning the width of the ice. It is used to judge goals and icing calls.
New since the 2005–06 NHL season, after testing in the American Hockey League, a trapezoid is marked behind each goalie net. The goalie can play the puck only within that area or in front of the goal line. If he plays the puck behind the goal line and not in the trapezoid, a 2-minute minor penalty for delay of game is assessed. This rule is widely referred to as the "Brodeur rule", after New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, whose puck handling behind the net is believed to be the cause for the rule. In 2014, the NHL lengthened the goal-line side of the trapezoid by on both sides of the net.
Game timing Between stoppages of play, teams have 18 seconds (five seconds for the visiting team, eight seconds for the home team, five seconds to line up at the faceoff location) to substitute their players, except during TV timeouts. TV timeouts are two minutes long, and occur three times per period, during normal game stoppages after the 6, 10, and 14 minute marks of the period, unless it is during a power play, a goal that has just been scored, or the stoppage was as a result of an icing. Each team may also take one 30 second time-out, but it may only be taken during a normal stoppage of play. Each period, teams alternate the goal they defend, therefore changing attacking directions.
Scoring A goal is scored when the puck passes entirely across the red line painted between the goal posts and below the crossbar."NHL Official Rule 78.4". National Hockey League.
A goal may be disallowed under the following circumstances:
The scoring team takes a penalty (except if the other team puts the puck into its own net untouched by the team to be penalized) The puck is directed in by an attacker's high stick (above the crossbar) The puck has been directed, batted, thrown or kicked into the net by an attacking player other than with a stick (angling one's skate so the puck deflects off it into the goal is allowed) Goaltender interference (which can also result in a penalty) The puck goes in after a referee intends to stop play (e.g. the net has been dislodged) The puck deflects off a referee or linesman and goes directly into the goal (exception to the rule that a puck hitting a referee or a linesman is still live) A goal was allowed at the other end (this can happen if a video review clarifies a goal scored prior, as happened in a game on November 15, 2010, between the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks) If a linesman reports to the referee (a) a double-minor for high-sticking, (b) a major penalty, or (c) a match penalty against the scoring team.
When a regular-season game is tied at the end of regulation, it goes into a three-on-three, five-minute overtime period after a one-minute rest period with teams reversing the attacking direction. If a goal is scored during this period, the game ends and the team that scored the goal wins the game. If there is no scoring in the five-minute overtime, the game goes into a three-round shootout with the home team given the choice of shooting or defending first. This sequence ends when one team mathematically has more shootout goals than the other, thus winning the game. If neither team emerges victorious, the shootout continues one frame at a time until one team scores and the other does not, in which case the team that scores is given the win. A team that loses a game in overtime or the shootout receives one point in the standings; the awarding of game points to losing teams is a point of debate among fans and the media.
Offside
In ice hockey, play is said to be offside if a player on the attacking team crosses the offensive blue line and into the offensive zone before the puck (unless the defensive team brings the puck into their own zone). A violation occurs when an offside player touches the puck. If a player crosses the line ahead of the puck but his team is not in possession of it, the linesman will raise his arm to signal a delayed offside; when all players from the offside team leave their offensive zone ("tag up" in the neutral zone) the linesman washes out the delayed call. When an offside violation occurs, the linesman blows the play dead, and a faceoff is conducted in the neutral zone. During the 2004–05 lockout, the league removed the "two-line offside pass" rule, which required a stoppage in play if a pass originating from inside a team's defending zone was completed on the offensive side of the center line, unless the puck crossed the line before the player. The removal of the two-line offside was one of several rule changes intended to increase overall scoring, which had been in decline since the early 1990s. The only time a player may precede the puck into the attacking zone with the puck behind in the neutral zone is if none of his teammates are in the attacking zone and the player with the puck has control of the puck in the estimation of the linesman (e.g. short-sticking/spin-o-rama).
Icing
Icing occurs when a player shoots the puck across both the center line and the opposing team's goal line without the puck going through the goal crease. When icing occurs, a linesman stops play if a defending player (other than the goaltender) crosses the imaginary line that connects the two faceoff dots in their defensive zone before an attacking player is able to. If the attacking player beats the defender for the puck, the icing is waved off. Play is resumed with a faceoff in the defending zone of the team that committed the infraction. Icing is not enforced for a team that is short-handed. If the goaltender makes a move from his net to play the puck, the icing is immediately waved off (in contrast to minor league and international hockey, where the goaltender must play the puck for it to be waved off). Icing can also be waved off if, in the officials' opinion, the defending team had a viable opportunity to play the puck before crossing the goal line. After an icing, a TV timeout cannot be called. The team who iced the puck may not make any line changes before the following faceoff, however injured players can make changes with exceptions.
Face-offs
Face-offs are used to start play at the beginning of each period and after all stoppages of play. At all levels of play, the teams line up in opposition to one another, and one player from each team (normally the centre) face each other at a designated point on the ice. Once a game official drops the puck between the two opposing skaters' sticks, they attempt to gain control of it.
The face-off procedure differs slightly between NHL and international rules. Prior to the 2015–16 NHL season, the away team's centre was required to place his stick on the ice first. Since that season, this is true only for face-offs on the centre-line dot; for face-offs in either attacking zone, the defending centre must place his stick first. Under international rules, the attacking centre must place his stick first for all face-offs.
Eligibility The Trushinski bylaw says players who are blind in one or both eyes are ineligible to play. The rule is named for Frank Trushinski, a minor league hockey player for the Kitchener Greenshirts. Trushinski lost his sight in one eye in a game in 1921, but was allowed to continue playing. In a later game, he suffered a skull fracture which cost him most of the sight in his other eye.
Helmets In August 1979, John Ziegler Jr., the president of the National Hockey League, announced that protective helmets would become mandatory in the NHL. "The introduction of the helmet rule will be an additional safety factor", he said. The only exception to the rule are players—after signing a waiver form—who signed pro contracts prior to June 1, 1979. Essentially, this grandfather clause allowed hockey's veterans to choose whether or not they wanted to wear helmets but forced all new players to wear them.
In 2013, visors in helmets became mandatory for players with 25 or less games of NHL experience. However, players who wore helmets without visors prior to the rule change may continue to wear them.
Beginning the 2019–20 NHL season, a player on the ice whose helmet comes off must either pick it up and put it on properly, or skate to the bench (with a reasonable opportunity to complete his immediate play). Otherwise, a minor penalty shall be assessed. Intentionally removing an opponent's helmet during play became a roughing offense punishable with a minor penalty.
Penalties
A penalty is a punishment for infractions of the rules. A referee makes most penalty calls while the linesmen may call only obvious technical infractions such as too many men on the ice. In the NHL, the linesmen may also stop play due to player injury, and may report to the referees, during any stoppage in play, any circumstances pertaining to major, match, or misconduct penalties, abuse of officials (physical or otherwise), unsportsmanlike conduct, or double-minor penalties for high-sticking causing injury, that were not detected by the referees.