Penalty (ice hockey)
A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penalties are called and enforced by the referee, or in some cases, the linesman. The offending team may not replace the player on the ice, leaving them short-handed as opposed to full strength. When the opposing team is said to be on a power play, they will have one more player on the ice than the short-handed team. The short-handed team is said to be "on the penalty kill" until the penalty expires and the penalized player returns to play. While standards vary somewhat between leagues, most leagues recognize several common varieties of penalties, as well as common infractions.
The statistic used to track penalties is called "penalty minutes" and abbreviated to "PIM". PIM is an acronym for "penalties in minutes", though the full term is rarely used today. It represents the total assessed length of penalties each player or team has accrued.
History
The first codified rules of ice hockey, known as the Halifax Rules, were brought to Montreal by James Creighton, who organized the first indoor ice hockey game in 1875. Two years later, the Montreal Gazette documented the first set of "Montreal Rules", which noted that "charging from behind, tripping, collaring, kicking or shinning the ball shall not be allowed". The only penalty outlined by these rules was that play would be stopped, and a "bully" would take place. Revised rules in 1886 mandated that any player in violation of these rules would be given two warnings, but on a third offence would be removed from the game.It was not until 1904 that players were ruled off the ice for infractions. At that time, a referee could assess a two-, three- or five-minute penalty, depending on the severity of the foul. By 1914, all penalties were five minutes in length, reduced to three minutes two years later, and the offending player was given an additional fine. When the National Hockey League was founded in 1917, it mandated that a team could not substitute for any player who was assessed a penalty, thus requiring them to play shorthanded for the duration. The penalty was shortened to two minutes for the 1921–22 season, while five- and ten-minute penalties were added two years later.
Types of penalties
Both the NHL and the International Ice Hockey Federation recognize the common penalty degrees of minor and major penalties, as well as the more severe misconduct, game misconduct, and match penalties.Quick reference chart
Minor penalty
A minor penalty is the least severe type of penalty. A minor penalty is two minutes in length. The offending player is sent to the penalty box and in most cases, his team will play shorthanded. If the offending player is the goaltender or a coach the team is given a "bench minor" penalty, then any skater who was on the ice at the time of the infraction may serve the penalty. In rare cases, when the offending player suffers an injury on the same play, whoever is on the ice at the time of the penalty may also serve the penalty, as was the case of Game 2 of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals' series during the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs, when Phil Kessel served a penalty in place of Tom Kühnhackl.A team with a numerical advantage in players will go on a power play. If they score a goal during this time, the penalty will end and the offending player may return to the ice. In hockey's formative years, teams were shorthanded for the entire length of a minor penalty. The NHL changed this rule following the 1955–56 season where the Montreal Canadiens frequently scored multiple goals on one power play. Most famous was a game on November 5, 1955, when Jean Béliveau scored three goals in 44 seconds, all on the same power play, in a 4–2 victory over the Boston Bruins.
Coincidental minor penalties occur when an equal number of players from each team are given a minor penalty at the same time. The permission of a substitute player depends on the league and the situation at the time of the infractions. In some leagues, such as the NHL, the teams will play four-on-four for the duration of the penalties if they occurred when both teams were at even strength. However, if there is already a manpower differential, then both teams are allowed to make substitutions while the penalized players will remain in the penalty box until the first stoppage in play after their penalty expires. In other competitions, such as IIHF events, coincidental penalties do not affect manpower in any situation. Coincidental minor penalties are not ended when a goal is scored by either team.
In some cases, a referee can impose a double or triple minor. The infraction is counted as two or three separate minor penalties. If a team scores a power play goal during such a penalty, only the current block of two minutes being counted down is cancelled; the penalty clock is then reset to the next lowest interval of two minutes. Expiration rules of double- or triple-minor penalties due to goals being scored are identical to that of regular minor penalties being served back-to-back.
Major penalty
A major penalty is a stronger degree of penalty for a more severe infraction of the rules than a minor. Most infractions which incur a major penalty are more severe instances of minor penalty infractions; one exception is fighting, which always draws a major. A player who receives a major penalty will remain off the ice for five minutes of play during which his team will be short-handed. A major penalty cannot end early even if a goal is scored against the short-handed team, unless the goal is scored during an overtime period. If major penalties are assessed to one player on each team at the same time, they may be substituted for, and teams will not be reduced by one player on the ice. The penalized players will remain in the penalty box until the first stoppage of play following the end of the penalties. This commonly occurs with majors for fighting.Starting with the 2019–20 season, NHL referees are required to use on-ice video review for all major penalties in order to either confirm the call or reduce the call to a minor penalty.
Under IIHF rules, every major penalty carries an automatic game misconduct penalty; in other competitions, earning three major penalties in a game results in a game misconduct penalty, though a number of infractions that result in a major penalty automatically impose a game misconduct as well.
Infractions that often call for a major penalty include spearing, fighting, butt-ending, charging, and boarding.
Misconduct penalty
A player who receives a misconduct penalty will remain off the ice for ten minutes. The player may be substituted for on the ice and may return to the ice at the first stoppage in play following the expiration of the penalty ; however, in practice, misconduct penalties are normally assessed along with two minute minor penalties. If an additional penalty is incurred with a misconduct penalty, the times run concurrently, with another eligible player serving the other penalty in the offender's place to enforce a disadvantage. For example, if a player receives a 2-minute minor plus a misconduct for boarding, two players will be sent to the penalty box: the offender and a teammate of his, frequently one who was on the ice at the time. The team is allowed to immediately substitute for the offender, so there is only a one-man disadvantage. Once the boarding penalty ends, the teammate can return to the ice, and both teams are at full strength again while the offender remains in the penalty box until the first stoppage in play after his/her ten minutes have elapsed. This is according to USA Hockey Rule 404 and NHL Rule 28. In the event the other penalty is a non-coincidental major, most adult leagues allow deferring placing the substitute player into the penalty box so long as he is in place before the major penalty expires. In such cases, only a player from the penalty box can emerge in place of the offender after the end of the major penalty.Misconduct penalties are usually called to temporarily take a player off the ice and allow tempers to cool. They are sometimes also assessed in conjunction with fighting majors, giving the offending players the opportunity to calm down as they sit out their ten minutes.
IIHF rules state that a player who gets another misconduct penalty risks a game misconduct penalty and is ejected.
Game misconduct penalty
A player or any member of any team's coaching staff who receives a game misconduct penalty is ejected, and is sent to the team's dressing room. The player may be immediately substituted for on the ice; however, in practice, game misconduct penalties are often assessed as an addition to a particularly egregious infraction that has also earned the player a two-minute minor penalty or a five-minute major penalty, in which case another player will serve this penalty in place of the ejected player. Regardless of the time during the game that the penalty is given, the player is charged with ten penalty minutes for statistical purposes for the game misconduct. This rule also applies to match penalties.In most leagues, the referee has the discretion to call a game misconduct on a player charged with boarding due to the likelihood of injury to the boarded player. However, in the NHL, if a boarded player suffers a head or facial injury, the offending player receives an automatic game misconduct.
Any player who is dismissed twice for stick infractions, boarding or checking from behind, or dismissed three times for any reason, in a single NHL regular season incurs an automatic one-match ban, and further discipline is possible for subsequent ejections. For each subsequent game misconduct penalty, the automatic suspension shall be increased by one game. Salary lost as a result of a ban is usually donated to a league-supported charity or to a program to assist retired players.
Examples of a game misconduct penalty include getting out of the penalty box before the penalty time is served, trying to join or attempt to break up a fight or earning a second misconduct penalty in the same game.