Penalty (ice hockey)

A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for inappropriate behaviour. A referee makes all penalty calls. A linesman may call only obvious technical infractions such as too many men on the ice. The statistic used to track penalties is called penalties in minutes (PIM).

During a penalty, the player who committed the infraction is sent to the penalty box. In most cases, the penalized team cannot replace that player and is thus shorthanded for the duration of the penalty. Normally, hockey teams have five skaters (excluding the goaltender), so if one penalty is called, play becomes five-on-four.

This is called a power play for the attackers and a penalty kill for the defenders. A team is far more likely to score on a power play than during normal play. If the penalized team is scored on during a minor penalty, the penalty immediately ends.

When a penalty is called, play is not stopped until the penalized team gains control of the puck. Thus, deliberately taking a penalty will not stop an offensive onslaught by the opposing team. During delayed penalties, the other team's goaltender will often leave the ice to add an extra attacker, as it is impossible for the opposition to score.

When a goaltender draws a penalty, he does not go to the penalty box. His penalty is served by a player that was on the ice at the time of the infraction. A bench minor – a penalty assessed to the team as a whole or a team official – is also served by a player on the ice at the time of the infraction. The coach may choose which player he wishes to serve the penalty in either of these situations.

Types of penalties

Minor

Lasts for up to two minutes. If a team scores on the power play, a minor penalty expires – the penalized player may return to the ice.

Double minor

Lasts for up to four minutes. Served as two minor penalties: If a power play goal is scored during the first two minutes, only the first minor expires – the player must serve another minor penalty.

Major

Lasts for five minutes. The penalized player must serve the entire penalty regardless of whether or not the opposing team scores on the power play.

Misconduct

Lasts for ten minutes. This is a penalty to the player only; his team is not shorthanded during a misconduct.

Game misconduct

The player is ejected from the game. This is a penalty to the player only; his team is not shorthanded.

Match

The player is ejected from the game, automatically suspended from the league until a hearing is conducted, and another player must serve a five-minute penalty similar to a major. This penalty exists in amateur hockey only.

Penalty shot

A player is given an attempt to score a goal without opposition from any defending players except the goaltender.

By far, minor penalties are the most common. Major penalties are assessed for infractions that could result in injury such as boarding and fighting. Misconducts and game misconducts are given when injury results and for persisting in the verbal abuse of a player, coach, or official. Match penalties are given for deliberate injury and attempted injury and serious disrespect of game officials, such as a coach refusing to let his team play a game.

For especially egregious infractions, a player will be suspended for a fixed number of games. In professional leagues, the player does not collect his salary during the suspension. Suspensions are not assessed during a game (except in the case of a match penalty), but decided in a hearing of league officials.

For infractions that are too minor to deserve a penalty such as icing, hand passes, and offsides, the team is penalized by a faceoff closer to their end.

Coincident penalties and penalty expiration

When two penalties of the same type (for example, two minor penalties) occur during the same stoppage of play, they are said to be coincident. In most leagues, coincident penalties do not cause a team to be shorthanded; the penalized players must sit in the penalty box for the duration of the penalty, but the teams remain at the same on-ice strength.

In the NHL, when the teams are at full strength and coincident minors occur, both teams must play one man down: play is four-on-four. If coincident minors occur when either team is already shorthanded, the teams remain at the same numerical stength. When coincident majors, such as those for fighting, occur, the teams stay at full strength.

Coincident penalties are determined by time alone, not by the individual penalties. For example, if during a stoppage of play, one player is assessed a double minor penalty and two players from the other team are assessed minor penalties, those penalties are considered coincident and play remains at five-on-five.

Teams must have at least three skaters on the ice. If a team that already is down to three men is penalized, that penalty does not start until one of the previous penalties expires. In this situation, the newly penalized player must sit in the box right away. When the original penalty expires, that player may not return to the ice until a stoppage of play. This way, his team still has three players on the ice when his penalty expires.

Minor penalties only expire when a team is shorthanded. If play is five-on-five, four-on-four, or three-on-three and a goal is scored, no penalties expire.

NHL records

The record for the most penalty minutes in one season is held by Dave Schultz of the Philadelphia Flyers with 472 in the 1974-75 NHL season. The record for most penalty minutes in a career is held by Dave "Tiger" Williams who had 3966 over 14 years.

The most penalties in a single game occurred in a fight-filled match between the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers on March 5, 2004 when 419 penalty minutes were handed out.

List of penalties

In the NHL, infractions that result in penalties include:

Attempt to injure

Deliberately trying to seriously harm an opponent

Boarding

Pushing an opponent violently into the boards

Butt-ending

Jabbing an opponent with the end of the shaft of the stick

Clipping

Delivering a check below the knees of an opponent

Charging

Taking more than three strides before hitting an opponent

Checking from behind

Hitting an opponent from behind

Cross-checking

Hitting an opponent with the stick when it is held with two hands

Delaying the game

Deliberately stalling the game (for example, deliberately shooting the puck out of play, holding the puck in the hand, refusing to send players out for a faceoff)

Elbowing

Hitting an opponent with the elbow

Head-butting

Hitting an opponent with the head

High sticking

Hitting an opponent with a stick above shoulder level

Holding

Grabbing an opponent or his stick with the hands or stick

Hooking

Using a stick as a hook to slow an opponent

Interference

Impeding an opponent who does not have the puck; checking or otherwise impeding a goaltender

Kneeing

Hitting an opponent with the knee

Roughing

Pushing or throwing punches

Slashing

Swinging a stick at an opponent

Spearing

Stabbing an opponent with the stick

Tripping

Using a stick or body to trip an opponent

Unsportsmanlike conduct

Arguing with a referee; using slurs against an opponent or teammate; playing with illegal equipment