Understanding the Game
Are you considering bringing a Women's Hockey League to your community? Follow the link below on "How to Build a Hockey League" as it is a great resource to get you started!
- How to build a Hockey League
- CARHA Official Rule Book
- Basic Face-Off Positioning
- Basic Penalty Kill Formation
- Basic Power Play Formation
- Referee Signals & Descriptions
Game Rules & Glossary
What is an offside?
An offside is when the player from the other team crosses the other team's blueline when attacking the other team's offensive zone before the puck. A player who is offside must touch the puck in order for the whistle to be blown. Once the whistle is blown, the faceoff comes back out of the zone and will the faceoff will become a neutral zone faceoff.
What is an icing?
A team is guilty of icing the puck when a player from their own team dumps the puck from behind the redline into the opponent's zone past the goal line away from the net.
Icing is rule put in place to prevent teams dumping the puck deep into their opponents end in order to use up the clock to avoid playing defence.
What is a powerplay (PP)?
A powerplay is a situation where a team has a greater number of players on the ice because the opposing team is being penalized. The minimum amount of players the penalized team can have on the ice following more than one penalty at a time is three.
What is a penalty kill (PK)?
A Penalty Kill is when the team who has the penalty tries to prevent the opposing team from scoring on a powerplay.
What are minor penalties?
A minor penalty is served for 2 mins minimum. The penalty ends when the full 2 mins is up or the penalty ends immediately when there is a goal scored by the opposing team. Examples of minor infractions include:
- Tripping
- Holding/Holding the stick
- Hooking
- Interference/Goaltender Interference
- Slashing
- High-Sticking
- Cross-Checking
- Delay of Game
- Roughing
- Elbowing
- Unsportsmanlike Conduct
- Diving
What are major penalties?
A player penalized for a major penalty is sent to the box for a minimum of 5 mins. If the player was injured on the play, or if there was an attempt to injure, at the referee's discretion, a minor penalty can be upgraded to a major penalty. Also, depending on the severity of the injury, the penalized player can be ejected and a teammate is to serve the penalty.
What is a substitution?
A substitution of a player is unlimited throughout the game. It is the replacement of a player from the ice surface to the bench. Players must be a maximum 5 feet from the bench when subsitution is done during the play (on the fly). Subsitutions can be done during the on going play of the game or at the stoppage of a whistle or of the clock. If a substitution is made when the referee blows their whistle, teams can sub their players until the referee's arm is signed up.
What is a breakaway?
A breakaway is an opportunity during the game where 1 player beats all defending players on the opposing team resultying in a 1 on 1 situation with the goalie.
What is a penalty shot?
A penalty shot is a shot awared to a player who lost a clear scoring opportunity on a breakaway.
What is overtime?
Overtime is a method of determining who wins or loses the game when the score is tied after regulation time. An overtime period is assessed before a shootout if the score is still tied after the overtime period.
What does short-handed mean?
Being short-handed is a term used when a team has fewer players on the ice than the opposing team during the play as a result of a penalty.