We are continuing our ladies sports talk series on common rules and regulations in the National Hockey League (NHL). Our previous article discussed what constitutes an offside. Today, we will discuss icing.
Definition
The icing penalty is designed to prevent defensive players from indiscriminately shooting the puck to the other end of the ice. An icing penalty is called when:
- a player shoots the puck out of the defensive half across the red center line, and,
- it lands into the offensive zone where the puck crosses the goal line, and,
- it is touched by an opposing player other than the goalie.
But It’s Not Always Straightforward…
Icing is not called if :
- an offensive player from the same team gets to the puck before the defense, or,
- the puck is played by the goalie.
If either happens, the team which committed the icing infraction will have the faceoff brought back to the closest defensive zone faceoff circle to where the puck was shot.
As with all rules there are exceptions. During periods of play when a team is playing “shorthanded” due to a penalty, the shorthanded team may ice the puck without penalty.
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