Hockey moves fast and players hit hard. But when someone breaks the rules, referees step in and call penalties. Understanding hockey penalties is key to following the game and knowing why play suddenly stops. This guide will teach you everything you need to know about penalties in the NHL, from the most common infractions to the different types of penalties players receive.
What Are Hockey Penalties?
Players commit hockey penalties when they break the rules of the game. When a referee sees a penalty, they blow their whistle to stop play and send the offending player to the penalty box. This creates a power play, where one team has more players on the ice than the other. The team with more players has a huge advantage and a better chance to score.
Penalties keep the game safe and fair. Without them, players could do whatever they wanted to stop opponents, which would endanger everyone and ruin the flow of the game. Hockey penalties help refs control the game and make sure everyone plays by the rules.
Minor Penalties: The Most Common Type
Minor penalties are the most common hockey penalties. These last for two minutes, and during that time, the penalized player sits in the penalty box while their team plays short-handed. If the team on the power play scores a goal, the penalty ends early and the player returns to the ice. If they don’t score, the player comes back after the full two minutes.
Minor penalties cover a wide range of infractions. Here are the most common ones:
Tripping happens when a player uses their stick, arm, or leg to trip an opponent. Refs call this penalty frequently because players often stick out their leg or stick when trying to defend.
Hooking occurs when a player uses their stick to hold back or slow down an opponent. Players hook their sticks around opponents like a hook grabbing someone, which gives this penalty its name.
Slashing means a player swings their stick at an opponent’s body or stick with force. Light stick taps usually don’t draw a call, but hard slashes that could hurt someone always result in a penalty.
High-sticking happens when a player’s stick makes contact with an opponent above the shoulders. Even accidents count—if the stick hits someone in the head or face, the ref calls a penalty. If the high stick draws blood, it becomes a four-minute double minor penalty.
Interference gets called when a player makes contact with an opponent who doesn’t have the puck. You can only hit players who have the puck or just had it. Hitting someone nowhere near the play draws an interference penalty.
Holding is straightforward—players can’t grab onto another player with their hands to slow them down. This often happens when a player gets beaten and desperately grabs the opponent’s jersey.
Delay of game has several forms, but the most common one punishes players who shoot the puck over the glass from their defensive zone. This draws an automatic penalty with no exceptions. Players also get this penalty for closing their hand on the puck or deliberately knocking the net off its moorings.
Major Penalties: More Serious Infractions
Major penalties punish more serious infractions and last five minutes. Unlike minor penalties, the player must serve the full five minutes even if the other team scores multiple goals. This makes major penalties very dangerous for the team that commits them.
Refs call major penalties for dangerous or violent actions. Fighting results in a five-minute major for both players involved. Checking from behind draws a major penalty because hitting a player who can’t see you coming is extremely dangerous. Boarding, which means violently checking a player into the boards from a dangerous distance, can also earn a major depending on how bad it is.
When a player receives a major penalty for certain infractions like boarding or checking from behind, refs may also give them a game misconduct, which kicks them out of the game completely. The team still has to play short-handed for five minutes, but another player serves the penalty while the penalized player goes to the locker room.
Misconduct and Game Misconduct Penalties
Misconduct penalties last 10 minutes, but here’s the strange part: the team doesn’t play short-handed. Another player can go on the ice to replace the penalized player, who must sit in the penalty box for 10 minutes or the rest of the game if it’s a game misconduct.
Refs give these penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct, like arguing too much with referees, continuing to fight after the linesmen break it up, or using abusive language. They punish individual players for bad behavior without severely hurting their team’s chances of winning.
A game misconduct kicks a player out of the game immediately. They have to go to the locker room and can’t return. If the game misconduct comes with a major penalty, the team plays short-handed for five minutes. If refs call just a game misconduct by itself, the team can replace the player right away.
Match Penalties: The Most Severe
Match penalties are the most serious penalties in hockey. Refs immediately eject a player who receives a match penalty from the game and their team must play short-handed for five minutes. Refs call match penalties when they decide a player deliberately tried to injure another player.
These penalties rarely happen because they require the referee to determine intent. If a player deliberately hits someone in the head, kicks another player with their skate, or does something else clearly meant to cause injury, they’ll get a match penalty. These penalties almost always result in suspensions, meaning the player misses future games as well.
Power Plays and Penalty Kills
When one team commits a penalty, the other team goes on the power play. Most power plays run 5-on-4, meaning five skaters against four skaters (goalies always stay, so it’s really 6-on-5 total). NHL teams score on about 20% of their power plays, making these crucial moments in any game.
The team that’s short-handed is on a penalty kill. Their job is to prevent the other team from scoring until their player returns. Good penalty-killing teams use aggressive forechecking and shot blocking to survive without giving up goals.
If both teams take penalties at the same time, they might play 4-on-4 or even 3-on-3 depending on how many players get penalized. These situations create wide-open, fast-paced hockey because the ice has more room.
Double Minor and Bench Penalties
A double minor is a four-minute penalty that works like two minor penalties back-to-back. High-sticking that draws blood is the most common double minor. If the team on the power play scores during the first two minutes, only that portion ends. The player still has to serve the remaining two minutes.
Refs give bench penalties to the team as a whole, usually for having too many men on the ice or for a coach’s behavior. When refs call a bench penalty, the coach picks which player serves the penalty.
Why Understanding Hockey Penalties Matters
Learning about hockey penalties helps you understand the flow of the game. When you know why the referee stopped play and what advantages each team has, you can predict what might happen next. Power plays create excitement because the team with more players should score, but great penalty kills can shift momentum back.
Hockey penalties make the game strategic. Coaches manage their players’ penalty minutes, and taking a penalty at the wrong time can cost your team the game. Some players stay out of the penalty box consistently, while others rack up penalty minutes by playing physical.
Understanding these rules makes watching hockey more enjoyable. You’ll know why fans get upset at certain calls, why coaches argue with refs, and why announcers get excited during power plays. Hockey penalties form a fundamental part of the game, and now you know exactly how they work.
Conclusion
Hockey penalties keep the game fair, safe, and exciting. From two-minute minor penalties for tripping to game misconducts that eject players, every penalty serves a purpose. The next time you watch an NHL game and see a player skate to the penalty box, you’ll understand exactly what they did wrong and how it affects the game. Whether it’s a crucial penalty kill in the playoffs or a power-play goal that wins the game, penalties create some of hockey’s most memorable moments.