NHL Rules

NHL Hockey Rules

Rules are an important part of the game of Hockey and every league has a different version of the rules. The NHL is no different. The NHL league has a set of game rules they play by.The Board of Governors is the ruling and governing body of the National Hockey League. In this context, each team is a member of the league, and each member appoints a Governor (usually the owner of the club), and two alternates to the Board. The current chairman of the Board is Boston Bruins owner, Jeremy Jacobs. The Board of Governors exists to establish the policies of the league, and to uphold its constitution.

Hockey Rink

Near each end of the rink there is a red goal line spanning the width of the ice. It is used to judge goals and icing calls. New since the 2005–06 NHL season, after testing in the American Hockey League, a trapezoid is marked behind each goalie net. The goalie can only play the puck within that area or in front of the goal line. If he plays the puck behind the goal line and not in the trapezoid, a 2-minute minor penalty for delay of game will be assessed by the referees. This rule is widely referred to as the "Brodeur rule", after New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, whose puckhandling behind the net is believed to be the cause for the rule.[2][3] In 2014, the NHL lengthened the goal-line side of the trapezoid by two feet on both sides of the net.

Game Timing

In the National Hockey League, between stoppages of play, teams have 18 seconds (five seconds for the visiting team, eight seconds for the home team, five seconds to line up at the faceoff location) to substitute their players, except during TV timeouts. TV timeouts are two minutes long, and occur three times per period, during normal game stoppages after the 6, 10, and 14 minute marks of the period, unless there is a power play, a goal that has just been scored, or the stoppage was as a result of an icing. Each team may also take one 30 second time-out, but it may only be taken during a normal stoppage of play. Each period, teams alternate nets, therefore changing attacking directions.

Scoring

A goal is scored when the puck passes entirely across the red line painted between the goal posts and below the crossbar. The player who has legally propelled the puck into the opponent’s goal (or last attacking player to play the puck in cases where the puck entered the goal as a result of the actions of the defending team) shall be credited with the scoring of the goal. Up to a maximum of two assists shall be awarded to those player(s) who had possession of the puck immediately prior to the goal being scored.

Face-offs

Face-offs are used to start play at the beginning of each period and after all stoppages of play. At all levels of play, the teams line up in opposition to one another, and one player from each team (normally the centre) face each other at a designated point on the ice. Once a game official drops the puck between the two opposing skaters' sticks, they attempt to gain control of it. The face-off procedure differs slightly between NHL and international rules. Prior to the 2015–16 NHL season, the away team's centre was required to place his stick on the ice first. Since that season, this is true only for face-offs on the centre-line dot; for face-offs in either attacking zone, the defending centre must place his stick first. Under international rules, the attacking centre must place his stick first for all face-offs.