Hockey becomes much easier to follow once you know why one team suddenly has an extra skater and why a whistle stops a long clear or a rush across the blue line. Power plays, icing, and offside are three of the situations a first-time NHL fan will notice most.
Quick answer: A power play gives one team a skater advantage after a penalty; icing stops play after certain long clears; and offside prevents attackers from entering the offensive zone before the puck.
If you are planning to see them from the stands, the NHL Arenas directory can help with the rest of your game-day preparation.
What is a power play in hockey?
Essentially, a power play is a player advantage. It usually begins when a penalty requires one team to play with fewer skaters, leaving the other team with more room to attack.
During five-on-five play, a typical minor penalty creates a five-on-four power play for two minutes. If the shorthanded team takes another penalty before the first one expires, the advantage can become five-on-three. A team is never reduced below three skaters on the ice.
The team with the advantage is on the power play. The shorthanded team is on the penalty kill, often shortened to “PK.” The power-play team will usually control the puck in the offensive zone while the penalty killers protect the middle of the ice and try to clear the puck.
How long does a power play last?
The type of penalty matters:
- A minor penalty normally lasts two minutes. If the team on the power play scores while its opponent is shorthanded by a minor, the earliest minor penalty on the clock normally ends.
- A double-minor penalty is served as two separate two-minute minors. A power-play goal can end the portion being served, but it does not automatically erase all four minutes.
- A major penalty lasts five minutes. It continues even if the team on the power play scores one or more goals.
Not every penalty creates a power play. Equal penalties assessed to both teams can offset and leave the teams at even strength. A misconduct or game misconduct by itself also allows a substitute, so any player advantage comes from a separate minor or major penalty assessed with it.
When an official raises an arm but play continues, you are probably seeing a delayed penalty. Play continues until the offending team gains possession and control, when the whistle stops play and the penalty is assessed. The non-offending team may send its goalie to the bench for an extra attacker because play should stop as soon as the other team controls the puck.
Regular-season overtime begins three-on-three, not four-on-four. If one team is penalized in overtime, the teams generally play four-on-three until the penalty situation ends and the on-ice strength can return to three-on-three at a stoppage.
What is icing in hockey?
Icing is a fairly simple rule. In its basic form, icing occurs when a player shoots the puck from the player’s own side of the center red line, untouched, across the opposing goal line. The whistle stops play, and the next faceoff comes back to the offending team’s defensive end.
Icing is not a penalty-box penalty. No player sits for two minutes simply because the team iced the puck. The important consequence is that the team responsible normally cannot change its skaters before the faceoff, while the other team can make a change. That can leave a tired group trapped in its own end.
How hybrid icing works
The NHL uses hybrid icing, so players do not always race all the way to the puck. Once it is clear that the puck will cross the goal line, the Linesperson judges which player would touch it first. That decision must be made no later than when the first player reaches the end-zone faceoff dots.
If a defending player would arrive first—or the race is too close to call—icing is whistled. If an attacking player would clearly reach the puck first, play continues. The rule is based on who would touch the puck first, not simply who reaches the dots first.
Icing may also be waved off when an opposing skater could have played the puck, when the puck touches an opponent, or when the goalie attempts to play it.
There is one important exception: a team that is below its opponent in numerical strength because of a penalty may shoot the puck down the ice without an icing call. The puck must leave the shorthanded player’s stick before the penalty expires for that exception to apply.
What is offside in hockey?
Offside is the blue-line rule. Players on the attacking team cannot enter the offensive zone before the puck.
More precisely, an attacking player is offside when both skates are completely over the leading edge of the blue line before the puck completely crosses it. A skate touching the blue line—or still on the neutral-zone side of it—keeps the player onside. A player already controlling the puck may carry it across even if the player’s skates cross just ahead of the puck.
When offside is called, the whistle stops play and the faceoff usually moves outside the attacking zone. In the arena, watch the blue line on a fast rush: the puck carrier must get the puck across before a teammate goes completely into the zone.
What is delayed offside or “tagging up”?
If attackers are already in the offensive zone when the puck is sent in, the Linesperson may raise an arm for delayed offside instead of stopping play immediately. The attacking players can “tag up” by clearing the zone. Once they have all cleared it, the Linesperson lowers the arm and they may enter again legally.
During the delay, an attacking player cannot touch the puck, try to gain possession of a loose puck, or pressure a defender who has it. Doing so brings the whistle and the offside call.
There is also no offside when a defending player legally carries or plays the puck back into the defender’s own zone while an opponent is already there. This is different from a puck merely deflecting back into the zone.
You may hear references to the “two-line pass.” The NHL removed its two-line offside restriction in 2005, so a pass can cross the center red line as long as the blue-line entry is onside.
What you will notice during a game
- Power play: Look at the skater count and the penalty clock. The power-play team will usually have five skaters against four in regulation.
- Icing: A long clear crosses the far goal line, the whistle sounds, and the faceoff returns to the clearing team’s end. That team will usually have to keep the same skaters on the ice.
- Offside: An attacking teammate enters across the blue line too early. You may hear an immediate whistle, or see a Linesperson hold up an arm while the attackers clear the zone.
For a first game, those three cues are enough: count the skaters, watch where a long clear begins, and follow the puck at the blue line.