Hockey penalties
In men's hockey, but not in women's, a player may use his hip or shoulder to hit another player if the player has the puck or has just passed it. This use of the hip and shoulder is called body-checking. Expressly forbidden are:
boarding (throwing an opponent violently into the boards) butt-ending (jabbing an opponent with the shaft of one's stick) charging (taking more than two steps toward an opponent before body-checking him) clipping (throwing one's body across or below an opponent's knees) cross-checking (hitting an opponent with the shaft of the stick while both one's hands are on the shaft and while extending one's arms) elbowing (impeding or striking an opponent with one's elbow) failing to keep the puck in motion (delay of game) fighting high-sticking (hitting an opponent with a stick helld above the shoulders) holding (impeding an opponent with hands or arms) holding an opponent's stick hooking (impeding an opponent with one's stick) interference (body-checking an opponent who does not have the puck or who has not just passed it) kneeing (hitting an opponent with one's knee) roughing (a less serious form of fighting) slashing (swinging one's stick at an opponent, except at his shins or pants, whether or not contact is made) spearing (jabbing or attempting to jab an opponent with the blade of one's stick) throwing one's stick at the puck or in the defending zone tripping (impeding an opponent by using one's body or stick around his legs to make him lose his balance) Other serious infractions include delay of game (shooting the puck out of bounds, for example, or deliberately dislodging the goalposts) and holding the puck if one is not the goaltender. The penalty for these infractions is the removal of the offending player from the ice for a set period during which his team may not replace him. That is, they must play shorthanded until he returns. A minor penalty is removal for two minutes or until a goal is scored by the unpenalized team.
In the NHL, a double minor penalty is assessed for head-butting.
A major penalty of five minutes is assigned for more serious infractions, including checking from behind and causing injury while committing a penalty which would otherwise be punished with a minor penalty; the player must serve the full five minutes regardless of the number of goals scored against his or her team. A misconduct penalty is given chiefly for disrespect to the officials; it lasts ten minutes, but the player's team does not have to play shorthanded. Game misconduct and match penalties (for attempting to injure an opponent, kicking, etc.) result in the expulsion of the player from the game.
A penalty shot is awarded in the National Hockey League for offences such as fouling a player with the puck who is advancing towards the goaltender with no defenders in his way. All players but the goaltender and the fouled player leave the ice, the puck is placed at centre ice, and the fouled player is allowed to advance with the puck and take one shot (rebounds do not count). If his shot is successful he is awarded a goal.
When an infraction is committed, play stops if the offending team is in possession of the puck. If it is not in possession of the puck, play continues until the offending team is in possession of the puck or play stops for other reasons. If a goal is scored against the offending team, any minor penalty is waived. The goaltender of the non-offending team usually leaves the ice to be replaced by a forward when a penalty call is delayed.
A team playing with more players than a penalized team is said to be on the power play. Icing is not called against the shorthanded team on a power play. Special tactics are used when playing with an advantage in numbers.