Rule Review – Issue 4
Broken Stick
The goalkeeper breaks his stick. A player of the same team obtains a goalkeeper’s stick at the players’ bench and, in the act of taking the stick to the goalkeeper, he slides it along the ice to the goalkeeper. Is this action considered to be legal?
Yes. Rule References 605(b), 625(a.7) and 637(a). No penalty would be imposed unless the stick was thrown in the direction of the puck (Rule 637) or does so for the purpose of distracting an opponent (Rule 625).
High Stick / Faceoff Location
A player high sticks the puck which deflects to an opponent. The opponent makes no attempt to play the puck, hoping to get a face-off in the offending team’s Defending Zone when the puck is first played by a member of the offending team. What should the Referee do?
The Referee should stop play and the ensuing face-off shall take place at an end face-off spot in the Defending Zone of the offending team. Rule Reference 621(c). The non- offending team has no obligation to play the puck in this instance, because of the high stick infraction committed by the opposing team.
Interference
The puck is legally in the crease. It is loose. It is sitting next to the goalie’s leg pad, with the leg horizontal to the ice. An attacking player pushes the puck in the net, along with the goalie’s leg. Goal or no goal?
An attacking player may not physically interfere with a goalkeeper in his/her crease. While a puck that is located in the crease is “in play”, an attacking player may not push or otherwise force the puck into the goal by making contact with the goalkeeper.
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