Hockey penalties are rule violations that send players to the penalty box for 2 to 10 minutes, forcing their team to play shorthanded while the opposing team gains a power play advantage.
Understanding Penalty Severity Levels
Both the NHL and the International Ice Hockey Federation recognize the common penalty degrees of minor and major penalties, as well as the more severe misconduct, game misconduct, and match penalties Wikipedia. Each severity level carries different consequences for the offending player and their team.
The penalty box sits adjacent to the timekeeper’s booth at center ice. When players receive penalties, they must leave the ice immediately and wait in this isolated area until their time expires or specific conditions are met.
Officials determine penalty severity based on intent, whether injury occurred, and the nature of the infraction. The same type of contact can result in different penalties depending on these factors.
Minor Penalties (2 Minutes)
Minor penalties are the most common infractions in hockey, sending players to the box for two minutes. The penalized team plays shorthanded with one fewer player on the ice during this time.
If the opposing team scores during the power play, the minor penalty ends early and the player returns immediately. This rule prevents teams from being overly punished by multiple goals on a single penalty.
When both teams receive minor penalties simultaneously, these are called coincidental or matching minors. Teams typically play 4-on-4 rather than 5-on-5 during these situations.
Slashing
Slashing occurs when a player swings their stick at an opponent, whether contact is made or not. The NHL cracked down significantly on slashing starting in the 2017-18 season to reduce hand and wrist injuries.
Before 2017, referees allowed players to tap opponents’ gloves to dislodge the puck. Now any forceful chopping motion results in a penalty. This rule change made slashing the most frequently called penalty in modern hockey.
Players often slash in frustration when they’ve lost the puck or can’t catch an opponent. The penalty can escalate to a major if delivered with excessive force or causes injury.
Hooking
Hooking happens when a player uses their stick blade like a hook to slow down or impede an opponent. Modern NHL standards call hooking even without contact if the stick impedes progress.
Players hook around the waist, arms, or hands to prevent opponents from advancing. The penalty is typically called when the hooked player loses control of the puck or falls as a result.
Hooking was historically one of the most common penalties before the 2017 slashing crackdown. It remains frequently called but has been surpassed by slashing in recent seasons.
Tripping
Tripping is called when a player uses their stick, leg, or arm to cause an opponent to fall. The most obvious trips involve a stick catching an opponent’s skates mid-stride.
Body contact can also result in tripping if a player uses their leg or knee to take out an opponent’s feet. Intent doesn’t matter—accidental trips still result in penalties.
Tripping often occurs during back-checking when defenders are chasing attackers. A desperate defensive play to stop a breakaway commonly results in a tripping penalty.
High-Sticking
High-sticking is called when a player’s stick makes contact with an opponent above the shoulders. All players must maintain control of their sticks below shoulder height at all times.
If high-sticking draws blood, it becomes a double-minor penalty worth four minutes. The first two-minute block can end if a goal is scored, but the second two minutes must be served fully.
Players receive high-sticking penalties during follow-throughs on shots, during battles for the puck, or when celebrating goals too enthusiastically near opponents.
Holding
Holding occurs when a player grabs an opponent using hands, arms, or legs to impede their progress. This includes grabbing jerseys, arms, or using a free hand to clutch an opponent.
The penalty prevents defenders from simply grabbing skilled players instead of using proper positioning and skating. It’s commonly called when players lose footraces and resort to grabbing.
A variation called “holding the stick” is called when a player grabs and won’t release an opponent’s stick. This prevents the opponent from making plays.
Interference
Interference is contact with a player who doesn’t have possession of the puck. Players can only legally check opponents who have the puck or just released it.
The penalty prevents teams from simply running blockers to impede opponents away from the play. It maintains that hockey is a puck-focused sport rather than allowing obstruction tactics.
Goaltender interference is a specific variation called when players make contact with the goalie in the crease. This can nullify goals even without a penalty if the contact prevented the goalie from making a save.
Cross-Checking
Cross-checking is a check delivered with both hands on the stick and arms extended, using the shaft of the stick to push an opponent. It’s essentially using the stick as a weapon rather than for playing the puck.
These checks are common in front of the net where players battle for position. Referees allow some cross-checking in these scrums but call penalties when the force becomes excessive.
Cross-checking can escalate to a major penalty if delivered with intent to injure or if the opponent is hit from behind into the boards.
Boarding
Boarding is any illegal action that violently throws a player into the boards. The most dangerous boardings occur when players are hit from behind and can’t protect themselves.
According to boarding is often escalated to a major penalty if the player is hit from behind or near the numbers, as it’s one of the top infractions leading to injury-related penalties Ice Hockey Guide. These hits cause concussions and spinal injuries.
Referees judge boarding based on the force of impact, distance from the boards, and whether the checked player was defenseless. A light check near the boards might not be called while a violent hit is always penalized.
Charging
Charging occurs when a player takes more than three strides before delivering a body check, resulting in excessive force. It also applies when players jump into hits or don’t brake before contact.
The penalty exists to prevent players from building dangerous speed before crushing opponents. Modern enforcement has become stricter as the NHL works to reduce head injuries.
Many open-ice hits that were considered clean a decade ago now fall under charging due to the speed and lack of braking involved.
Roughing
Roughing is unnecessary contact such as pushing, shoving, or punching after the whistle has blown. It’s often called during post-whistle scrums when players settle scores.
The penalty is subjective—referees determine what level of physical contact crosses from normal play into excessive roughness. Light shoving might draw warnings while punches always result in penalties.
Roughing often results in matching minors when both players engage in the altercation equally. This keeps both teams at even strength while penalizing the behavior.
Elbowing and Kneeing
Elbowing involves using an extended elbow to deliver an illegal body check. Players must keep elbows tucked when checking—extended elbows targeting the head are particularly dangerous.
Kneeing is using the knee to check an opponent’s legs or body. Like elbowing, it’s a targeted use of a body part other than the shoulder for checking.
Both penalties are called strictly because they frequently cause injuries and represent dangerous play that can end careers.
Double-Minor Penalties (4 Minutes)
Double-minor penalties last four minutes and function as two consecutive minor penalties. The most common double-minor is high-sticking that draws blood.
If the opposing team scores during the first two minutes, only that portion ends—the remaining two minutes must still be served. This prevents injured players from immediately facing another goal against.
Spearing, butt-ending, and other stick infractions can also warrant double-minors if they cause injury without rising to the severity of a major penalty.
Major Penalties (5 Minutes)
Major penalties are five-minute infractions for severe violations, typically involving intent to injure or resulting in injury. The full five minutes must be served regardless of how many goals the opposing team scores.
Fighting is the most common major penalty. When players drop their gloves and exchange punches, both receive five-minute majors. Teams play 4-on-4 during fighting majors since both players are penalized.
Any minor penalty can become a major if officials determine there was deliberate intent to injure. Cross-checking, boarding, and charging commonly escalate to majors when delivered violently.
The five-minute power play creates significant scoring opportunities. Teams average roughly 20% success on standard two-minute power plays, but five-minute majors often result in multiple goals.
Misconduct Penalties (10 Minutes)
Misconduct penalties are 10-minute penalties for unsportsmanlike behavior that don’t create a power play. The team can immediately substitute another player, maintaining even strength.
Misconducts are typically assessed for abusive language toward officials, excessive arguing about calls, or intentionally disrupting the game. They serve as serious warnings to players to control their behavior.
If a player receives two misconducts in one game, they’re automatically ejected. The 10 minutes is served but doesn’t disadvantage the team numerically.
Misconducts are often combined with minor penalties, creating a “two-and-ten” situation where the team plays shorthanded for two minutes while the offending player sits for 10 minutes total.
Game Misconduct Penalties
Game misconduct penalties result in immediate ejection from the game. The player must leave the ice and go to the locker room, unable to return.
The team can immediately replace the ejected player, so game misconducts don’t create power plays. They’re purely punitive measures for egregious behavior or dangerous play.
Common reasons for game misconducts include deliberately injuring opponents, extreme abuse of officials, leaving the penalty box to join fights, or accumulating too many other penalties.
In playoffs, players receiving game misconducts often face automatic suspensions for subsequent games pending league review.
Match Penalties
Match penalties are the most severe penalty type, resulting in ejection and a mandatory five-minute shorthanded situation for the offending team. Unlike game misconducts, match penalties create a significant on-ice disadvantage.
Match penalties are assessed for deliberate attempts to injure opponents. They’re rare and typically involve extremely dangerous plays like kicking, head-butting, or deliberately striking an opponent’s head.
Players receiving match penalties are suspended indefinitely pending Commissioner review. They almost always face additional game suspensions and substantial fines.
The distinction between game misconduct and match penalties is important: game misconducts punish behavior, while match penalties punish actions intended to cause serious injury.
Penalty Shot
Penalty shots are awarded instead of a minor penalty when a player is fouled from behind on a clear breakaway or when a defending player (other than the goalie) covers the puck in the crease.
The fouled player gets one chance to skate in alone from center ice and attempt to score against only the opposing goaltender. All other players are removed from the ice during the attempt.
If the shooter scores, no penalty time is assessed. If they miss, the game continues with no power play. Penalty shots are dramatic moments that often decide close games.
Teams cannot challenge or review whether a penalty shot was warranted once awarded. The referee’s judgment is final.
Delay of Game Penalties
Specific delay of game infractions result in automatic minor penalties. The most common is shooting the puck over the glass from the defensive zone.
Players cannot shoot the puck directly out of play from behind the center line in their defensive zone. This prevents teams from intentionally stopping play to get line changes or rest during defensive pressure.
Other delay of game penalties include deliberately displacing the net, refusing to provide the proper number of players after warnings, or excessive equipment issues.
These penalties are objective—there’s no judgment involved. If the puck goes over the glass from the defensive zone, it’s always a penalty regardless of intent.