Ice hockey rules define the parameters of the sport of

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

. The sport is governed by several organizations including the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; ; ) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries. The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey to ...

(IIHF), the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL),

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

USA Hockey USA Hockey is a national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United S ...

and others. The rules define the size of the

hockey rink An ice hockey rink is an ice rink that is specifically designed for ice hockey, a competitive team sport. Alternatively it is used for other sports such as broomball, ringette, rinkball, and rink bandy. It is a rectangle with rounded corners an ...

where a game is played, the playing and safety equipment, the game definition, including time of play and whether tie-breaking methods are used and the actual playing rules themselves. The IIHF rule book is used in both amateur and professional leagues worldwide. The NHL's rule book is the basis for the rule books of most North American professional leagues. The IIHF, amateur and NHL rules evolved separately from amateur and professional Canadian ice hockey rules of the early 1900s. Hockey Canada rules define the majority of the amateur games played in Canada. USA Hockey defines the same for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(US). US

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

leagues use the

National Federation of State High School Associations The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) is the body that writes the rules of competition for most high school sports and activities in the United States. NFHS's headquarters are located in White River State Park in Indi ...

rule book, and varsity

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

hockey is governed by the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's rules. Hockey Canada and USA Hockey's rule books differ primarily in technical matters such as the severity of penalties handed out for various fouls. IIHF rules differ a bit more due to the differences in the dimensions of North American

s from those in the rest of the world. In recent times, both USA Hockey and Hockey Canada have been trying to make their rules more similar to the international rules. The merits of this move toward a more standardized rule book, however, are debated in amateur hockey circles. In recent years, the low scores of NHL games have prompted the league to debate a wide variety of rule change proposals including enlarging the size of the goal, widening the blue and red lines to create a larger offensive zone, restricting where

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

s can handle the puck, breaking ties with a

penalty shot A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a Goal (sport), goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or k ...

shootout, and eliminating the two-line pass rule.

References

* ;Notes

External links

Historical Rules

NHL Rules 2010/11

2021-2022 NCAA Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Rules and InterpretationsUSA Hockey
{{Ice hockey navbox

See also

References

External links