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What is the definition of icing in hockey?
1. Icing refers to when a hockey player shoots the puck from their end of the ice and the puck crosses at least two red lines untouched, with the opponent’s red goal line being the last one crossed.
When icing is called, the puck is brought down to the side of the ice that the puck was shot from for a face-off.
What does icing mean in hockey?
Icing in hockey means that the puck crosses over two red lines on the ice, including center red line and the opposing team’s goal line, without being touched by another player. The call results in a brief stoppage of play before an ensuing face-off.
A team is not called for icing if a member of their own team touches the puck before it passes over their opponent’s goal line.
What is icing used for?
Icing is used by a team’s defending players in order to get the puck as far away from their goal as possible, usually in an effort to prevent the opposing players from creating scoring opportunities. By sending the puck to the offensive zone of the team on the opposite side of the center line, the defensemen effectively turn the attacking team away. Icing can be committed intentionally if the defense believes that it will thwart a potential goal-scoring opportunity and interrupt the opposing team’s momentum.
Icing may occur accidentally if the puck travels too far without being touched after a player tries to clear it from their defensive zone. This can also happen when a defender tries to send the puck forward to be retrieved by a member of their own team for a breakaway scoring opportunity. If a team’s opponent pulls their goalie to get an attacking advantage, however, they can try to score an empty net goal from their defensive zone without being called for icing.
What are the types of icing penalties in hockey?
Icing isn’t technically a penalty. Instead, it’s a rule violation that causes a stoppage of play.
Depending on how an icing infraction occurs in a hockey game, there are a few different calls which can be made. The three variations of the ice hockey icing rule: touch icing, no-touch icing and hybrid icing.
What is touch icing in hockey?
Touch icing is called when one of the opposing players (except for the goalie) touches the puck before a player on the team who iced the puck, causing a stoppage of play.
What is no-touch icing in hockey?
Also known as automatic icing, the no-touch icing rule causes a stoppage of play as soon as the puck crosses over the opponent’s goal line.
What is hybrid icing in hockey?
Hybrid icing is called when a player on the opposing team skates to the face-off dot in their defensive zone before a player on the team who iced the puck. This encourages players to race toward the face-off dots rather than the puck, which helps to prevent injuries caused by players slamming into the boards to retrieve the puck.
How is icing called in hockey?
When a potential icing happens, an official will raise their arm up to show that they are watching the puck to determine whether a call should be made. From there, one of the following outcomes is possible:
- Icing is called: The official stops the play and brings it to the face-off dot in defensive zone of the offending team. The offending team and their opponents then engage in a face-off.
- Icing is waved off: The official lowers their arm and makes a washout signal by extending both arms at the sides, much like how a baserunner is called safe in baseball. The play continues as usual without any stoppage.
- Icing call is incorrect: If the official made a mistake in stopping the play for an icing call, the face-off takes place at center ice in the neutral zone (between the blue lines).
- Icing during a delayed penalty: When there is a delayed penalty, the face-off takes place at the attacking team’s neutral spot.
What is the point of icing in hockey rules?
When a defensive player dumps the puck down the other end of the ice, many times it is used as a delaying tactic to keep their opponent out of the zone. If there was not an icing violation rule, then defending teams could continue to hit the puck clear across the ice often without any sort of repercussion, making it a race to the end of the ice every time to gain control of the puck. With icing in effect, it encourages continuous play and basically eliminates this type of play as a stall tactic.
When was the icing rule created in hockey?
The icing rule was instated in the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1937. Up to that time, the league struggled with teams hitting the puck to the opposite end of the rink as a delaying tactic in order to maintain a lead. This led to less exciting games lacking in competitive play.
One specific game that occurred prior to the introduction of the icing rule became an extreme example of the problems icing created and contributed to the rule’s enforcement. On November 18, 1931, the New York Americans iced the puck over 50 times in an effort to hold on to a 3-2 lead over the Boston Bruins. Fans at the Boston Garden started to revolt, eventually throwing debris onto the ice, which caused a delay in the game where both teams had to temporarily go to the locker room. When the two teams played each other again the following month, the Bruins proceeded to ice the puck over 80 times.
Since the icing rule went into effect in 1937, the NHL has made a few updates to their hockey rules over the years, including:
- 1951: If the opposing team’s goaltender touches the puck, the icing infraction is waved off. This rule was later updated to state that the icing infraction is also waved off if the goalie moves toward the puck as it approaches the goal line.
- 2005: If a team ices the puck, they can’t make substitutions or line changes until after ensuing face-off. Exceptions are made for injured players, but otherwise, this rule change helps to prevent teams from deliberately icing the puck to stop play for easier substitutions.
- 2013: The hybrid icing rule goes into effect in order to minimize dangerous races to the boards to get to an iced puck. The previous season, Carolina Hurricanes player Joni Pitkänen had suffered a serious injury in this type of situation.
- 2017: Offending teams are no longer permitted to take a timeout immediately after an icing infraction.
- 2019: The offending team gets to choose the end zone dot where the face-off will take place.
Why do they call off icing in hockey?
Certain icing calls can be waved off for any of the following reasons:
- The icing team is temporarily shorthanded due to a penalty.
- The icing occurs directly from a face-off.
- The goaltender makes contact with the puck.
- The goalie leaves the goal crease to play the puck, even if they don’t touch it.
- The puck goes into the goal, giving the team who iced the puck a goal.
- The linesman determines that a player on the opposing team could have played the puck prior to it crossing the goal line.
Icing calls are also waved off if they are determined to meet the requirements for hybrid icing or touch icing.
Is icing the same thing as offside in hockey?
Offside is called if an attacking player enters their attacking zone before the puck enters the zone. This is not the same thing as icing, although players can be called offside on a long pass that might otherwise lead to an icing infraction.
Examples of how icing is used in commentary
1. Leetch misses the wing on the pass as the puck rolls all the way down the ice. The linesman calls an icing infraction, leading to an intense face-off with only minutes to go in this playoff game.
SportsLingo goes the extra-inch with the meaning of icing
There is an instance where icing is not called when the puck crosses two red lines and the goal line. When a team is shorthanded, they will not be called for icing. This is a penalty kill strategy which helps the shorthanded team run out the penalty clock while one of their team members is confined to the penalty box. The team may legally “ice the puck” during this time without incurring an icing call, a strategy which is commonly known as dumping. However, a team on the power play can still be called for icing.
Sport the term is used
1. Ice hockey
Also seen as:
1. Icing the puck