QUESTION: Are there rules for off-ice officials to follow? Scorekeepers and tournament directors in particular is what I am interested in. I see that there are rules governing what on-ice officials must wear and conduct themselves. I am looking for the same informatio for off-ice officials.
ANSWER: Generally speaking, all Off-ice Officials are expected to follow the USA Hockey Code-of-Conduct for Officials. However, since most Off-ice Officials are volunteer parents there are no uniform requirements.
QUESTION: What penalty would you assess to a player who lifts his stick on a face-off, striking the linesman in the face and sending him to the hospital for stitches? Not necessarily intentional, but certainly reckless.
ANSWER: While we certainly sympathize with the injured official, and wish him or her a quick and complete recovery, there is no penalty that can be assessed in this situation assuming the incident was an accident.
QUESTION: A delay offside is in effect on a shoot in, the player in the offside position clears the zone and after this the puck hits the end boards and back off the defenseman's skate and into the net. Is this a legal goal.
ANSWER: Based on your description of the play, a goal cannot be scored when a puck is shot into the attacking zone in an offside situation.
QUESTION: I referee in a rink where the air temperature in the rink is kept warm. Because of this, the pucks tends to stick on the ice surface, this creates a lot of problems at the younger ages. We wax the pucks and this helps them slide better with more consistency and coaches seem to prefer the pucks being waxed. I have checked the rule book, rule 306, and see nothing about using wax on the puck. Is against the rules or if the league can decide if they are OK with using wax on the pucks?
ANSWER: Generally speaking, the USA Hockey Playing Rules do not prevent alterations to the puck that are done in the spirit of improving the flow of the game and allowing players from both teams to successfully pass and shoot the puck. Strictly speaking, there are no playing rules that mandate pucks must be frozen. However, this is still a common practice.
QUESTION: Is there a rule for an intentional icing? For example, a player from the opposite team can stop the puck in the neutral zone, but chooses to let it pass in order to get the icing call.
ANSWER: Rule 624(b) in the USA Hockey Playing Rules states,
“Icing shall be nullified if any of the following conditions have been met:
If, in the opinion of the Linesman, an opposing player – except the goalkeeper – has an opportunity to play the puck, and has not done so, prior to the puck crossing the goal line."