Basic Off-Sides:

The off-side rule was put in effect so that players would not be ‘cherry picking’: i.e. standing around down by the oppositions net as you see happen in countless road hockey games.  This rule ensures that for the most part, the team with the puck will still have to get around one or two players in the defending zone before having the opportunity to score a goal.  It actually keeps the players closer together on the ice and minimizes the number of goals scored in a game.

When a player crosses over the blue line, with both skates, into the attacking zone before the puck itself completely crosses into the attacking, a delayed off-side is signaled by the linesman as soon as the puck has crossed over the blue line.  The linesman will raise his arm straight up in the air to signify a delayed off-side. If, in the linesman’s opinion, the attacking player is about to touch the puck or make contact with a defending player who is also going after the puck, then he will usually blow down the whistle in order to avoid a situation which may cause problems or injury to the players. The linesman will definitely blow the whistle if he notices that the attacking player did not hear the linesman yelling “Off-Side” or if there is about to be a body check.

Puck Deflecting Back Into Defending Zone:

At some point in the season you may come across a situation where the defending team shoots the puck outside their defending zone into the neutral zone.  (Remember the puck is not considered in the neutral zone until it completely crosses the outer edge of the blue line.)  The puck is now in the neutral zone and it deflects back into the defending zone off of any player (it does not matter which team the puck deflects off of back into the defending zone).  This is considered a delayed off-side and it will not be nullified until all of the attacking players clear the zone at the same time.

It is important to note in this case that even if the puck hits a defending player and bounces back inside his own end zone, any players from the attacking team will be considered off-side. The puck does not have to be deflected off of an attacking player. This rule is confusing to everyone because at first glance it appears as if the puck was sent back in over the blue line by a member of the defending team.

Something else which is confusing is the fact that this rule only applies to Minor Hockey below Major Junior divisions.

Major Junior & Professional Ruling:

If you ever watch a Major Junior or Professional game you will notice that if a defending player shoots the puck into the neutral zone and the puck deflects back into the defending zone off of a player from the same team, this is not considered offside.  However, if the puck deflects back into the defending zone off of a player from the other team (attacking player) then it would be a delayed off-side and the attacking player(s) can not play the puck until it comes outside of the defending zone again.

Also, there is one more thing to mention about a delayed offside in the Major Junior or Professional leagues. The defending players must move the puck forward into the neutral zone without delaying the game in any manner, such as moving the puck towards their own net or passing to one another in the defending zone.  The linesman will blow this down due to the fact that the attacking players cannot play the puck again until it crosses into the neutral zone.

How The Lines Work!

There have been many occasions where spectators have yelled at linesmen because they thought the puck came outside the end zone?  One thing that the everyday spectator must realize is that just because 99% of the puck went over the line and 1% of the puck stayed on the line, the puck is still considered in the zone that it is coming from. “Remember that the puck must completely cross over the outer edge of any line that it is going over in order to be considered in the next zone”.   This is why no goal may be scored until the entire puck has completely crossed over the goal line.  If only 99% of the puck is in the net over the goal line then there is no goal.  

It should also be noted that the skate must be in physical contact with the ice, not up in the air. For example, if a player has the front skate over the blue line in the offensive end and then lifts his back foot during a natural stride, even if his back foot is above the blue line, if the puck is brought in at that time the player will be considered off side. A player who jumps in the air above the blue line is also considered over the line for the off-side rule.

Once again, the key factor is that either a piece of the player’s skate blade or boot must be in contact with the blue line or red line (in situations involving two-line passes) if the player is to be considered on-side for the enforcement of this rule.  

Intentional Offsides

If the linesman believes that the attacking player has heard him yelling “off-side”, saw the delayed off-side signal being made by the linesman, or if he feels that the player knows that he is off-side and that attacking player continues to pursue the puck or touch the puck, then the linesman can signal an intentional off-side and the face-off will take place at the opposite end zone face-off spot located on the same side of the ice as the infraction occurred (in the defending zone of the attacking player).

Intentional off-sides are usually done for the purpose of gaining a whistle. Often it is because the player is tired and wants a whistle to make a safe change. This rule penalizes the team committing the Intentional Off-side because the infraction disrupts the flow of the game and does not give the defending team the opportunity to take advantage of a tired or out of position opponent on the ice.  Therefore, the next best way to penalize a team committing this infraction, other than assessing a penalty, is to have the next face-off take place in the offending team’s defending zone.

Close Play At The Blue Line

If the player who preceded the puck into the attacking zone touches the puck then the linesman will blow the whistle immediately and a face-off will either take place at the neutral zone face-off spot (just outside the blue line) or from where the pass originated.  This occurs when there is a close play at the blue line and the player who is offside usually does not have enough time to realize he is offside, thus no intentional offside will be called.

Puck Shot on Net Intentionally

Another misconception of Intentional offsides is that if the attacking team shoots the puck on the net of the defending team while they have players in the attacking zone then this is an intentional off-side.  This is not true.  This rule was changed a few years ago in an attempt to keep the game flowing and minimize the number of stoppages of play.  The play shall continue and the offending team will be required to clear the zone (tag-up) before they can chase the puck that was just shot on the net.

Can You Score On An Off-side Shot?

Should the shot on net either go directly into the net or be deflected into the net off of the goaltender or another player during a delayed off-side, then the goal will not count. To clarify this point, the original shot on the net from the neutral zone caused a delayed off-side once the puck completely crossed the blue line because there was an attacking player in the end zone. Therefore, since the original shot caused the delayed off-side, this shot can not count towards a goal, regardless of whether or not the player(s) in the attacking zone causing the delayed off-side clear the zone before the puck goes in the net.

Delayed Off-Sides – Tag-Up Rule

The delayed off-side, often referred in minor hockey as the tag-up rule, allows the flow of the game to continue, thus minimizing the number of whistles in a game and reducing the time it takes to play.  In a nutshell, this rule gives an opportunity for the attacking team to completely clear the offensive zone after being guilty of having one or more players off-side, and then begin to pursue the puck once again.  While this is happening, it also gives the defending team an opportunity to regain the puck and set-up a break out before the attacking team has a chance to pressure them. 

In the case of a delayed off-side, the linesman will signal by holding his arm up high and usually yelling “off-side” so that the players know that they have a chance to clear the zone. He will keep his arm in the air and refrain from blowing the play down as long as the defending team makes an attempt to bring the puck out into the neutral zone. Once the zone is completely, and this means everyone on the attacking team is out in the neutral zone at the same time, he will drop his arm and nullify the off-side violation, thus allowing play to continue uninterrupted.

Remember that under the tag-up rule, in order for the player to be in the neutral zone, all he has to do is make sure that at least one of his skates or boots are ‘touching’ the blue line. He does not have to have both of his feet in the white part of the neutral zone. If a player has his/her skate in the air above the blue line then this is considered off-side because the player needs to have his skate in physical contact with the ice to be legal/on-side. You just have to tag the blue line.

That being said, in most cases there is more than one person who must clear the zone, so most players do in fact skate into the white part of the neutral zone. It is usually just the last player out who actually “tags” the blue line, thus nullifying the off-side and permitting his team to go after the puck again.  

One of the most important duties of a linesman involves determining the location of the face off following an offside. Most fans may not think this is all that important. After all, who really cares on which side of the rink you have the face off. Actually, most coaches, especially as you get into the higher age categories, will tell you that it makes all the difference in the world. If your centerman is a right-handed player, the position of the face-off is very important. When he takes the draw, do you want the puck going to the wide-open side of the rink or do you want it going to the board side? If the opposition’s fastest skater and most dangerous forward is on the right wing, you would want to keep him close to the boards, and not give him all the room to skate with the puck.

You can tell if a linesman is into the game by the way he signals where the face-off is to be held after an off-side. He is very definite and considers all relevant factors before making his decision.

If an off-side infraction is called on a delayed off-side, the majority of the face-offs will take place just outside the attacking zone, in the neutral zone, on the same side of the ice that the infraction occurred.  For example, when a puck contacts an attacking player accidentally as he is trying to exit the attacking zone in an attempt to tag-up with the blue line. The whistle will be blown and the face-off will take place on the side of the rink that is closest to where the puck made contact with the player. 

However, if an attacking player ‘intentionally’ touches the puck during a delayed off-side situation, then the face-off will take place in the defending zone of the attacking team on the same side of the ice that the infraction occurred. This is to penalize the team for deliberately creating an interruption of play.

If there is a close play at the blue line where one player carrying the puck over the blue line is slightly preceded by a teammate into the attacking zone, then the face-off will take place at the neutral zone face-off spot (just outside the attacking blue line) on the side of the ice closest to where the puck has crossed over the blue line calling for an off-side call.

If an attacking player has both skates inside the attacking zone and receives a pass that originated at a point closer to the red line than the neutral zone face-off dot, then the face-off will take place from where the pass originated.  It will take place on the side of the ice from which the pass originated and in line with both of the end-zone face-off dots on that side of the ice.  

Major Junior and Professional Ruling

If you ever watch Major Junior or Professional hockey games you will notice that they have a different delayed off-side rule than minor hockey.  At this level they have eliminated the tag-up rule in an attempt to get the attacking players to stick handle or pass the puck to each other in the neutral zone and break into the attacking zone as a unit.

However, there will always be delayed off-side situations at any level of hockey.  When a delayed off-side situation occurs at this level, the defending players must move the puck forward into the neutral zone without delaying the game in any manner, such as moving the puck towards their own net or passing to one another in the defending zone.  The linesman will blow this down due to the fact that the attacking players cannot play the puck again until it crosses into the neutral zone, regardless if they have all tagged up with the blue line. 

The linesman will also blow down the play if the puck does not go directly to a defending player.  For example, when the puck is shot in by an attacking player and one of his teammates are located in the attacking zone as the puck crosses completely over the blue line, the delayed off-side is signaled by the linesman (linesman raises one arm directly over his head like he is trying to reach for the ceiling).  If this puck does not go directly to a defending player that is located no deeper than the hash marks then the whistle will be blown and the face-off will take place from where the puck was shot into the attacking zone.

Crossing the Blue Line with the Puck Behind You

Players are allowed to cross the blue line with both of their skates before the puck, providing that they had both possession and control of the puck with at least one skate in the neutral zone before they bring that skate into the end zone followed by the puck.

The most common example of this situation is when a player makes a spin move on the defenceman near the blue line.  Usually, he will spin causing both of his skates to cross over the blue line and then he brings the puck over the line.  This is not an off-side because this player had at least one skate in the neutral zone when he had possession and control of the puck.  Therefore, he is allowed to bring both skates over the blue line first and then bring the puck into the attacking zone.

The key element in this situation is that he must have both possession and control of the puck. If you recall, having control of the puck means that you actually have contact with the puck. In other words, it is on the end of your stick or some other part of your body.

While this sounds pretty simple, you may have come across the following situation once or twice in the past couple of years.

A player has both skates inside his attacking zone (over the blue line) and receives a pass from the other side of the red line (his own half of the ice), but before the puck reaches the blue line the player stops the puck.  The puck is in the neutral zone and both of the player’s skates are on the opposite side of the blue line inside the attacking zone.  In order for this player to put himself back on-side the player must do either of the following:

1) The player must bring at least one skate back over the blue line into the neutral zone or on the blue line before he can pull the puck over the blue line into the attacking zone.

2) The player can also bring at least one skate back over the blue line into the neutral zone or on the blue line and then put that skate over the blue line into the attacking zone before pulling the puck over, providing that while he had the skate straddling the blue line, he was in possession and control of the puck.

Shooting The Puck Into Your Own Defending Zone

It is not considered an off-side if a player legally carries or passes the puck from the neutral zone back into his own defending zone while a player of the opposing team is in the defending zone.

In the younger divisions you usually won’t see this happen because at that age the players like to go one way when they get the puck; towards the other team’s net.  However, as the players grow and they learn how to regroup and use their defence to set up plays and breakouts you will see this happen a lot.

One situation where this happens quite frequently is when an attacking player is trying to make a move around a defenceman close to the blue line.  The defence usually pokes the puck off of the attacking player’s stick causing the attacking player to skate into the attacking zone without the puck.  The puck is now in the neutral zone and a back checking forward from the defenceman’s team picks up the puck and skates back into his/her own end zone with the puck, while the opposing player (the original attacking player) is still in the end zone.   This is not a delayed off-side because it was the defending team player who brought the puck back into his own end, not the attacking player.

Play will be allowed to continue and the attacking player who entered the attacking zone before the puck will be allowed to go after the puck now without having to clear the zone.  The same holds true if the defending player was to intentionally pass the puck back into his defending zone from either the neutral or attacking zone while an opposing player is located inside the passing/defending player’s defending zone.