Sin bin: How to find your way into the NHL penalty box

By Jesse Granger

Tuesday, May 16, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Most penalties in hockey are obvious enough to spot, meaning if you find yourself wondering if something done on the ice is legal, it probably isn’t.

Don’t punch, trip or elbow the opponent, and keep your stick from spearing them or hitting them in the teeth. The more severe the foul is, or the more blood it draws, the longer the penalty.

Minor penalties such as tripping and hooking make up the vast majority of those called in the NHL — 8,115 of the 8,891 penalties called this season were minors and earn the perpetrator two minutes in the penalty box. However, if the penalty causes an injury, such as blood coming from the nose or face resulting from a high stick, it gets upgraded to a double-minor and four minutes in the “sin bin.”

Five-minute major penalties are rare and typically reserved for fighting. Match penalties, when a player deliberately attempts to injure an opposing player, are even less common. Players called for match penalties are immediately ejected from the game and their team must play shorthanded for five minutes.

Many of the penalties — elbowing, kneeing, head-butting, kicking or throwing equipment — are self-explanatory and considered minor infractions. Here is a list of some of the others:

High-sticking

High-sticking is when a player’s stick makes contact with an opponent above the shoulders. As NHL rules state, “Players must be in control and responsible for their stick,” at all times, so accidental high-sticking is still a foul.

The exceptions are if the high stick is part of the normal windup and follow through of a shot, or if the high stick occurs when the opposing center is crouched during a face-off.

While high-sticking is a minor penalty, it’s one of the fouls most commonly upgraded to a double minor because it can easily cut a player’s face. Players are ejected from the game and suspended if they intentionally hit a player above the shoulders with a stick.

Tripping

Tripping is the most common penalty in the NHL. Per the NHL rulebook, “a player shall not place the stick, knee, foot, arm, hand or elbow in such a manner that causes his opponent to trip or fall.”

There were 1,325 tripping calls in the NHL 2015-16 regular season, which is more than once per game. Dozens of accidental trips happen within every hockey game and are not penalized. The officials will only call a penalty if they believe the trip was intentional.

Hooking

Hooking is another common foul in the NHL, happening 1,269 times during the regular season, and is called when a player impedes an opponent’s skating by hooking them with the blade of their stick.

It generally happens when a defender is caught off guard and wants to prevent the forward from blowing by them on the way to the net. While it is possible for hooking to be upgraded to a major if the foul causes an injury, it’s very rare.

Delaying the game

Delaying the game is most-commonly called when a player shoots the puck directly over the boards and into the stands. If the puck deflects off a player, stick or the boards on its way out, no penalty is called. It’s also not a penalty if the puck is lifted into the team bench area.

Another form of delay occurs when a player “holds, freezes or plays the puck with his stick, skates or body in such a manner as to deliberately cause a stoppage of play.” It usually occurs when the puck is against the boards and a player falls to the ice and grabs the puck with a glove — particularly if their team is winning with time running down.

Other ways players can be booked for delaying are purposely knocking the goal out of its position or a goaltender playing the puck behind the goal-line and outside of the area behind the goal often referred to as “the trapezoid.”

Diving/embellishment

Are you tired of watching soccer and basketball players flip their head back in anguish after an elbow swiftly glides by, completely missing their face?

Welcome to the new favorite rule of the NHL. Hockey has no tolerance for floppers, fakers and embellishers and punishes them with two minutes in the penalty box.

It is defined by the NHL rulebook as, “Any player who blatantly dives, embellishes a fall or a reaction, or who feigns an injury,” and the rule is called actively by officials.

Players can also be fined after their second offense, with fines starting at $2,000 and escalating up to $8,000 for multiple offenses. If a player commits four or more embellishment fouls during a season, the head coach begins to receive fines as well.

Interference

Interference is when a player impedes the progress of an opponent who is not in possession of the puck. According to the official NHL rulebook, “The last player to touch the puck, other than the goalkeeper, shall be considered the player in possession. The player deemed in possession of the puck may be checked legally, provided the check is rendered immediately following his loss of possession.”

It’s rarely called, but interference can also occur when a player intentionally hits a dropped stick away from the player who dropped it on the ice.

There is also a separate foul called "goaltender interference," which prevents any player from touching the goalie to prevent him from making a save or standing in the goal crease. It’s also called if a player hits the goaltender when he ventures behind the net to stop a puck that is dumped in.

Slashing

If you see a broken stick on the ice and the official’s arm raised in the air, it’s probably to call slashing.

It’s when a player commits a “forceful or powerful chop with the stick on an opponent’s body, the opponent’s stick, or on or near the opponent’s hands that, in the judgment of the referee, is not an attempt to play the puck.”

Not every little slash is called a penalty or there would be a player in the box at all times. Players are constantly hitting sticks, shins and pads with the stick but as long as they are attempting to play the puck and not overly blatant, a penalty is usually not called.

Holding

A common penalty that is called when a player grabs an opponent to restrain or impede his progress, whether or not he is in possession of the puck.

Spearing

Whenever a player stabs at an opponent with the point of the stick blade, whether contact is made or not. Many players consider spearing one of the dirtiest penalties in the sport.

Cross-checking

There are tons of ways to hit a player on the ice legally, but cross-checking isn’t one of them. It’s called when a player holds his stick up with both hands and smashes the shaft of it into an opponent.

It’s generally done to the back of an unsuspecting opponent and can lead to serious injuries if they fall face-first into the boards — hence why it’s illegal.

Checking from behind

Hundreds of players will get checked from behind during a hockey game, and it’s usually not a penalty. It’s only a penalty if the hit is "delivered on a player who is not aware of the impending hit, therefore unable to protect or defend himself.”

Players who see an opponent heading toward them to deliver a bone-crushing hit against the boards cannot turn their back and draw a penalty.

Boarding

A similar penalty that is defined as, “Any player who checks or pushes a defenseless opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to hit or impact the boards violently or dangerously.”

Roughing

Defined by the NHL rulebook as, “a punching motion with the hand or fist, with or without the glove on the hand, normally directed at the head or face of an opponent.”

It’s usually called when players appear to be starting a fight, but the fight doesn’t transpire or is broken up by officials.

Clipping

Defined as, “The act of throwing the body, from any direction, across or below the knees of an opponent,” and is seen as one of the dirtiest penalties in hockey.

That’s because taking out an unsuspecting player’s knees can cause serious long-term injury. Recently in the first round of this year’s playoffs, Capitals star Alex Ovechkin was flipped onto the ice when Nazem Kadri of the Maple Leafs took out his knees. Ovechkin was eventually able to return to the game but many players aren’t as lucky.

Charging

One of the most difficult penalties to call in the NHL, it’s is defined as, “A player who skates or jumps into, or charges an opponent in any manner.”

It’s easy to see why this penalty is rarely called. These types of plays happen hundreds of times throughout a hockey game and are deemed legal. For a hit to be considered charging, the player must either leave his feet or take three strides without gliding prior to hitting the player.

Too many men on the ice

Hockey is one of the only sports in which players are constantly substituting in and out of the game with no stoppage in play. Line changes are chaotic because of the need for speed and can sometimes result in penalties if done incorrectly.

Teams are allowed five skaters and one goaltender on the ice at once. When a player comes to the bench to sub out of the game, they must be within five feet of the bench for their sub to come onto the ice. If they are farther than five feet from the bench when the sub’s skates touch down, the team can be called for too many men.

It can also be called even if the player is within five feet of the bench, if either player touches the puck or participates in the play.

Fighting

It’s one of the signatures of professional hockey. This season 745 major penalties for fighting were handed out across the league. Anaheim led the way with 46 while Carolina had only six.

Everyone knows what a fight looks like, but in a sport that involves violent hits, scrapping along the boards and post-whistle scrums with regularity, the line may be difficult to draw.

According to the NHL rulebook, “A fight shall be deemed to have occurred when at least one player punches or attempts to punch an opponent repeatedly or when two players wrestle in such a manner as to make it difficult for the linesmen to intervene and separate the combatants.”

Unlike most rules, which are fairly cut and dry, the NHL allows officials a great deal of flexibility when it comes to fighting because there are so many factors that go into it.

“The referees are provided very wide latitude in the penalties with which they may impose under this rule,” the rulebook states. “This is done intentionally to enable them to differentiate between the obvious degrees of responsibility of the participants either for starting the fighting or persisting in continuing the fighting. The discretion provided should be exercised realistically."

In most instances both players involved in a fight receive 5-minute major penalties. If one player is deemed an “aggressor” because they continued to throw punches after clearly winning the fight to inflict injury on a player not defending himself, there can be much stronger repercussions like fines and suspensions.

Jesse Granger can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Jesse on Twitter at twitter.com/JesseGranger_.