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Delayed Penalties

Situation 1

Team A has two players serving non-coincident minor penalties. Team B has one player serving a minor penalty. The teams are then assessed coincident minor penalties. Is the coincident minor penalty to the Team A player delayed until the first Team A penalty expires?

No. Rule References 408(a) and 402(f).

Coincident minor penalties are served immediately and are never considered under the delayed penalty rule.

Situation 2

Team A is short-handed by reason of three minor penalties to different players. As play continues, the first penalty expires; however, this player cannot go onto the ice until the next stoppage. If the second penalty also expires, which player, if any, returns to the ice before a stoppage?

The first player whose penalty expires returns to the ice. Rule Reference 408(b).

When two of the three penalties have expired, the team is entitled to have an additional player on the ice. The players return to the ice in the order that their penalties expire.

If the third penalty now expires without a stoppage of play, the second penalized player is allowed to return to the ice as the team is now entitled to be at full strength. In this instance, the third penalized player will wait until the stoppage of play to return.

Situation 3

Team A has three players on the penalty bench serving non- coincident minor penalties. When the minor penalty to the first player expires, the Penalty Timekeeper erroneously allows him to go onto the ice. Play continues for 20 seconds at which time Team A scores. What procedure should the Referee follow when he becomes aware of the situation prior to the ensuing face-off?

The Referee must disallow the goal and leave all penalty and game times unchanged. Rule References 408(b) and 629(b & c).

Even though this situation is a Timekeeper’s error, the clock cannot be reset due to an inadvertent penalty expiration error. To help prevent this situation from occurring, the officials should communicate clearly with the Off-Ice Officials to make them aware of potential scenarios and also be aware of when time expires in order to respond with corrective measures if an error is made.