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Rule 637 | Throwing Stick/Object

Rule 637 | Throwing Stick/Object

(a) A minor penalty shall be assessed to any player on the ice who shoots or throws any portion of their stick or any other object in the direction of the puck or to a teammate.

(Note) When a player discards the broken portion of a stick by tossing it to the side of the rink (and not over the boards) in such a way as will not interfere with play or an opposing player, no penalty shall be assessed.

However, a penalty shot/optional minor penalty shall be awarded to the non-offending team if a stick or any other object is shot or thrown at the puck in the offending team’s defending zone. The Referee shall allow play to be completed and provided no goal is scored, the penalty shot/optional minor is awarded to the player who was in possession or last in possession of the puck. If the player fouled is not readily identified, the Captain of the non-offending team shall select the player to take the penalty shot from those players who were on the ice at the time the infraction occurred.

(b) A penalty shot/optional minor penalty shall be awarded to the non-offending team any time any portion of a stick or other object is shot or thrown from the playing surface or team bench at an opponent during a breakaway. The Referee shall allow the immediate play to be completed and provided no goal is scored, the penalty shot/optional minor is awarded to the player who was in possession of the puck.

For the purpose of this rule a “breakaway” is defined as follows: A player who is in possession and control of the puck (see Glossary), is beyond his defending blue line with no opponent between him and the goalkeeper.

A goal shall be awarded to the non-offending team if the goalkeeper has been removed from the ice and the stick or other object is thrown or shot in the direction of the puck and prevents an obvious and imminent goal.

(c) A misconduct penalty shall be assessed to any player who throws any portion of his stick or any other object outside of the playing area. A game misconduct penalty shall be assessed if done in protest of an official’s decision or if thrown at or in the direction of a spectator.