Offside (ice hockey) facts for kids
In ice hockey, a play is called offside if a player on the attacking team goes into the opponent's zone before the puck. Imagine it like a race: the puck must cross the blue line into the attacking zone first. If an attacking player is already in that zone when the puck enters, it's an offside. This rule helps make sure teams don't just have players waiting near the opponent's goal.
To decide if a play is offside, officials look at the position of the puck and the players' skates. The puck enters or leaves a zone when it completely crosses the blue line. A player is considered in the neutral zone if any part of their skate is on or behind the blue line. If both skates are completely over the blue line, they are in the offensive zone.
When an offside happens, a linesman will stop the game. To restart, a faceoff is held. This usually happens at a neutral spot on the ice, close to where the offside happened.
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Understanding Offside Rules
What is Delayed Offside?
The delayed offside rule means the play doesn't stop right away if a player is offside. Instead, the linesman raises an arm to signal a "delayed offside." This gives the attacking team a chance to fix their mistake.
For the delayed offside to end, all attacking players must skate back into the neutral zone. They must do this without touching the puck or checking an opponent. If an attacking player touches the puck or checks an opponent while the delayed offside is happening, the play is stopped immediately.
The National Hockey League (NHL) and International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) use similar rules for offside. A player is offside if both of their skates cross the blue line into the offensive zone before the puck. The only exception is if a player is skating backward and controlling the puck; their skates can enter the zone first.
If one player is offside, the whole team is considered offside. If a goal is scored during a delayed offside, the goal will not count, even if the attacking team clears the zone before the puck enters the net.
What is Immediate Offside?
Some hockey leagues, especially for younger players, use the immediate offside rule. With this rule, play stops as soon as an attacking player enters the offensive zone before the puck. It doesn't matter if they touch the puck or not; the play is stopped right away.
When Offside is Waved Off
There are a couple of times when an offside might not be called, even if players are in the attacking zone ahead of the puck:
- If a defending player carries the puck out of their own zone, then passes it back into their own zone, and an attacking player intercepts it.
- (In the NHL) If a defending player clears the puck out of their own zone, but it bounces off another defending player in the neutral zone and goes back into their own zone.
During a faceoff, a player can also be called offside if they line up too close to the centres before the puck is dropped. This can lead to a faceoff violation. If a team commits two faceoff violations during the same attempt to restart play, they can get a minor penalty.
Offside Pass Rule
An offside pass used to happen when a pass from a team's defending zone crossed the red line in the middle of the rink. If this happened, play was stopped, and a faceoff was held in the defending zone of the team that made the pass.
This rule was put in place to prevent long, quick passes from one end of the ice to the other. However, many leagues, including the IIHF, removed this rule in 1998. The National Hockey League also stopped using the centre red line for offside passes in 2005. This change was made to make the game faster and create more scoring chances.
History of the Offside Rule
In the very early days of hockey, it was played a bit like rugby, where you couldn't pass the puck forward. Players had to skate with the puck to move it up the ice. This meant players couldn't just wait in the offensive zone for a pass.
The first big change to this rule happened in 1905. Then, in 1927, the NHL started allowing forward passes in the neutral and defensive zones. After a season with very few goals, the league allowed forward passing in all zones in 1928–29. This immediately led to many more goals being scored!
However, this also meant players would just stand deep in the offensive zone waiting for the puck. So, on December 16, 1929, the NHL introduced the modern offside rule. The rink was divided into three zones by two blue lines.
Later, in the 1943–44 season, the centre red line was added. This was done to make the game even more open and exciting by allowing quicker counter-attacks. It allowed defending teams to pass the puck further out of their own zone.
In recent years, there were many goals being reviewed for offside using video replay. This caused complaints because it slowed down the game. Now, a team can ask for a review after a goal if they think it was offside. If the goal is ruled not offside, it counts, and the team that asked for the review gets a minor penalty.
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