Hockey 101 - The Penalty Shot
Written by Brian Schrembs on June 5th, 2009 | 1 CommentOne of the most exciting moments in all of hockey is when a penalty shot is awarded. Now, unlike our favorite hockey video games, there isn’t a little ‘ding’ to indicate when a player is considered to be on a breakaway, so the decision to award an attacking player a penalty shot relies solely in the hands of the officials on the ice. There cannot be a booth review of a possible penalty shot worthy infraction, so this one is all on the zebras.
How A Penalty Shot Is Awarded
So, a penalty shot is awarded when several different infractions occur. The most common instance is when a player is on a clear cut breakaway and is taken down from behind by an opponent who shows no intention of trying to play the puck. Usually, the player committing the infraction will trip, hook or even wrestle the player on a breakaway to the ice.
This is not the only instance in which a penalty shot can be called. While they are less common, there are other infractions that occur from time to time. If a player ends up on a breakaway and an opposing player (goaltender, defender or forward) throws his stick at the attacker on the breakaway, a penalty shot is awarded. If a forward or defender is playing in his defensive zone and covers the puck in the goal crease, the opposing team is awarded a penalty shot. Lastly, if a breakaway occurs and the goaltender intentionally knocks the net off of its moorings to try and get a stoppage in play, a penalty shot will be called.
A Penalty Shot AND A Minor Penalty?
All of these instances would certainly merit a penalty if the penalty shot did not exist, however, a penalty AND a penalty shot cannot be awarded for the same infraction. To clarify, if a player trips another player on a breakaway, the referees cannot award a penalty shot AND a 2 minute minor penalty for tripping; it’s one or the other. Even if the attacker fails to cash in on his penalty shot, no penalty will be awarded.
The Start of the Penalty Shot Process
Ok, so after the decision has been made to award a player a penalty shot, the referee will point to center ice and the crowd will either go absolutely crazy or express their disgust for the call (no matter how blatant the infraction was).
While the player on the breakaway often takes the penalty shot, the rule states that any player on the ice at the time of the penalty shot being called can make the attempt. After the player is chosen, the puck is placed at center ice, the whistle is blown and the shooter takes off for a 1-on-1 attempt with the goaltender. All other players on the ice at the time are required to stand off to the side by their respective benches and are prohibited to interfere with the play.
Possible Penalty Shot Outcomes
Once the player touches the puck, the goaltender is free to leave his crease to challenge the shooter. The goalie is permitted to stop the puck by any means necessary, however, if the goaltender throws his stick during the attempt, a goal is automatically awarded to the shooter. On the flip side of the puck, if the shooter, who must continuously move forward, loses control of the puck during his attempt, he may not recover and shoot; the attempt is over.
If the shooter beats the goaltender cleanly, the goal is counted. If the shooter takes the shot and the shot goes in off of the post or the goaltender, the goal is counted.
If a shot taken creates a rebound, the shooter is not permitted to act upon that rebound. The attempt is over. Similarly, if the shooter crosses the end line with the puck, the attempt is over. This means that wrap around attempts are not permitted in a penalty shot situation.
If a goal is scored on a penalty shot, the teams will return to center ice for a face-off. If the goaltender makes the save, the face-off will remain in the zone and will be dropped in one of the face-off circles to the right or left of the goaltender who just made the save.
Check out the video below for a nice visual of a penalty shot process from start to finish:
Tags: Hockey, Hockey 101, NHL, penalty shot, Rules
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More from Brian Schrembs
- Hockey 101: Who Gets Their Name on the Stanley Cup
- Hockey 101 - The Penalty Shot
- Hockey 101 - The Roles of the Referees & Linesmen
June 6th, 2009 at 7:44 am
Hey there, your friendly neighborhood referee here again … a couple of additional points to make in the awarding of the penalty shot.
When a player is taken down on a breakaway, the referee must assess it by making sure the following criteria are met:
1. was the player fouled in the offense or neutral zones of the ice?
2. is he in control or COULD have had control of the puck?
3. was he taken down from behind?
4. was there NO OTHER DEFENSIVE PLAYER besides the goalie between him and the net?
5. was he denied a REASONABLE scoring opportunity?
The last two are the ones which fans (and 90% of players) neglect to consider. If a player is fouled from behind, but still gets what the referee judges as a reasonable scoring opportunity, there’s no penalty shot awarded. Likewise if there’s a second defenseman between him and the net, they will only award a minor for the trip or hook. More than a few times I had no awarded a penalty shot because the player got the shot off on net, or because another player was back between him and the guy who hooked him. One time, _I_ hooked a guy down from behind while player, and reminded the ref that it could not be a penalty shot because of the presence of another defensive player between us and the net. (LOL)
To clarify your point that it’s either a 2 minute OR a penalty shot, you are referring to the act of taking the player down. It is, of course, conceivable that a player get taken down from behind, draw a penalty shot, and then the defensive player, say, punches him and gets an additional two minutes for roughing or unsportsmanlike conduct. Just to be clear for those who are new to hockey, two different fouls, two different penalties.
Furthermore, if a player is taken down from behind when the goal tender has already been removed from the ice for an extra attacker, the goal is automatic and awarded immediately, so no penalty shot takes place.
On the penalty shot itself: it’s not the PLAYER who must continuous remain in forward motion but the PUCK. The player can spin-o-rama, move sides, whatever, as long as the puck remain constantly in forward motion. Granted, those other maneuvers are difficult to do and still keep the puck moving forward, but they’re not illegal.
Which player takes the shot? The one on the breakaway who gets fouled, BUT if a penalty shot is awarded for a different infraction (deliberately taking the net off of the pegs, or a player closing his hand on the puck in the crease) then the coach can chose whatever player he would like from those on the ice at the time.
If anyone on the opposing bench or crowd interferes with the shooter, as well as a couple of other similar instances, the penalty shot can be blown dead by the referees and a second attempt will be allowed. That’s rare though, so there’s no need to go into too much detail on that.
One other quick point concerning positioning of the refs. One referee is at center ice to single the penalty shot can begin with his whistle. The other ref is on the goal line and is always on the side from with the player shoots. If the player is a right handed shot, the ref stands on the player’s right (goalie’s left). This allows him a great view of the goal in addition to being out of the line of fire if he cannons off a slapshot and misses the net (lol). Where the ref in your video is positioned, he’s close enough to the goal to see everything, but far enough away to not get killed. The linesman is on the other side to retrieve the puck.
Nice post. Back in the day when they had the Orlando Solar Bears in town, they used to put explanations of the different rules up on the jumbotron to educate fans … I think the NHL needs to do something like that again both at the rinks and during TV games. The one of the biggest frustrations new fans have is they don’t know the rules. The other is that they mistakenly think they’re supposed to be watching the little tiny puck to follow the game instead of the players and flow. Like I tell them, the guy with the puck usually isn’t the one who scores. It’s the guy he passes to for the one timer that does