Icing (ice hockey)

If the linesman erred in stopping play for icing, the faceoff is at the center face-off spot (unless there is a delayed penalty).

[6] The National Hockey League (NHL) introduced the icing rule in September 1937 to eliminate a common delaying tactic used by teams to protect a winning margin.

A November 18, 1931 game between the New York Americans and Boston Bruins is cited as one extreme example that led to the ban on the practice.

The crowd became incensed and threw debris onto the ice, causing a delay while the teams were sent to their dressing rooms.

When the teams met again that December 3 in New York, the Bruins iced the puck 87 times in a scoreless draw.

[9] The rule was amended in June 1951 to state the icing infraction was nullified if the goaltender touched the puck.

For the 1990–91 season, the league again amended the rule, stating the infraction was nullified if the puck passed through or touched the goal crease when the goaltender had been removed for an extra attacker.

The 1970s-era World Hockey Association (WHA) never adopted the NHL rule of allowing shorthanded teams to ice the puck.

After some teams in need of a line change (player substitution) began deliberately icing the puck to stop play, and as part of a group of important rule changes following the 2004–05 NHL lockout, the NHL supplemented the icing rule prior to the 2005–06 season by not allowing the offending team to substitute players before the next faceoff, except to replace an injured player, when the goaltender must return to the net following an icing call.