Penalty (ice hockey)
The offending team may not replace the player on the ice (although there are some exceptions, such as fighting), leaving them short-handed as opposed to full strength.
At that time, a referee could assess a two-, three- or five-minute penalty, depending on the severity of the foul.
When the National Hockey League (NHL) was founded in 1917, it mandated that a team could not substitute for any player who was assessed a penalty, thus requiring them to play shorthanded for the duration.
If they score a goal during this time, the penalty will end and the offending player may return to the ice.
[9] In hockey's formative years, teams were shorthanded for the entire length of a minor penalty.
The NHL changed this rule following the 1955–56 season where the Montreal Canadiens frequently scored multiple goals on one power play.
Most famous was a game on November 5, 1955, when Jean Béliveau scored three goals in 44 seconds, all on the same power play, in a 4–2 victory over the Boston Bruins.
A player who receives a major penalty will remain off the ice for five minutes of play during which his team will be short-handed.
Infractions that often call for a major penalty include spearing, fighting, butt-ending, charging, and boarding.
Misconduct penalties are usually called to temporarily take a player off the ice and allow tempers to cool.
They are sometimes also assessed in conjunction with fighting majors, giving the offending players the opportunity to calm down as they sit out their ten minutes.
Salary lost as a result of a ban is usually donated to a league-supported charity or to a program to assist retired players.
If the goaltender receives a match penalty, another player serves the time so that the team may immediately insert a backup.
In most cases, offending players are suspended from the next game their team plays, and often face hearings with the possibility of a lengthier ban.
However, a match penalty carries a larger fine, and the offending player is suspended indefinitely until the Commissioner rules on the issue.
The penalty had last been assessed in 2006 on Atlanta Thrashers coach Bob Hartley due to post-game comments made regarding referee Mick McGeough's blown call during a game versus Edmonton.
The Phoenix Coyotes' Shane Doan was the last player to be given a gross misconduct penalty in 2005 for alleged ethnic slurs directed at French-Canadian referees (later investigated and subsequently cleared by the NHL).
"A Gross Misconduct penalty shall be assessed [to] any player or team official who conducts herself in such a manner as to make a travesty of the game.
Linesmen may stop play and enforce only certain infractions (as defined by the rules governing the league in which they officiate), such as "too many players on the ice".
However, there have been instances in which the non-offending team accidentally puts the puck into their own net, usually on a failed backwards pass.
Once the offending team touches the puck and the play is stopped, the referee will signal the specific infraction.
These rules used to be in college hockey as well, until the 2010–2011 season, when it was changed so that the penalty would still be imposed even if a goal was scored.
If two players on a team are in the penalty box at the same time, the situation is called a "five on three" (as is customary, the goalies are not counted in this expression) or "two-man advantage".
This allows short-handed teams to relieve pressure more easily when defending with fewer skaters than their opponents.
This means that the new penalty will start when one of the already-penalized players causing the disadvantage is allowed back onto the ice, whether the time expires or the opposing team scores on the power play.
This is intended to discourage "revenge" fights[citation needed] started by badly-losing teams.
If a player commits a hair pulling violation on an opponent, they will be charged with a game misconduct penalty.
On 9 January 2010, a massive brawl broke out in an Avangard Omsk game against Vityaz Chekhov.
The conflict started during pre-game warm-ups when Darcy Verot intentionally shot a puck at Lasse Kukkonen forcing Alexander Svitov to stand up for his teammate.
Soon after the game started, Brandon Sugden challenged Svitov to another fight, which then involved all other eight skaters on the ice.
