Ice Hockey Rules: Learning About Off Sides

The sport of ice hockey can be a little bit tricky to understand to those unfamiliar with the game. One aspect of the game that tends to confuse most people is the off -sides rule. To put it simply, off sides is called when the puck precedes the player into the offensive zone. However, there are a couple of variations of this rule created for different levels of play. Additionally, there is one instance when off sides is not called based on the description above.

Like I previously told you, off sides is called when the puck enters the zone before a player of the offensive team does. However, if a member of the defensive team either passes or brings the puck back into his or her own defending zone while a member of the offensive zone is present in it, then there is no off sides called. This is to prevent teams from purposely causing off sides in an effort to get a whistle to stop the play if a line change is needed.

There are two main types of off sides rules: immediate whistle and "tag up." Both of these rules are applied to different leagues and age groups. For the most part, younger leagues use the immediate whistle off sides, while older leagues use the tag up version to keep the flow of the play moving.

The immediate whistle off sides is called exactly like it is sounds, immediately. In this version, the referee stops the play as soon as the offensive team goes off sides. It does not matter how far into the zone the player is nor does it matter which team has possession of the puck. Because of this, the game tends to slow down due to the high number of whistles during play.

The tag up method is used to keep the game moving. In this version, the off sides is delayed and can be wiped off before the whistle is blown. If a team is off sides, then all the players of the offensive team can leave the zone to nullify the off sides. However, all of the players must leave the zone at the same time for the off sides to be called off. There is an immediate whistle if the puck is shot on goal while the offensive team is off sides to prevent the chance of a goal.