Learning the Rules of Ice Hockey: The Boarding Penalty

In order to be an educated fan, player or referee in the sport of ice hockey, one must understand the rules of the game. One rule that tends to confuse players and spectators alike is the penalty for boarding. Boarding can be a very serious, potentially dangerous penalty, so its enforcement is necessary. If it goes without enforcement, the possible chance of injury grows larger and larger. It is imperative that players play fairly and do not take dangerous penalties.

Boarding is a penalty that is called whenever one player viciously body checks an opposing player into the boards in a potentially dangerous manner. Even if the check appears to be legal, meaning that the offending player properly executed the body check, rather than elbowing, cross checking, or other illegal contact, it can possibly be called a boarding penalty if the referee deems it necessary.

Boarding can cause serious injuries depending on how hard a player is hit and what angle the player happens to fall into the boards. An ugly boarding penalty can cause a player to break bones, get a concussion, or sustain other serious injuries.

According to USA hockey rules, if a player does happen to get injured by another player through a boarding penalty, the referee has no option other than giving the offending player a five minute major penalty and a game misconduct penalty. If a player receives this penalty than he or she is immediately forced to leave the ice and a player on his or her team will serve the penalty on the offending player's behalf. Since the player also received a game misconduct penalty, he or she will not be allowed to participate in the following game as well, not just the remainder of the game that he or she took the penalty in.