I’m not an experienced hockey fan, so please forgive me if this is a dumb question:
When a player from Team A ices the puck, a player from Team B must “touch-up” in order for it to be considered icing. Oftentimes, there is a race between players from opposing teams to get to the puck first. But when the player from Team A sends the puck all the way down, and the puck crosses his own blue line + the red line, I see no point in another one of his own players racing for the puck. I think that it would be a considered a 2-line pass, right? A 2-line pass occurs when a pass is made from behind your own blue line and then crosses the red line without the puck being touched. So to me, it’s clear that even if another player from Team A gets to the puck first, the whistle should be blown. What’s wrong with the way I’m seeing this?
I think it would be a two line pass only if the player was two lines over. If he were only a maximum of one line down the ice and the puck goes by him, he then can chase after the puck and play continues as normal.
Aside from what Max Carnage says, the referees can sometimes determine that the clearing pass is not icing - if the puck is moving slowly, the referee can decide that a player from team A can reach the puck before it goes all the way to the boards, so he waves off icing. Until the referee signals icing, that’s a live puck and if another player from Team A doesn’t chase it down, a player from Team B can legitimately get it.
There’s also the time factor - a player from Team A should touch it for icing as quickly as possible if they’re down a goal and the clock is running out.
The NHL is currently looking into changing their rules and touch-up icing may be a thing of the past. They are proposing using the college rules where icing is automatic. Any puck dumped in from beyond center ice gets a whistle unless it travels through the crease or the referee deems an opposing player could play the puck. This could happen as early as next season.
Oh, and Max is correct. If the player is not in the zone when the puck arrives, it’s not a two line pass.
Here’s the rule. Basically if a player from the shooting team is on his side of the RED line when the puck was shot and reaches the puck after it has crossed the goal line, but before a defender has touched it beyond the goal line, play is not stopped. The icing is “waved off”.
It’s not a two line pass because a two line pass is determined by where the recieving players is when the pass is made, if the puck crosses the line in question before the players feet do it is not a two line pass and the whistle will not blow if he touches the puck.
