Typical Concerns heard at a rink
• Body Contact- Body Contact is permitted. (fighting for the puck) The Older the players and the higher the level, the more physical the game is. Defenseman bumping in front of their net is allowed. Be careful to not knock a girl down, especially with stick up (Cross-Check).
• Body Checking- Girls are allowed to take the ice away to a point that the Girl is hit against the Boards (Riding her out). A Body Check is contact at a 90 Degree angle.
• Puck hit the Ref- Refs are taught to Stand/Face/Brace. A puck on the ice the Refs are then presenting the smallest target of Skate Blade. Girls should look up before making the Shot or Pass.
• Hand Pass- Girls are permitted to pass the puck in their own end of the ice to a teammate. In the Attacking end Girls are permitted to do a hand pass to themselves. Girls are permitted to knock the puck into the corner. As long as the puck wasn’t scooped out of the crease.
• Too Many Players on the Ice- The player coming on the Ice has to purposely play the puck or get involved in the Play (check a girl etc). Bouncing off her skate doesn’t count. Actually the whole team can come out as long as none of them touch the puck it isnt a penalty.
• Who can Call Penalties- In a 3 Ref game. All the most common penalties only the Official with the Red Arm Bands can call. For example a trip happens right in front of the linesman, the linesman cant call a penalty. If it is the most severe penalty, a Major penalty the linesman can mention what he saw to the main Ref at the next whistle. It is up to that Ref if he will call a penalty based on what the linesman saw or will wait for a future occurrence. The 2 Officials not wearing the Red Arm Bands, can only call: Icings, Offside, Too Many Men, Hand Pass, Major Penalties.
• Icing- If the defending player doesn’t try to get the puck then the icing is waived off. If the puck is shot down the ice and it is in the air over a defending players stick, the girl couldn’t have reasonably been able to play it. So it is icing. A Goalie doesn’t have to play the puck and if a Goalie comes out, then changes her mind and doesn’t touch the puck , it is still icing
• Face-offs (Encroachment) - The centers need to have both their feet behind the red marks and stick on the white part of the red dot. All the players have to have their skates out of the circle. The Wingers have to have skates and sticks also behind the red marks
• Major on Penalty- When a Penalty is called. If a player is injured because of the Penalty, the Minor penalty now becomes a Major and a Game Misconduct. Definition of a player being Injured is at the Ref’s discretion
• Goalie to the Bench- Goalies are not allowed to go to the Bench on stoppages of play. If they do, they must be replaced by the other goalie or a player. The penalty for this is Delay of Game.
• Refs must see an infraction, to be able to call it. If their line of sight has been blocked or they were looking at another portion of the ice, they are unable to call it, even if a player has been knocked to the ice.
• On a yearly basis Refs write an exam, any new rules and rules to focus on for that year are discussed then. Refs are supervised by Senior Officials throughout the year.