Offside (ice hockey)

In ice hockey, a play is offside if a player on the attacking team enters the offensive zone before the puck, unless the puck is sent or carried there by a defending player. When an offside violation occurs, a linesman will stop play. A faceoff is then held at a neutral ice spot closest to the infraction to restart play. In the event the puck carrier's feet cross the blue line while the puck remains outside the blue line, the attacking team's players can enter the zone and be considered onside.

The National Hockey League (NHL) and International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) apply similar rules for determining offside. A player is judged to be offside if both of their skates completely cross the blue line dividing their offensive zone from the neutral zone before the puck makes contact with the same line. In both organizations, it is the position of a player's skates that are important. They cannot use their stick or other part of their body to remain onside. The lone caveat to this rule is that an attacking player's skates may precede the puck into the attacking zone when they are skating backwards and if they are in control of the puck.

If any individual player is in an offside position, their entire team is offside. A delayed offside occurs if the puck is passed or shot into the offensive zone while an attacking player is offside but has not been touched by a member of the attacking team. In most leagues, the attacking team may "tag up" by having all players exit the offensive zone. At that point the offside is waved off and they may re-enter the offensive zone in pursuit of the puck. If a member of the attacking team has control of the puck while offside, a linesman will stop play and a faceoff will be held at the faceoff spot nearest the point of the infraction. Typically, this means the spot closest to the blue line if the puck is carried into the zone, or in the case of a pass, the spot closest to where the pass originated. If a linesman judges that the attacking team acted to force a deliberate stoppage in play by going offside, they can move the faceoff into that team's defensive zone. At some levels, such as younger divisions of minor hockey sanctioned by USA Hockey, the delayed offside rule is replaced by the immediate offside rule in which the linesman will stop play as soon as a play goes offside, regardless of whether or not the attacking team is in possession of the puck.

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