Offside is a very important rule for hockey because it impacts gameplay and strategy greatly. This is why players, fans and coaches must understand why offside was created, what it means and what impacts it can have.
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According to the Official Hockey Canada Rulebook, “An offside violation occurs when players of the attacking team precede the puck into the attacking zone.” In other words, if a player crosses the opposing team’s blue line ahead of the puck, it’s considered offside.
When a player crosses the opposing team’s blue line ahead of (precedes) the puck.
Unlike icing, offside is a rule of hockey that applies in all game scenarios such as 5-on-5, 4-on-4, powerplay, penalty kill, OT, playoffs, etc.
The early days of the NHL had an offside rule but it isn’t what it is today. It was a no forward passing rule and was similar to soccer’s definition. A pass can only be made to a teammate in an “onside” position (before the puck). Thus, the only way a player could move the puck forward is by skating it up themselves.
About a decade later, forward passing made its way into the game but it wasn’t enough. After years of low-scoring affairs, the league introduced forward passing and scoring essentially doubled instantaneously. However, the added offence appeared too much for the NHL and ice hockey. When forward passing was first introduced a player could be anywhere on the ice relative to the puck without consequence so players would spend entire games at the opposing team’s zone waiting for a rink-long pass for an offensive opportunity. What followed was the creation of the modern offside rule. The hockey rink was now divided into three zones by the use of two blue lines that you still see to this day and these blue lines signalled the markings of the neutral, offensive and defensive zones.
We now know that offside occurs when an attacking player enters the offensive zone ahead of the puck but what does it mean exactly to be in the offensive zone? Is it when the player first touches the blueline or is it when they’re completely over it? If their stick crosses the blueline but not their body does that count as being offside?
The determining factor is the players’ skates on the ice, not the stick or their body, and the skates must completely cross through the blue line it doesn’t count the moment they touch the blue line.
Question: A player has one skate over the blueline and one skate behind the blueline in the air. If a teammate were to cross the blue line instantly with control of the puck would they be onside or offside?
Answer: Offside! This player has officially entered into the offensive zone. Even though their one skate is up in the air and hasn’t officially crossed the blueline yet it’s the part of the skate that is on the ice that matters. The skate that is touching the ice is past the blueline which is what counts.
A delayed offside is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a situation where a player has entered the offensive zone ahead of the puck but that player or teammate has yet to gain full control of the puck or hit an opposing player in the offensive zone.
The occurrence of these events happening in the offensive zone is key. When someone is offside the whistle isn’t immediately blown and play stops. Play is only blown dead when the accused team players touches the puck or hit an opposing player in the offensive zone.
An often occurrence you witness when watching hockey is when a defenseman is stringing the puck in the offensive zone along the blueline, they stumble, puck bounces over their stick or a slight pokecheck and the puck crosses the blue line and into the neutral zone with their whole team in the offensive end. When that player touches up with the puck in the neutral zone the whistle isn’t blown and the linesman doesn’t shout “offside.” Why? It’s a delayed offside because the attacking team hasn’t touched the puck in the offensive zone yet.
The blue lines primary purpose and the sole reason for it being a marking/line in an ice hockey rink is to determine if a player is offside or not. Since that defenseman in the above paragraph hasn’t crossed the blue line yet with possession of the puck while their teammates are still in the offensive zone is why an offside call has not been made.
Question: If during a delayed offside a team scores a goal by shooting the puck past the goalie in the neutral zone safely away from the offensive zone. Does the goal count?
Answer: No, it won’t count as a goal. Unfortunately, a goal cannot supersede a delayed offside call.
An intentional offside is a situation that occurs when a linesmen believes an attacking player does one of the following things:
When intentional offside occurs play is blown dead by the linesmen and the ensuing face-off takes place not in the neutral zone but in the same-team’s defensive zone. This is the only consequential difference between an offside and an intentional offside instead of the faceoff taking place in the neutral zone it occurs on the infracting team’s defensive zone.
It’s similar to an icing call in that the linesmen will raise one of their arms up sky high. In an immediate (not delayed) offside call the linesman will raise up their arm and blow the whistle simultaneously for a stoppage in place.
In the case of a delayed offside, the official will not blow their whistle but they will keep one of their arms straight up. Once the offensive team has no more bodies in the offensive zone the linesmen will lower their hand, signifying that the team is no longer offside.
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