Per the NHL Rulebook, the offsides rule is as follows:
- 83.1 Off-side – Players of the attacking team must not precede the puck into the attacking zone.
This means that a player on the attacking team must have at least one of his skates in contact with or behind the blue line of the offensive zone before the puck completely crosses the line. A stick behind the blue line does nothing. The position of the offensive player’s skates is the determining factor of whether or not he is offside.
Depending on your league rules, offsides will likely be dealt with in one of two ways:
Immediate offside: In this variation, the linesman will blow the play dead directly following an instance of offside play.
Delayed offside: In this variation, play is allowed to continue until the attacking team touches the puck. This rule is in place so that no possession is stripped from the defending team if it gets the puck while its opposition is offsides. In this case, the attacking team is allowed to, and essentially must, completely regroup in the neutral zone to clear the offside call.
After an offside, the faceoff will take place in the neutral zone on the side of the ice the infraction occurred on. However, if deemed an intentional offside (a violation in which the offending team intentionally goes offsides to stop play) the faceoff will take place in the offending team’s defensive zone.
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