What’s That Call: About Tripping
Everything you need to know about hockey calls but are embarrassed to ask. Tripping: Watch — or play in — enough U8 games and you start to yearn for the days when the refs will call penalties. Because at some point, those little cuties go from accidentally falling and losing control of their sticks to purposefully diving and swinging their sticks in any direction that stops the player with the puck. But will this eventually generate a tripping call? Let’s see.
What you need to know about tripping: As it turns out, tripping in hockey is pretty much like hockey in real life. You can’t knock other players off balance with your stick, leg, foot, arm or hand. Tripping is signaled by the referee sweeping a hand past the knee. Usually, a tripping call results in a minor penalty — 2 minutes in the penalty box — leaving the team shorthanded. A tripping call during a scoring opportunity may result in a penalty shot (a shot on the goaltender with no other defenders).
What else is there to know? For example, tripping that causes an injury may result in a major penalty — 5 minutes in the penalty box — plus a game misconduct. You can find other details on pages 90–91 of the 2007–09 Official Rules of Ice Hockey booklet available at www.usahockey.com (pdf).
See it in action:
Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Kelly Kordes Anton for this article.
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Written by Kelly Anton · Filed Under Featured, Parenting
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