1st Period · Lesson 3 of 12 · Free
Offside
The puck has to get into the zone first. The skates decide it, not the stick.
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1/4 Home is attacking right. The player with the puck skates toward the blue line; a teammate waits at the line.
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2/4 The teammate goes in early: both skates are over the blue line before the puck is. That is offside, and the whistle goes.
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3/4 Done right: the puck crosses the line completely first (the puck carrier may lead it in), then the teammate follows. Play on.
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4/4 Delayed offside: the puck goes in while an attacker is already inside, but a defender can play it. The arm goes up. If every attacker skates back to touch the blue line, the arm comes down and play goes on.
A player is offside when both skates are completely past the blue line at the moment the whole puck crosses it. Only the skates count: a stick in the zone does not make anyone offside. A player who has one skate on the line is still onside.
The player carrying the puck may cross the line ahead of the puck. It is the teammates who have to wait.
During a delayed offside, the attacking team cannot score. If the puck goes into the defending team's net before the attackers tag up, the goal does not count. If an offside was done on purpose, the faceoff goes all the way back to the offending team's end.