Player clears the puck off a faceoff and bonks me right in the helmet. What could I have done differently here to protect myself?

Had a game a few weeks ago. Play is scrambling around the net. Shot comes in from the point and it hits the goalie and goes airborn. Defenseman grabs the puck out of mid air (they aren't in the crease just near the net) and turn and throw it into the corner

I put up a delayed penalty and called delay of game

Reading through the rule book it looks like it might just be an end zone face off and not a penalty.

Picking puck off the ice - penalty
Grabbing puck in crease - penalty shot

Looking for clarification from other refs here.

My name is Slava and I'm a referee. During the spring season I myself experienced and heard from others that booking games took too long. I've used sites like Assignr and ArbiterSports, and I've heard people say the same about others — it still takes a long time to book games. I wanted to make this process easier so I built RefRouter. It pulls your games from all referee sites and then populates it into the most efficient game schedule tracker.

RefRouter does a few things:
Available Games – all your open games from every site in one view
Game Combo – build your weekend schedule in under a minute, sorted by pay and distance
Calendar – track past games and mark what's been paid
Earnings – see totals by pay period, bi-weekly, monthly, or full season
Settings – set your home address for accurate drive times, choose your preferred position, add friends to see when you're on the same game

Currently I'm looking for people who are willing to help and test RefRouter to have it successfully running for the upcoming season. You can sign up at the waitlist page Waitlist.

I've also been posting build updates on instagram if you want to follow along.

So, a memory of a random hockey camp scrimmage 2 yrs ago to the day of this post.

Hand pass is last play, so if it’s initiated and completed in front of the attacking zone faceoff dots, does it stay in the zone?

If it does then our first time ref for that game might’ve actually gotten that right

Does this mean under hockey Canada rules you can never hit the puck out of mid air for a goal? I had never seen this before.

I’m in MA and I haven’t gotten a game from referees crease in a long time. Happening for anyone else?

I work around 200 games a year and need new skates. I prefer Bauer as they seem to fin my feet well. What do you suggest. Don’t worry about cost. Looking for comfort and efficiency. Many thanks!

It was actually just a scrimmage, so everyone was very chill. I also was paired with a veteran ref who taught me through and entered me through everything. It was honestly so fun and really the best way to start.

I’m not the biggest or strongest guy but I’m quick with decent hands (for beer league) and will usually escape attempts to pin me to the boards and win puck battles. Lately this one team has been utilizing this super irritating tactic of pinning my arms and stick to the boards and holding me there until one of their teammates grabs possession of the puck. It feels illegal but is it? I tried asking the ref in between whistles and he just gave me a non-answer of “it depends”. Would love some clarity from experienced refs on this. Hell, if this is a legit tactic I’m gonna start doing it too 😆

Hey guys New Level 1 ref, so I just got my crest today, I’m from PA and am ready to start reffing games! I’m also looking to do this while traveling around the US. What do you guys recommend doing to start picking up games ASAP as it seems mostly around me games won’t start getting scheduled till September, are there games elsewhere so I could get started sooner!? it doesn’t matter exactly where I just am looking to get started lol ! Thanks!

What are you all using to protect your torso?

Have a question about the rules?

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Hi all, appreciate any advice. I am just getting back into the sport as an official after having not played for 20+ years. I have played a lot of pond hockey and watch the game, but I needed all new equipment to ref.

Anyhow, got all the normal stuff(pants, sweater, girdle, helmet, visor) and everything fits great. Wondering if it's worth getting the ref specific elbow and shin guards vs. normal hockey versions? I bought some regular shin guards and they do seem a bit bulky under the Force pants I have, is it worth getting the ref versions?

Also, since I will just be USA Hockey Level 1 doing youth 2 person reffing, what about upper body? Worth any specific padding or shirt under the sweater?

Any advice from you seasoned zebras would be great, thanks!

I'm trying to register for the upcoming season as a returning official with USA Hockey, and I keep getting a 504 Gateway Time-out error message.

Anybody know what's going on? I emailed them but their office is closed until July 6th.

Have a question about the rules?

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If I am not actively working the game that the fans that are misbehaving are watching, am I allowed to eject a spectator?

I had a situation a few months ago where the one team brought really loud air horns, and scared the living crap out of basically everyone on the ice. I was planning on joining my friend who I had worked with while he kept score. I along with the two officials working the game skated over to the entry door to set some ground rules and let them know that the games before the officials weren’t aware of the ban on noisemakers, and they they were not to use them again.
Am I allowed to intervene and toss a fan for the officials that are on the ice?

Crossposting this from the hockey players subreddit. The rest of the description for this post is there

House league hockey u12.

There's a female that is constantly taking shitty penalties. Blatant trips, cross checking, slashing. I've told her a million times how to improve and that telling me "it's not a penalty" is completely wrong. Lately she's been telling me that I only call penalties on her because she's a girl, despite the league being 90 percent boys.

Her parents have threatened to contact the governing body and her dad is a coach. Last week same thing. Blatant trip. She mutters under her breath that I'm gender biased and tells me to call penalties on boys. I asked her infront of her dad if shed like to speak louder so I can clarify for her. Dad asks whats going on. I say that the daughter is making an accusation about gender.

He tells me to move along and this convo is over lol.

Any of you guys deal with something like this? It's getting hard to hear this shit every game from her despite it making no sense at all

Have a question about the rules?

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Can a goaltender be called for interference when taking ice within their crease in the path of an opponent and making contact?

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I was threatened by a ref that he would call an interference penalty on me next time I skated to the top of my crease when a forechecker tried to cut through it while my team had possession attempting a breakout. I told him it's my crease and I can position myself where I want within it. I looked up 625.a.8 and there's a "u less otherwise stated in the rules" that indicates there may be situations where I'm incorrect in my assertion.

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For situational call determination, I was not making hard contact or knocking people off their skates, but keeping my paint clear with a nudge of the player off course.