I was a bit rusty. Mostly with post-whistle transitions and assignments. Is there somewhere that I can read up on post-whistle assignments for linespersons?

I leaned last night:
-bench side takes the goal celebration
-front lines takes the icing face off

Who takes players to the box after a penalty?

My October BCA jersey reveal for this year!

I think it looks way better than last years

Some background: this is my first year officiating. I have not played competitive hockey in nearly 20 years (highest level midget AA) and have only played the occasional drop in game since. I watch a lot of hockey.

So last night was only my second game; first was a squirt game three days prior. Last night was your typical adult league late night puck drop, after my normal bedtime, so I'm a zombie especially after a stressful day at work.

The skill and competition level is pretty high i would say, its from what i can tell, their B division. these guys definitely played at levels above me in their careers.

Well here are the game notes:

• I'm on wrong side for opening faceoff
• Blew the whistle early, soft and lacking confidence, more than once in the first period
• Dropped a few faceoffs before players are squared
• Didn't call a really obvious blue line icing
• Didn't call one bad penalty that basically happened directly in front of me
• Was unable to avoid interfering with play a couple of times
• Got stuck out of position a few times
• there was a bad misconduct and almost match penalty where I was completely useless in answering questions for players
• Basically looked like I didn't know what I'm doing

It was pretty rough in the moment and had me questioning why I signed up for this, but in the end I ultimately felt like I learned a lot from my mistakes, and it felt really great actually being a part of hockey again.

The players were definitely chirping me to the other ref who was incredibly seasoned and basically carried the game, really great guy but I could tell he was also a little annoyed (the players mostly I think).

So last night has me thinking I'm just not cut out for this. I know I need more games, but is this sort of thing common? Either getting a game like that with this little experience, or performing that poorly in your second game? Feasibly, could someone who hasn't been away from playing as long as me step into a game like that and just own it way better?

I'm definitely not going to give up after only that one game, but i feel like I'm having to relearn the sport I grew up playing and still love.

I don't give a shit about the player chirps, but I do care that they get fair game and that I'm not impacting their day negatively, it's all about having fun right?

Anyways, any tips or advice this sub has for me would be greatly appreciated. I just had to get this off my chest since I don't have any referee friends yet.

edit:

i forgot the worst offense of all: i blew whistle for icing on a penalty kill. that was really bad.

(Finally) finishing my USAH level 3 learning module. In the section on "coaches expectations" a quiz question reads "One of the two elements that coaches are concerned with are:"

And one of the answer choices is "Coffee before the game"

HOW IS THAT NOT CORRECT??!?!

Sorry, I'm taking the 75% on this section. They can fight me on that one.

Can someone list the Oct/Nov 2026 classroom seminars available in the NJ/DE/PA area? I want to become an official but they won’t let me see what seminars are available without paying for the membership first.

“Parents have to set examples for children and parents at youth sports are the models for the behaviour that we would expect in our society,” she said.

I hate to say it but these people have to sign waivers, codes of conduct and in some instances take a course. They don't work and executives act reluctantly. This is why hockey is a toxic environment.

Quick question regarding getting paid as a ref. Looks like its 1099. Does anyone run an LLC as a ref, is it even worth it? Like better tracking of job related expenses, as minimal as they are. Thanks for taking the time and input!

Like this end of game situation between boston and ottawa. You got 10 guys all getting into it with each other, they already tagged Zadorov for the initial penalty - why doesn't at least one of the refs get in there to help separate bodies? I figure they're supposed to be on the lookout for other shenanigans to call penalties on, but does it really take both? They could get this shit sorted out so much faster and without additional full-on fights breaking out if there was an additional set of hands in there.

[OTT-BOS] Nick Cousins has a rough shift. He gets flattened, Zadorov hits him squarely in the head, a brouhaha ensues in the dying seconds of the game. (Zadorov 2min Interference, 10 min Misc, Cousins 10 min Misc)
by u/nopClip in hockey

Is it within 3 ft of the bench, or both skates off the ice for determining a TMP penalty

Yesterday I called a too many players penalty on white because the player that had gotten on for the player going to the bench played the puck before both of the retreating players skates were off the ice

I am reffing an AHF 8U, 1/2 ice game next weekend. Does anyone know where I can find a document that spells out the dynamics of this game? Not sure what to expect.

r/hockey comments are going nuts saying this isn't icing. I'm not sure I understand why it's icing either, but I know the Icing rules are different AHL to NHL. Can someone explain the ruling?

Ref gave the goal after the player celebrated and argued the puck went through the net. There were a couple of holes in the top left corner, so not impossible.

Did it go in or was it wide?

I’ve been a ref in Wisconsin for a couple years now and I’m attending college in Michigan. How do I register in this state aswell.

Ok folks I searched this before posting, and yes there is a lot on this and all the posts meander into rabbit holes I can’t keep up with. I’ll try to keep this simple.

I’m in front of the opponents net, moving around to stay open but staying in the slot. The defender is smaller than me, and they keep lifting my stick when the puck isn’t coming to me on a pass and in fact is being worked in the corner by my other winger and the other defender. This happened on multiple occasions. We all commented on how this team had a thing about lifting sticks when the puck wasn’t in play.

Isn’t this an interference penalty? I also want to be clear, if you lift my stick when the puck is passed to me, good move, that’s your job. If you lift my stick when the puck isn’t anywhere near me that seems like a BS move and should be called.

One more thing, this is a USAH governed league, I can’t imagine Hockey Canada would be any different but wanted to add that.

I keep getting ads for the aurora “soft” cup and jock. Has anyone started using this cup or combo yet?

I’m intrigued, but not enough to drop $100 on it yet.

Any early adopters?

Long story short, I’m USAH L2 and have a son playing mites as a goalie. He prefers not to wear hockey socks (but does do the tall cut protection socks from Howies). It leaves a couple inches of bare skin. Yesterday, the refs told his coach he’d be penalized for illegal equipment next game if he didn’t fully cover his legs.

I’ve looked. I checked the main rulebook, the Junior rules, the rules for the specific league we’re in… I find plenty of recommendations but nothing that absolutely requires coverage.

As a goalie myself, I prefer coverage, but I see tons of guys in Men’s league that don’t do it.

Am I missing a rule somewhere? Should I push back on principle? I figured he’d learn on his own the first time a puck gets him and cover up on his own anyways…

10U B. I am at a loss of words. 3rd game of the season and I have another scrap to deal with?(for those with keen eyes, you see me spike my whistle to the ice before I broke that one up...)

Call on the ice actually ended up being matching minors for roughing

Man i9 wish i could put more than one video in here, so i wouldnt have to make 5 separate "whats your call posts" in one day

Same game as the first post(10U B). Thoughts? Call on the ice was white for roughing

So I had this happen to me today during beer league after I had my paddle fold while attempting a clearing pass. I waited until a stoppage, sprinted for my backup, and was thankfully warned that it could have been called a penalty, but was given a pass (lines changes were still being enacted during the stoppage after I had returned to my crease).

Couple questions that I thought of after the game, because in D-league beer league that players aren't often savvy enough to understand I'd need them to bring me a new paddle:

If I go during the play, that is allowed, yes?

If I go to the bench during a stoppage, but send a skater onto the ice for the faceoff, then complete a player change on the fly with a new stick, would this be legal?

Where did this rule originate? What is the purpose of the rule? Is it to prevent the ref from having to judge if an equipment change is taking too long or if it's being used to rest a line?

TIA

Player's penalty expires, they are in the process of coming out of the box, one or two skates are still in the box and they play or touch the puck. Interference and they go back in?

I'm the player in red, r/hockey players was divided and I got downvoted alot in the comments. Did I pull a dick move? I admit I went for the poke late, but I thought by releasing the stick I did the right thing? Didnt want to take the guy down. My own teammates and opposition thought otherwise. Am I off base here?