Hockey is a game of skating and physical contact. The ability to skate the length of the ice at top speed and retrieve the puck is often vital to either making an offensive play or preventing your opponent from making an offensive play by getting to the puck before the offensive player for an icing call. However, the no-touch icing call prevents many of those puck races that can result in serious collisions.
Icing the Puck
When the team with the puck crosses the center ice red line, it has the right to dump the puck in the offensive zone and attempt to retrieve it. However, if the offensive team sends the puck into the offensive zone prior to reaching center ice and the defensive team touches the puck first, the linesman raises his arm and blows his whistle for an icing call. This ends the play and a faceoff is held in the opposite end of the ice to resume play. Because the play might be legal if the offensive player touches the puck before the defensive player, races to the puck often end up in significant contact.
No Touch Icing
In international hockey, Olympic hockey and certain minor league levels, the no-touch icing rule is applied. When this rule is used, the linesman blows his whistle once the puck is shot from one side of the ice to the other. If an offensive player has not reached center ice and his team is not shorthanded as a result of a penalty, that player cannot shoot the puck the length of the ice. As soon as that happens, the linesman blows the whistle and a face off is held at the opposite end of the ice.
Benefits
One of the primary benefits of the no-touch icing rule is that many high-speed, high-impact collisions can be avoided. Chasing after the puck can leave one or both players in a vulnerable position. If the offensive player arrives first to keep the play going, the defensive player can line up his opponent for a hard hit that produces a turnover. The intensity of that collision could result in an injury for either player. The no-touch rule eliminates this possibility.
Drawback
Criticism has been leveled at the no-touch icing rule and it has not been employed by the National Hockey League or the NCAA in its administration of college hockey. The no-touch rule means the linesman will blow his whistle as soon as the puck reaches the area behind the end line no matter who is closest to the puck. This will lead to much more frequent whistles, will upset the flow of the game and make the game take longer. Additionally, it will give the team that gets the faceoff in its offensive zone a benefit that it has not earned. Offensive zone faceoffs can lead to top scoring opportunities.
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