Off-Ice Official's Guide to Hockey Canada Scorekeeping and Timekeeping 2026-27

From Rules 4.8, 4.9 and 4.10 of the Hockey Canada Playing Rules 2026-2028:

• A player or team official assessed a Game Misconduct or Gross Misconduct in the last 10 minutes of regular playing time, at any time in overtime, or after the game has ended is automatically suspended for a minimum of the next regular league or play-off game or seven days.
• A Game Ejection does not trigger an automatic suspension.
• Anyone assessed a Match penalty is not permitted to take part in further games until the case has been dealt with by the Member or league. Referees must report all Match penalties and the circumstances to the Member or league immediately after the game.
• Players or team officials assessed Game Misconduct and Gross Misconduct penalties are reported to the Member or league for further action.
• A player assessed any penalty in the pre-game warm-up automatically has their name placed on the Official Game Report and is counted as one of the eligible players (Rule 4.1 (a)).
• If officials realize before the game ends that a player who should have been removed with a Game Misconduct or Game Ejection was not, the referee assesses the penalty and removes the player. Any goals scored or assisted by that player since the point they should have been removed are washed out. If this is raised only after the game, no goal is washed out, but it should be noted on the Official Game Report (Rule 4.8 Interpretation 1).

From Rule 6.6 of the Hockey Canada Playing Rules 2026-2028:

• A goal is scored when the entire puck has legally passed between the goal posts, below the crossbar, and completely across the goal line.
• Each goal and each assist counts as one point. Only one point can be credited to any one player on a goal.
• An assist is credited to a maximum of two attacking players who touch the puck before the goal scorer, provided no defending player subsequently has possession and control of the puck.
• If a defending player puts the puck into their own goal in any manner, the attacking player who last played the puck is credited with the goal. No assists are credited.
• If a shot is deflected into the goal off the stick, skates or body of an attacking player, the goal is allowed. The player off whom it deflected is credited with the goal and the player who made the shot gets the assist.
• Goals that are awarded, scored from penalty shots, or scored by the defending team into their own net are recorded as unassisted goals.
• A goal is not allowed if the puck is directed in by a distinct kicking motion, or deflects directly into the net off an official. A goal is also not allowed if an attacking player deliberately directs the puck in with any part of the body other than the skate.

Under Rule 5.6 of the Hockey Canada Playing Rules 2026-2028, the Official Scorer:

• Tells the referee when the same player has received their second Misconduct penalty, their third stick infraction penalty or their third Head Contact penalty during the same game (these lead to a Game Misconduct or Game Ejection under Rules 4.7 and 4.8).
• Draws the referee's attention to any line-up case they feel does not comply with the rules, when submitting the line-ups to the referee in their dressing room before the game (5.6 (b)).
• Announces, where a public address system is in use, immediately after each goal, the name of the scorer and of each player who received an assist (5.6 (d)).

The referee announces to the Official Scorer the duration of penalties and the rule infractions, and to whom goals and assists are credited (Rule 5.2 (g)). Where a public address system is used, the Penalty Timekeeper announces each penalized player's name, the offence and the time the penalty was assessed (5.5 (c)).

Rule 5.7 of the Hockey Canada Playing Rules 2026-2028 says the Game Timekeeper:

• records the start and finish time of each game and all actual playing time during the game;
• signals the referee for the commencement of the game, the start of the second and third periods and each overtime period;
• if the rink has no automatic sound device, or it fails, signals the end of each period, each overtime period and the end of the game with a siren or whistle;
• announces, or has announced, when ONE MINUTE of actual playing time remains in each regulation or overtime period;
• refers any dispute about time to the referee, whose decision is final.

Equipment (Rule 1.12): each rink must have a suitable sound device for the Game Timekeeper and a clock showing the time remaining. Where clocks have four faces, the face directly in front of the Game Timekeeper governs. Where a synchronized electronic buzzer or bell and green light are installed, a goal cannot be scored when the green light is showing.

Before the game starts, the referee checks that the Game Timekeeper, Penalty Timekeeper, Official Scorer and goal judges are in position (Rule 5.2 (f)).

From Rule 6.17 of the Hockey Canada Playing Rules 2026-2028:

• Periods: three 20-minute periods of regulation playing time, with approximately a 10-minute intermission (when the ice is flooded) between each period, is the maximum time allowed for each game. Members and leagues may make their own rules on regulation time, as long as it does not exceed these guidelines.
• Ends: teams change ends after each regulation period and each overtime period (except as stated in the Tied Game rule).
• Delay late in a period: if an unusual delay occurs within five minutes of the end of the first or second period, the referee may order the next regular intermission immediately. The rest of the period is played afterwards with the teams defending the same goals.
• Time-outs: each team may take one 30-second time-out in regular playing time or overtime, during a normal stoppage. A player designated by the coach tells the referee, and the referee reports the time-out to the Game Timekeeper, who is responsible for signalling when it ends.
• A team may call a time-out up to the point the official blows the whistle to start the face-off procedure.
• Both teams may take their time-outs during the same stoppage. Once one team has called its time-out, the second team must say it wants one during the same stoppage before the first 30 seconds are over.
• The time-out rule is permitted in minor and female stop-time games where the local Member approves. It must be used in Hockey Canada minor and female regional and national championships.

Penalty Timekeeper duties (Rule 5.5, Hockey Canada Playing Rules 2026-2028)

• Keeps the time served by each penalized player and, on request, tells the player the unfinished time of their penalty.
• If a player leaves the Penalty Bench before their time has expired, notes the time and signals the referee at the next stoppage of play.
• Where a public address system is used, announces (or has announced) the name of each penalized player, the nature of the offence and the time the penalty was assessed.
• Lets penalized players return in the order their penalties expire (Rule 4.14 (c)).
• Opens the Penalty Bench gate when the penalty time is up. The player is then considered to be on the ice for icing and off-side purposes (Rule 6.7 Interpretation 3 and Rule 6.11 Interpretation 9).

The Penalty Bench (Rule 1.10)

• It has seating for eight people, for penalized players, the Penalty Timekeeper, the Game Timekeeper and the Official Scorer.
• It is on the opposite side of the rink from the Players' Bench or, if that is not possible, at least 6.09 m (20 ft.) from either bench.
• There are two separate Penalty Benches, Home and Visitor, each with its own gate opening away from the ice and outside the Referee's crease. Opposing teams are physically separated.
• If the gates are at unequal distances from centre ice, the gate closest to centre ice is for the Visiting Team.
• The referee separates players of opposing teams on the Penalty Bench when possible to prevent feuding (Rule 5.2 (h)).

Penalties are in actual playing time (Rule 4.1). From Rule 4 of the Hockey Canada Playing Rules 2026-2028:

• Minor: two minutes. Any player except a goaltender is removed and placed in the Penalty Bench, and the team plays shorthanded.
• Bench Minor: two minutes, served by a player who was on the ice at the time of the infraction. If the guilty player is identified, that player serves it. If not, the coach, through the captain, designates a player who was on the ice. The team plays a player short.
• Major: five minutes, always with a Game Misconduct. The coach, through the captain, designates a player who was on the ice to serve it.
• Misconduct: 10 minutes, not a shorthanded penalty. The player remains in the Penalty Bench until the first stoppage after the penalty expires. A second Misconduct in the same game automatically becomes a Game Misconduct.
• Game Misconduct: the player is removed for the rest of the game and 10 minutes is recorded on the Official Game Report.
• Game Ejection: the player is removed. No time is recorded on the Official Game Report. It applies at three Minor stick-infraction penalties in a game (and, in Minor or Female divisions, three Minor or double Minor Head Contact penalties). A double Minor counts as one infraction.
• Gross Misconduct: the player or team official is removed and 10 minutes is recorded on the Official Game Report.
• Match: five minutes, and the team is shorthanded. A player who was on the ice serves the five minutes.

The Official Scorer must record each penalty's player name and number, duration, infraction and the time it was assessed (Rule 5.6 (c)).

From Rules 4.2 (b) and 4.14 of the Hockey Canada Playing Rules 2026-2028:

Goal and Minor penalties (4.2 (b))

• If the opposing team scores while a team is shorthanded because of one or more Minor or Bench Minor penalties, the Minor penalty with the least time remaining automatically ends.
• For a player with a double Minor, the first Minor is the one that ends.
• A delayed Minor or Bench Minor is treated as a penalty with two minutes remaining.

Deferred (third) penalties (4.14)

• Only two players from one team can serve time penalties at once. A team cannot play with fewer than three skaters plus a goaltender.
• A third penalized player goes to the Penalty Bench immediately but is replaced by a substitute, and their penalty time does not start until one of the other two penalties has elapsed or ended.
• If three players are serving penalties and a substitute for the third is on the ice, none of the three may return until play has been stopped. Then the player whose full penalty has expired may return.
• When penalties expire and the team is entitled to more than four players, the Penalty Timekeeper lets players return in the order their penalties expire. If two expire together and the team is entitled to only one additional player, they return in the order the penalties were reported.
• Minors assessed at the same time to more than one player of the same team are served in order of occurrence.

The rulebook suggests officials may find it helpful to break each penalty down into off, start, end and on times (Rule 4.14, Interpretation 1).

Rule 4.5 of the Hockey Canada Playing Rules 2026-2028 defines coincidental penalties as time penalties of equal duration, assessed to different teams, at the same stoppage of play.

• Immediate substitutions are made for the penalized players and neither team is shorthanded because of them.
• If the total time penalties differ, the penalties causing the differential are served first, in the normal manner, by a player who was on the ice at the time of the infraction.
• Penalized players serve the time penalties and the coincidental penalties in the Penalty Bench. The exception is a player removed with a Game Ejection, Game Misconduct, Match or Gross Misconduct penalty, who goes directly to the dressing room.
• Officials decide which penalties to cancel using MOTO: cancel as Many penalties as possible; cancel so the team is only One player short; cancel to avoid Taking an extra player off the ice; cancel using the Order of occurrence or the order the referee reported them.
• Penalties assessed at different stoppages are not coincidental. In the rulebook's example, A3 is assessed a double Minor (2+2) at the 6:00 mark, B7 scores at the 5:00 mark, and B8 is then assessed a Minor before play resumes. These are not coincidental, so the teams play 4-on-4 for two minutes and the penalties have to be posted on the scoreboard (Interpretation 1).

Under Rules 5.1, 5.2, 5.4, 5.6 and 5.7 of the Hockey Canada Playing Rules 2026-2028:

• Time: any dispute about time is referred to the referee, and the referee's decision is final (5.7 (d)).
• Goals: the referee gives the final decision on disputed goals and may consult the linespersons and the goal judge involved (5.2 (e)). The goal judge decides only goal or no goal (5.4 (c)).
• General authority: the referee has full authority and the final decision in all matters under dispute. Their decision on questions of judgement is final and not subject to appeal (5.1 (c)).
• Game report: after each game the referee checks and signs the Official Game Report and returns it to the Official Scorer (5.2 (i)). The scorer signs it, has the referee sign it, and forwards it to the Secretary of the Member or league involved (5.6 (f)).
• Courtesy: referees, linespersons and off-ice officials are to be treated with courtesy at all times by players and team officials. Infractions are reported to the Member or league (5.1 (b)).

Where a game clock has four faces, the face directly in front of the Game Timekeeper governs the time (Rule 1.12 (b), Note 1).