When you’re in you’re in. When you’re out you’re out.

The lines on the ice are critical tools for players, coaches and officials. The coach relies on them for teaching players positioning, while for the officials they are touchstone for icings, offsides and goals. Most of the important calls that effect the outcome of the game are related to the colourful stripes that define the neutral, attacking and defensive zones. Anyone who has ever watched or played the game of hockey knows that offsides are often the most controversial calls the officials make. They can change the game’s momentum in an instant. Often the difference between offside or ‘not’ is literally a coat of paint. Going into the attacking zone the front edge of the line is critical.  The puck must be entirely clear of the line before it is judged to be in. If it’s still touching the line it’s not yet ‘in’ even though 99.9% of the puck may be over.  The same is true when the puck is coming out into the neutral zone. It must be entirely over the line to be out. The same criterion applies to the goal line where the puck must be completely over to be considered a goal.  The goal line, for practical purposes, extends from the ice to the crossbar.  If, in the act of making a save, the goalie allows his glove containing the entire puck to cross the plane of the goal line before the whistle is blown, a goal is scored. A difficult call at best but one that competent officials routinely make.