Hand Pass?

[hockeysc23 0]

Hey all-

I had a question that always seems to come up at beer league games or other leagues. It is my understanding (and pretty much everyone on our team) that you can hand pass in the defensive zone (usa hockey rules).

Last night at our game our defenseman hand passed the puck out of the defensive zone and the refs blew it dead and said you cannot hand pass ever. If you get the puck you must drop it. Our player didn't throw the puck just bat it.

Can anyone help clarify and/or find the rule in USA hockey as I couldn't find it searching here or USA hockey.

Thanks,

Scott

[reyno2ac 0]

You can bat the puck but I do believe that if you bat it out of the defensive zone and your team touches the puck then it is a hand pass and the play is blown dead. However, you can't ever close your hand on the puck.

[TBLfan 25]

You can bat the puck but I do believe that if you bat it out of the defensive zone and your team touches the puck then it is a hand pass and the play is blown dead. However, you can't ever close your hand on the puck.

That is my understanding. If the puck is then touched by the other team in the neutral zone it is waived off.

[interpathway 9]

Quite simply, in order for a hand-pass to be legal...

It must begin and end in your own defensive zone. Clear as day. Sounds like your ref needs to go back to school.

[RecLeagueHero 0]

If you bat the puck you have to complete the pass to someone within your defensive zone. If it crosses the blue line and someone on your team touches it then it's a hand pass, but should be waived if it's touched by an opposing player.

Of course this reminds me of a low level beer league game I was reffing where one of the players had taken the execption to the hand pass rule to mean he could take the puck behind his net, pick it up off the ice, and throw it like a baseball to the wings up at the blue line. I can remember laughing so hard my sides hurt for a while.

[hockeysc23 0]

Yeah the play was within the defensive zone the whole time. Does anyone know which rule (link please) supports this?

Thanks.

[Aussie Joe 0]

The IIHF rules "used to be" the same. But I havn't seen a ref call a proper hand pass in years. I also havn't seen a ref call a charging penalty right here in years, but thats for another thread all together. ;)

[Chadd 916]

Last night at our game our defenseman hand passed the puck out of the defensive zone and the refs blew it dead and said you cannot hand pass ever. If you get the puck you must drop it. Our player didn't throw the puck just bat it.

Yeah the play was within the defensive zone the whole time. Does anyone know which rule (link please) supports this?

Thanks.

Your comments seem to be in conflict.

Here's the rule book, it's in there.

http://www.usahockey.com/uploadedFiles/USA...book%200709.pdf

[hockeysc23 0]

Last night at our game our defenseman hand passed the puck out of the defensive zone and the refs blew it dead and said you cannot hand pass ever. If you get the puck you must drop it. Our player didn't throw the puck just bat it.

Yeah the play was within the defensive zone the whole time. Does anyone know which rule (link please) supports this?

Thanks.

Your comments seem to be in conflict.

Here's the rule book, it's in there.

http://www.usahockey.com/uploadedFiles/USA...book%200709.pdf

Yeah sorry. I may need to check back with my teammates so I don't have the events mixed up but I believe the whole hand pass occurred in the defensive zone.

[mremis 0]

I was always under the impression you could never handpass up the ice but you could hand pass it back towards your own end.

Ah. here are the NHL rules. http://www.nhl.com/rules/rule59.html

"Play will not be stopped for any hand pass by players in their own defending zone. A hand pass in the defending zone is considered to have occurred when both the player making the pass and the player receiving the pass have both of their skates inside their defending zone."