The relationship between parents and on-ice officials is often a tenuous one. Parents are

primarily concerned with the safety of their son or daughter, and if they are watching a

game in which they fear the safety of their son or daughter is at risk, they are not in a

position where they can jump on the ice to protect their loved one.

Rather than looking to blame the other teams players or the coaches for not respecting the

safety of their child, they focus on the official. This is where it is important to have a better

understanding of the role of an official.

In some respects it is acceptable to focus on the official if players are put into positions of

danger, as the on-ice officials mandate is to make the game “fair” and “safe”. By calling

infractions that, in their judgement, cross the line in regards to fairness and safety, the

official is attempting to make the game fair and safe, and the CHA calls on all officials to

follow these guidelines.

However, parents and players should be reminded that officials, in general, can only react

to what HAS happened, not what might happen. If a player is injured as a result of an

illegal play, the official can only react by calling the appropriate penalty, but can not

prevent the infraction from taking place in advance. The onus does then fall on the official

to make the appropriate call, and with proper training and the opportunity to develop their

officiating skills, this will happen more often than not.

Ideally, the official will set the tone early in the game of what is and is not acceptable, and

players will adjust accordingly. However, if players decide to take justice into their own

hands, the CHA has clearly mandated that officials should call all infractions that cross the

line of “fair” and “safe”.

Officials are also to focus on the whole game while parents tend to see everything that

their child does on every shift they are on the ice. Because of this, officials may miss an

infraction that happened to their child that is obvious to the parent, but the official may

have been focusing elsewhere at the exact time their child was on the receiving end of

some infraction.

At lower levels of minor hockey, officials are encouraged to call penalties as they happen.

Judgement should not be a major factor for young officials, and a penalty that is deserved,

should be called regardless of the game situation. Penalties should be applied to the

“letter of the law”.

Often officials at the lower levels are young and just learning the “art of officiating”, so

mistakes will be made. Is it acceptable to yell at officials when the make mistakes? Do

you yell at the players every time they make a mistake? Why is it that nowhere else in the

country except a hockey arena is it considered somewhat acceptable to yell at other

peoples kids? Please consider your actions and give the officials a chance to learn the

skills needed to officiate.

As well, are you sure you know the rules as well as the officials. Take the test below which

asks some basic questions that every official should know. If you fail, perhaps you would

be wise to brush up on your rule knowledge.

The CHA has far too much turnover in the number of officials from year to year. A big

reason for this is abuse from parents. Much of officiating is learned from experience, and if

we can reduce the amount of officials who quit, the quality of officiating overall will

improve. Every time a kid quits officiating, they are replaced by a rookie who ends up

making the same mistakes that the person who quit made. This continues the cycle that

continues to see too many inexperienced officials working games they are not as qualified

to work as the CHA would like them to be. Please give officials a chance to improve. That

is what the CHA’s Shared Respect Initiative is all about, respecting the role of all

participants of the game – players – coaches – officials –parents.

Too often it is the “vocal minority” that creates the biggest problem for officials. Most

parents do not yell at officials. The CHA calls on the “silent majority” to stand up and

prevent verbal abuse of officials from the stands. Minor Hockey Associations are

encouraged to adopt parental “Fair Play” policies that include penalties for parents that

abuse officials. For copies of this policy, feel free to contact the Manager, Officiating.

In higher levels of competitive hockey, officials need to practice more judgment and game

management skills. In these games, the “spirit of the rule” can take precedence over the

“letter of the law” scenario described previously. Officials are instructed to ensure they call

all “IMPACT” penalties. Impact penalties are anything that seriously threatens the safety

of another player (Check From Behind, High Stick, Slash, Spear, Butt-End are some

examples) or penalties that deny a player a reasonable scoring opportunity. As well,

officials may make calls earlier in the game that set a standard he would like to maintain

regarding various situations, such as interference, holding, body checking, etc.

In the course of officiating the game, officials may detect infractions that are penalties

based on the “letter of the law” scenario, but do not cross the line in regards to the “spirit of

the rule”. For example, if one player hooks an opponent in the neutral zone, but the

opponent immediately stops any effort to continue skating, should the hooked player be

rewarded for giving up. If two players exchange stick work that is not violent or flagrant, is

the intent of “fair” and “safe” violated? If a player skates up the ice and crosses the red

line and then shoots the puck in so he can go off the ice on a line change, but just after he

lets the shot go he is hooked, a penalty can be overlooked as the player accomplished

what he intended to do, and the penalty was not flagrant.

The time of game and other factors may have to be determined, but on many occasions

the official could overlook this type of play because the rules of “fair” and “safe” have not

been compromised.

Below you will find various pieces of information relating to officiating and parent

involvement. I encourage you to read on and give the issues more consideration. I

welcome your feedback.

Norm Dueck

Manager, Officiating

Canadian Hockey Association

1. What is the determining factor for offside at the blue line?

a) Position of the puck

b) Position of the players' skates

c) Position of the players' stick

d) Position of the players' body

2. The puck is shot by a player standing behind the centre red line. The puck goes down

through the goal crease and then over the goal line. State Referee's decision.

a) Wash out the icing

b) Icing

3. With the puck along the boards, a player, who is about to be checked, turns, creating

contact from behind. Should a Checking from Behind penalty be assessed?

a) No

b) Yes

4. List the five criteria required for the referee to award a penalty shot?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

5. The Referee has signaled a delayed Minor penalty for Checking from Behind on a player of

Team A. Team "B" scores before the play is stopped. The Referee would:

a) Washout the Minor penalty but assess the Game Misconduct penalty

b) Washout the penalties to Team "A" as Team "B" scored

c) Assess Minor penalty and a Game Misconduct for Checking from Behind

d) Washout the goal and assess both the Minor and a Game Misconduct.

6. Team "A" is serving a Minor penalty. The Referee signals a delayed penalty to Team "A".

Team "B" scores a goal prior to the stoppage of play. Which penalty expires on the scoring of

the goal?

a) The Minor penalty on delay.

b) The Minor penalty being served.

c) No penalty expires.

d) Both penalties expire.

Answers to penalty quiz

1. b

2. b

3. b

4.

a). The attacking player must have CONTROL of the puck

b). The puck must be OVER the centre red line

c). The attacking player must have no DEFENDING player to pass, other than the goaltender

d). The attacking player must be fouled from BEHIND

e). The attacking player must be denied a REASONABLE scoring opportunity

5. a

6. b