Coincidental penalties: 4-on-4, or substitute and keep going?
Rule numbers: NCAA 19.1 NCAA 19.2 NCAA 19.4
Start with the penalty clock. If no penalties are in effect and each team gets one minor at the same stoppage, those minors are served without substitution and the teams play 4-on-4. If penalties are already in effect and visible on the clock, or other penalties come at the same stoppage, the matched minors are substituted for on the ice, and those players stay in the box until the first stoppage after their time expires. Coincidental majors are always substituted. When several penalties go to both teams, the referee cancels as many majors as possible, then as many minors, bench minors and double minors as possible; only what is left changes the strength. Substituted players do not count for the delayed-penalty rule.
cancel as many major penalties as possible
- On the ice
- Clean clock and one minor each: 4-on-4. Otherwise: substitute for the matched penalties.
- Clock
- Post all penalties; substituted players wait for the first stoppage after expiry.
Example
Team B is already killing a minor with 1:10 left. At the next stoppage A7 and B12 each get a roughing minor. Because a penalty is already on the clock, both teams substitute, play stays 5-on-4, and A7 and B12 come out at the first stoppage after their two minutes.
Common mistake: Playing 4-on-4 when a penalty is already on the clock, or letting a substituted player out during play when his time expires.
Sources
- NCAA 2026-27 and 2027-28 Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Rules and Interpretations (IH28), Rule 19.1-19.2, pp. 36-37 (PDF pp. 39-40)
- NCAA 2026-27 and 2027-28 Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Rules and Interpretations (IH28), Rule 19.4, p. 38 (PDF p. 41)
Verified