No-change situations: icing, the frozen dump-in and the net knocked off
Rule numbers: NCAA 85.4 NCAA 67.6 NCAA 92.1
Some stoppages lock the guilty team's players on the ice for the next face-off. A team that ices the puck may not change, and neither may a team whose defending skater accidentally knocks the net off. New for 2026-28, when the attacking team sends the puck in from its own half of the rink and the goalkeeper covers it, the face-off is in the goalkeeper's zone and the defending team may not change. In both 67.6 situations the attacking team picks the end-zone dot, as it does after icing. A barred team may still change for an injury or when a penalty changes the strength, and after icing may put back a goalkeeper pulled for an extra attacker. Delay tactics draw a warning, then a bench minor.
The defending team shall not be permitted to make any player substitutions prior to the face-off.
- On the ice
- The barred team keeps the same skaters for the face-off; the attacking team chooses the dot.
- Clock
- Only stalling after a warning puts a bench minor on the clock.
Example
Team A dumps the puck in from its own side of center and Team B's goalkeeper covers it behind the crease line. The face-off is at a Team B end-zone dot chosen by Team A, and Team B's tired players stay on.
Common mistake: Letting the defending team change after the frozen dump-in, or forgetting that the attacking team picks the dot.
Sources
- NCAA 2026-27 and 2027-28 Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Rules and Interpretations (IH28), Rule 67.6, pp. 76-77 (PDF pp. 79-80)
- NCAA 2026-27 and 2027-28 Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Rules and Interpretations (IH28), Rule 85.4, p. 103 (PDF p. 106)
- NCAA 2026-27 and 2027-28 Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Rules and Interpretations (IH28), Rule 92.1, pp. 111-112 (PDF pp. 114-115)
Verified