Never fewer than four: stacked (delayed) penalties
Rule numbers: NFHS 4-9
Penalties can never take a team below four on the ice, goalkeeper included. If a team already has two players serving time and a third is penalized, that third penalty waits: its clock does not start until one of the two earlier penalties is over. Players then come back in the order their penalties run out. The penalty timekeeper has to hold the third penalty without running it and keep the expiry order straight, because that order decides who leaves the box when.
- On the ice
- The team keeps at least four players, including the goalkeeper.
- Clock
- Hold the third penalty until one of the first two expires, then start it.
Example
Two Team A players are already in the box, with 1:30 and 0:45 left, when a third Team A player is penalized. His time begins once the 0:45 penalty runs out.
Common mistake: Running the third penalty right away, or letting players out in the wrong order.
Sources
- 2024-25 NFHS Ice Hockey Rules Book, Rule 4-9, p. 26
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