Hand passes are legal only in your defending zone
Rule numbers: USAH 618(b)
Moving the puck by hand straight to a teammate, whether batted in the air or pushed along the ice, is a hand pass, and play continues only when the pass begins and ends inside the passing team's defending zone. If the hand pass happens in the neutral or attacking zone, play stops and the face-off follows the last-play rules, as long as no territorial advantage is gained. Separately, no goal can be scored when the puck is propelled by an attacking player's hand, whether it enters the goal directly or deflects off any player first. Watch where the pass started and where the teammate played the puck.
- On the ice
- Defending-zone hand pass: play on. Elsewhere: stoppage, last-play face-off without territorial advantage.
Example
A Team B defender in the neutral zone bats a clearing attempt down to a teammate, both of them in the neutral zone. The whistle blows for a hand pass, and the face-off is at the nearest neutral-zone spot.
Common mistake: Allowing a hand pass that starts in the defending zone but is played by a teammate in the neutral zone, or counting a goal that went in off a defender after an attacker's glove.
Sources
- USA Hockey 2025-29 Official Rules and Casebook of Ice Hockey, Rule 618(b), p. 193 (PDF p. 227)
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