ICING IN ICE HOCKEY

About Icing:

Icing is a process in the game of ice hockey that occurs if a player hits the puck across the red lines. The play is stopped by the linesman as soon as icing takes place. The play is again resumed by a face-off in the teams defending zone. Some of the European professional leagues of ice hockey such as the Central Hockey League and the ECHL used the method of no-touch icing, which consisted of the puck being hit across the goal line. In the American Hockey League and the National Hockey League, the method used was the stopping of play when the player other than the goaltender touched the puck. This rule of icing leads to high speeds of racing for the puck. The official gives the washout signal by lowering his arm, if the icing is considered as washed out. To make a potential icing call, the linesman indicates by raising his arm.

Principle of Icing:

Some of the teams of ice hockey used the defense method of play, if faced by a very strong opponent. In order to put brakes on this method, the rule of icing was introduced in the game of ice hockey. Some of the teams used the defense technique to idle away the time of the match. The National Hockey League introduced the rule in the year 1939 on 13th March. There were modifications made to the rule at the start of the season of 2005-06 of the National Hockey League. Further modifications can eliminate the icing process completely out of the game.