by D. Vogt

Created on: August 12, 2010

In professional ice hockey, clipping is a penalty given for hits on or below the knee. In the official National Hockey League (NHL) rules book, clipping is covered by Rule 45.

A clipping penalty is given in one of two circumstances. First, according to the official rules, players may not throw their body "across or below the knees of an opponent" in order to trip them or knock them over. Second, even if players keep both skates on the ice rather than throwing their body, they cannot deliver a low check which strikes at or below their target's knees.

The standard penalty for clipping is a two-minute minor penalty. As with all minor penalties, a player who has been penalized for clipping must go to the penalty box and serve either the full two minutes, or until the opposing team scores a goal, whichever comes first.

However, if the player who was checked is injured, penalties are much more serious. In the case of an injury, instead of a minor penalty, the referee will give a five-minute major penalty. Unlike a minor penalty, a player who is given a major penalty must remain in the penalty box for the full five minutes, even if one or more goals are scored in the meantime. Under Rule 45, a player given a major penalty for clipping is automatically given a game misconduct after they have served the major, meaning that they are ejected from the game. A game misconduct does not necessarily mean a player will be suspended. However, within two days of the incident the league executive can, either at its own initiative or following a request from the team whose player was fouled, investigate the incident and consider issuing a suspension.

Finally, if the referee believes not only that the fouled player was injured but that the offending player injured him intentionally, he will give the most severe penalty in the NHL, a match penalty. A match penalty ejects the player from the game immediately, requires that another player from his team serve the five-minute shorthanded period on his behalf, and comes with an automatic suspension. The league executive must then investigate and decide how long the suspension will be.

In the NHL, clipping is a relatively new penalty, added to the rulebook only in 2002. The impetus for the change was a dangerously low hip check by Toronto Maple Leafs winger on Michael Peca, who was at that time playing for (and the captain of) the New York Islanders. Peca was struck in the knee and suffered serious ligament damage, causing him to miss the rest of the 2002 playoffs as well as part of the 2002-2003 regular season, following the summer break. Ironically, several years later a trade placed Peca and Tucker on the same team.

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