by D. Vogt

Created on: August 12, 2010

In professional ice hockey, checking from behind against a player who is unaware of the hit or cannot defend himself from it is illegal. In the official National Hockey League (NHL) rules book, checking from behind is covered by Rule 44. If the referee believes the player deliberately turned his back in order to make himself appear vulnerable (and thus draw a penalty), then the check can be ruled legal.

Ice hockey is a fast-paced game which naturally includes intensely physical body checks. However, special precautions are taken to ensure that checks are not exceptionally risky or unsportsmanlike. In the NHL, checking from behind is punished when the hit is delivered against a player who does not see it coming and is not a position to avoid it or otherwise brace himself for the hit. In certain cases, whether or not a given check meets the criteria for a checking from behind penalty, the offending player may be given another penalty instead. If he checks or shoves his target with his stick, held outwards in both hands, this is considered cross-checking. In addition, if a player checks someone from behind directly into the boards, it may be called as boarding instead.

Because checking from behind is a serious offence and drastically increases the risk that the checked player will be injured, the NHL now attempts to punish it severely. For this reason, there is no two-minute minor penalty for checking from behind, as there is for most other types of penalties. Instead, the minimum automatic penalty for checking from behind is a five-minute major penalty, followed by a game misconduct. A player who is given a major penalty must serve five minutes of game time in the penalty box, regardless of whether the opposing team scores one or more times while he is serving his penalty. Afterwards, he is ejected from the game.

In addition, if the checked player is injured by the hit, and the referee believes this was intentional on the part of the offending player, he can increase the penalty to a match penalty. This means that the player is ejected immediately, that his team must serve his five-minute penalty without him, and that he is automatically suspended pending a review of the incident by the NHL Commissioner.

Normally, any player who receives three game misconducts over the course of a single season is given a one-game suspension, and then further suspensions for each misconduct thereafter. However, these suspensions begin after just two misconducts, if they are given for either boarding or hitting from behind.

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