Hooking is a penalty in
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
and
ringette
Ringette is a contact sport, non-contact winter team sport played on ice hockey rinks using Ice skates#Ice hockey skates, ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a #Equipment, blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice ...
. This article deals chiefly with ice hockey.
The
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
defines it in Rule 55 as "the act of using the
stick
Stick or the stick may refer to:
Thin elongated objects
* Twig
* The weapon used in stick fighting
* Walking stick, a device to facilitate balancing while walking
* Shepherd's crook
* Swagger stick
* Digging stick
* Swizzle stick, used to stir d ...
in a manner that enables a player or goalkeeper to restrain an opponent."
Hooking in the rules
The NHL covers hooking in Rule 55, which defines it as "the act of using the stick in a manner that enables a player or goalkeeper to restrain an opponent." It goes on to specify that "when a player is checking another in such a way that there is only stick-to-stick contact, such action is not to be penalized as hooking." The NHL groups hooking with other "Restraining fouls" such as
holding,
interference
Interference is the act of interfering, invading, or poaching. Interference may also refer to:
Communications
* Interference (communication), anything which alters, modifies, or disrupts a message
* Adjacent-channel interference, caused by extr ...
and
tripping
Tripping may refer to:
* Psychedelic experience
* Tripping (ice hockey), a penalty infraction
* Tripping (pipe), the act of running or pulling drill pipe into or out of a wellbore on a drilling rig
* "Tripping" (song), a 2005 single by Robbie Wil ...
.
The
IIHF
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...
covers hooking in Rule 533, defining a player guilty of hooking as one "who impedes or seeks to impede the progress of an opponent by hooking him with the stick."
Both codes allow for hooking to be penalized with either a
minor
Minor may refer to:
* Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities.
** A person who has not reached the age of majority
* Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education
Music theory
*Minor chord
** Barb ...
or
major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
penalty; the latter is imposed for injuring an opponent by hooking, and carries with it an automatic
game misconduct
A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penaltie ...
.
Emphasis in NHL
Following the
2004–05 NHL lockout
The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play.
The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...
, the NHL made "Zero tolerance on Interference, Hooking and Holding/Obstruction" its top priority for game officials.
Since that time the league and its officials have made a significant effort to follow up on that priority, and the game is being played in a more open style as a result.
References
Ice hockey penalties
Ice hockey terminology
{{Icehockey-stub
fr:Accrocher (hockey sur glace)