Forum Questions

The following questions have been submitted and answered.  Please click on a question below to view more details.

  1. Where are the Answers? – May 2, 2018

    I read all of the great questions but see no Answers.

  2. Throwing of the Stick – April 30, 2018

    This actually happened in a Varsity game: Goalie overthrows D-Man on a clear, ball is rolling towards sideline as a middie rushes over. He tosses his stick at the ball to hit it and keep it in bounds. He succeeds ! Yours truly , in perfect position, immediately yells "Play on" and waits to see what happens. The defense picks it up and I blow my whistle , signal Illegal Proceedure, point in the right direction and give the ball to the other team. The coach of the team getting the ball wants an Unsportsmanship Flag/ Penalty on the other team ! He's dumbfounded and upset that there is no time serving penalty on a play like this. I explain , fully understanding the rules, that this is a common Technical Foul that would have been time serving IF his team HAD possession-they did not seeing that aforementioned ball was loose when the stick throwing occurred. My partner was incredulous ! Please verify my actions as correct.

  3. broken cross – April 30, 2018

    A1 is in possession of the ball in the alley of their offensive half of the field after the touch has already been fulfilled. B1 playing great defense stick checks A1's cross and breaks the cross. A1 did not move after the cross was broken and somehow retained possession of the ball.

    I blew the play dead for player safety and the broken cross. Because A1 did not make any attempt to play with a broken cross or "playing without a cross," I kept possession with A1 in the same spot. Was that the proper call? Thank you

  4. Shot end of period – April 30, 2018

    End of the 2nd period, under 10 seconds in the period and TEAM A has a player in the penalty box that will carry over into 3rd period. TEAM B has possession of the ball in its’ offensive half of the field between the restraining line and mid-line and the coach is yelling to his player to “HOLD THE BALL”. TEAM B player sees the clock ticking down, then inexplicably heaves the ball toward the goal with about 2 seconds on the clock...TEAM B coach loses his mind at this point but that's an aside to this story.

    Here’s the key— The shot is still in the air as the horn sounds, misses the goal and goes out of bounds with a TEAM B player backing up the shot.

    Question: Is TEAM B entitled to possession to start the 2nd half in this scenario? Is the shot not a shot anymore once the horn sounds? Does the new end-of-period shot rule have any affect on this decision?

    We started the 3rd period with a man-down face-off because a shot in flight is a loose ball and no one was in possession when the horn sounded to end the period. Did we do this correctly? My partner and I discussed it extensively at halftime.

  5. restart position – April 29, 2018

    Blue is on defense. The ball is in the field of play. A blue player who is standing out of bounds plays the ball. Referee blows the whistle. Should the referee call illegal procedure and award the ball to the attacking team outside the box, or should he call out of bounds and award the ball at the spot where the blue player played the ball?

  6. face off – April 29, 2018

    Both faceoff players are legal as the official blows his whistle.

    At what point may the faceoff player move his hand to the plastic head?

  7. Face off sticks – April 28, 2018

    I have never seen this before. Face off. Everything is legal and the whistle is blown. Players are fighting for the ball, all is good. Ball comes out loose. FOGO A stands up and has FOGO B's stick stuck to the back of his. FOGO B takes himself out of the play, doesn't participate. The stick is still stuck to the back of FOGO A's stick as A picks up the ball. FOGO A shakes his stick and the sticks separate. We allowed the play to continue.

    Again, never seen this in 20 years. Thoughts?

  8. Free Clear – April 28, 2018

    Team B gains possession of the ball in their defensive half of the field, and they're trying to clear. During the ride, A1 holds B1 -- flag down, slow whistle. Shortly after, Team B loses control of the ball, and it falls to the ground -- play blown dead at that point.

    On a Personal Foul, Team B gets a free clear. For a time serving Technical Foul (i.e. Holding), is the offended team awarded a free clear? Or is it a restart where the play was blown dead?

  9. Stalling – April 26, 2018

    Two good teams, both have been especially deliberate all game. 1st Question: There doesn't seem to be consistency among HS officials. When SHOULD the crew determine that a stall warning should be initiated?
    Game goes into overtime & both teams have had an opportunity to score (both also used TOs). 2nd Question: Unless a team is intentionally holding the ball for an extended amount of time, would you put a stall on in an OT period, and if so, why?

  10. With Holding the Ball – April 25, 2018

    This actually happened : Faceoff, 5 players have no idea where the ball is. The 6th player does and goes over to it - about 5-6 yards away- and literally with holds the ball by clamping his stick head over the ball and he then looks around to see what he is going to do with it. No one within 5 yards of him. This clamping goes on for about 2-3 seconds. Do you call withholding when no opponent is near him? Another scenario : goalie makes save and outlets to D-Man on goaline extended-no opponent within 30 yards of him. He accidently drops ball and clamps his stick over it -like in the above case- and does so for some time as he looks around. Do you call withholding ?