skip navigation

Officially Speaking: The clock

04/02/2018, 9:45am CDT
By Mark Lichtenfeld

What is the ref supposed to do when the scorekeeper forgets to start the clock?


Let’s Play Hockey photo by Mike Thill

No one likes collective punishment, but the ignorance of a limited percentage of beer leaguers gives the entire adult league community a bad name.

Case in point, an “A” league butcher game. It’s a 6-6 contest, and things are going well, despite the fact that we had to draft a scorekeeper from the stands, one guy gets inadvertently clipped in the pie hole twice in the third period, and this being the final game of a triple-set, the last thing we need is a shootout.

Now, the scorekeeper was doing a fine job. That’s because there was no sheet, so all the guy had to do was start and stop the clock. He was doing great.

And then, with 30 seconds remaining in the third, the guy doesn’t start the clock on the faceoff. I’m on the bench side at the blue line as my partner drops the puck at the neutral zone.

“The clock’s not going!” hollers Team Yellow.

“I’m counting it down!” I retort. “15, 14, 13 ....”

And suddenly, Team Red scores with a dozen seconds to take a 7-6 lead.

“That’s bull droppings,” hollers Team Yellow’s bench. “You have to stop play. The clock wasn’t moving.”

“Not so,” I confidently protest. “I know the clock didn’t start and you heard me counting down the time.”

“You suck!” screams this bearded guy with a yellow jersey. “In the NHL and USA Hockey, the play gets shut down when the clock doesn’t’ start. That’s the rule!”

“That’s not the rule,” I counter. “USA Hockey specifically requires the game to continue while the referee counts down the time.

Now look, anyone who knows OS also knows that no one argues with OS about rules pertaining to time. 

“Wrong!” bellows the bearded guy with his Team Yellow mates in collective unison. The guy is screaming right in my visor.

“Are you lining up for the faceoff at center?” I query. “Or is the game over?”

“No, we’re not. We’re done because you don’t know the rules.”

Game over. Nice.

So what is the rule, you ask? Easy. It’s right in front of the USA Hockey Rulebook. Just check Rule 108, Signal and Timing Devices, and proceed to Casebook Situation 3. 

A faceoff occurs with 10 seconds remaining in the period. As play begins, one of the On-Ice Officials notices that the clock has not started. Should the Official stop play immediately to remedy the situation?

No. Rule Reference 108(b).

As soon as the Official notices that the clock has not started, he must begin counting down the remaining seconds in his head. If he counts down to 0:00 and the period should have ended but didn’t, he must stop play to end the period.

If the Official properly counts down to 0:00 in the above situation, but does not stop the play for whatever reason, any goal that has been scored after he counts down to 0:00 shall be disallowed.

Now who doesn’t know the rule?

Gotta love butcher league. And it’s OS’s job to educate the “A” level guys. “B” and “C” players, too. That’s how to stop collective punishment. 

What’s the goal? Easy. We need to raise the level of beer league rule knowledge so the entire adult hockey community can shed its adverse reputation.

 

Questions and comments can be sent to editor@letsplayhockey.com, via Twitter @OSpeaking or through the Let’s Play Hockey Facebook page.

Top Stories

Tag(s): State Of Hockey  News  Officially Speaking