Hockey 101 – Charging (Rule 43)
Charging in the NHL is a very vague rule that gives the on ice official a lot of latitude in their interpretation. It is even stated that the on ice official must make the call “at his discretion … based on the degree of violence of the check, to a player or goalkeeper guilty of charging an opponent.” Charging and checking are similar in the way they are viewed – Its more the outcome of the event / intent by the player that I find to be taken into consideration. Charging is in the rule book and mainly discussed when the topic of “Head Injuries” is on the table. NHL owners and General Managers have discussed the severity of Head Shots for quite a few years, last year they were discussing this topic at their yearly meeting in Naples, Florida – in an attempt to design rules and regulations around the hits to the head and creating guidelines for suspensions and fines.
I am sure most of us remember the devastating hit Brandon Sutter took from Doug Weight (and recently the hit Richards hit on David Booth) … Here is an example of a horrendous hit to the head :
So … to get back to the topic of “Charging” … Here are a couple examples, watch how the players doing the hitting are adding a bit more emphasis on the hit, to give it a “degree of violence.”
Steve Downie charges Dean McAmmond
Steve Ott charges Gregory Campbell
NHL Rule book states:
A minor or major penalty shall be imposed on a player or goalkeeper who skates or jumps into, or charges an opponent in any manner. Charging shall mean the actions of a player or goalkeeper who, as a result of distance traveled, shall violently check an opponent in any manner. A “charge” may be the result of a check into the boards, into the goal frame or in open ice.
Note: A goalkeeper is NOT “fair game” just because he is outside the goal crease area. The appropriate penalty should be assessed in every case where an opposing player makes unnecessary contact with a goalkeeper. However, incidental contact, at the discretion of the Referee, will be permitted when the goalkeeper is in the act of playing the puck outside his goal crease provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact.
Hopefully the league and owners and GM’s will be able to come up with some type of guideline that will help the officials with these type of calls … however, when you are dealing with the “interpretation” of a rule, its hard to put something in writing. I believe, what is needed to reduce these types of incidents, is a higher level of accountability between players. I am not talking about goons mixing it up on the ice … but players being accountable to themselves and their team mates by playing a respectable game is the first step! Then … if that does not work … the league should fine the player, Coach, GM and Owner – I think that will wake them up!
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