Hockey 101 – Roughing (Rule 51)
Defined:
Roughing is a punching motion with the hand or fist, with or without the glove on the hand, normally directed at the head or face of an opponent. Roughing is a minor altercation that is not worthy of a major penalty to either participant. (An altercation is a situation involving two players, including goalkeepers, with at least one to be penalized).
Basically the roughing call is the “catch all” call for the NHL. If the ref can not make out what has happened in an altercation – He’ll call roughing. Mostly it will be when you see players get in a skirmish, but not really a “fight” … however, you will see roughing called when there is a “punching motion.”
*note – an actual punch can result in a Fighting call even if the player punching misses the opponent.
Roughing is another one of those fun “interpretation” calls. In a game that encourages physical contact, this is a call that allows the refs to keep the game in control. Ref’s use this call to set the boundaries in the level of hitting and physicality. Once a Roughing call is made – the players on the ice take note of what happened and why and they use that as what the refs will call an “acceptable” level of physical play.
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