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Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena will host most of the men's Olympic tournament. Maja Hitij / Getty Images
For the first time in 12 years, NHL players will compete in the Olympic men’s hockey tournament.
We were treated to an appetizer of best-on-best international hockey last February, when the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland battled at the 4 Nations Face-Off, but that tournament was run by the NHL and was played under its rules. In Italy, the games will be governed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), and there are several distinct differences in the rules.
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Because it’s been a while since the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, here’s a refresher on the rule differences that you may notice while watching Olympic hockey.
One of the biggest differences between NHL and Olympic hockey has always been the dimensions of the rink. NHL ice surfaces are 200 feet long and 85 feet wide. Historically, Olympic competition was played on a much wider rink: 98.5 feet wide (and 197 feet long).
This Olympic tournament was supposed to be played on NHL-size ice, similar to Vancouver 2010 and Beijing 2022, but the rink turned out slightly smaller than anticipated. The rinks inside these two Olympic arenas will be more than three feet shorter than NHL regulation, measuring roughly 196.85 feet by 85.3 feet.
After concerns about the rink size were voiced, the IIHF released a statement saying, “While these dimensions differ slightly from a typical NHL rink, they are consistent with IIHF regulations, match the rink size used at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games and are fully consistent with the dimensions the NHL requires as part of its Global Series Game arena specifications. All involved, the IIHF, the Organizing Committee, NHL, NHLPA, IOC and the relevant venue authorities agree that the differences in rink specifications are insignificant, and should not impact either the safety or quality of game play.”
There have been several tweaks made to Olympic overtime rules, and they will change as we get deeper into the tournament. Here’s how it will work if teams are tied at the end of regulation in each round:
Preliminary round: Teams will play five minutes of sudden-death, three-on-three overtime. If no goal is scored, the game will be decided in a shootout. This is similar to how the NHL decides regular-season games, with one slight difference: In the Olympics, the shootout is at least five rounds, not three.
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Initial playoff rounds: Once teams reach the knockout stage of the tournament, they will play 10 minutes of sudden-death, three-on-three overtime. If no goal is scored, it will go to a five-round shootout.
Gold-medal game: This is where the IIHF made the most significant changes to more closely imitate overtime in the NHL playoffs. If teams reach overtime in the gold-medal game, they will play full, 20-minute periods of sudden-death overtime until a winning goal is scored. The only difference between this and the Stanley Cup playoffs is that it all will be played at three-on-three.
The 12 participating countries have been split into three groups of four for the preliminary round. They will play each other to finish as high in their standings as possible, but the points system during that stage will differ from what NHL fans are used to.
A regulation win will be worth three points. An overtime or shootout win will be worth two points. An overtime or shootout loss will be worth one point, and a regulation loss will be worth zero.
In the Olympics, teams are afforded bigger rosters with more active players than NHL teams. The active game-day roster jumps from 18 skaters and two goalies in the NHL to 20 skaters and two goalies in the Olympics. This means coaches will have two extra players to deploy. Most choose to go with 13 forwards and seven defensemen.
The time between periods will be slightly shorter at the Olympics, with a break of only 15 minutes compared to 18 minutes in the NHL. For viewers, this difference will hardly be noticeable, but it could be a slight inconvenience for players with deeply-engrained intermission routines.
Fighting is a regular part of NHL games, and provided some of the most memorable moments from last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, but the IIHF clearly states in its rulebook that “fighting is not part of international ice hockey’s DNA.”
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Under IIHF rules, players engaging in a fight are typically ejected from the contest. From the rulebook: “Any player who persists in continuing or attempting to continue a ‘fight or altercation’ after they have been ordered by the referee to stop, or who resists a linesperson in the discharge of their duties shall, at the discretion of the referee, incur at least a major penalty, plus an automatic game misconduct penalty, in addition to any additional penalties imposed.”
The IIHF’s rule on checks to the head begins, “There is no clean check to the head or neck. The player delivering the hit must avoid hitting the opponent’s head or neck.”
In the NHL, checks to the head cannot be called as major penalties or game misconducts. They are either ruled a two-minute minor penalty, or can be elevated to a match penalty if the referee determines the player attempted to or deliberately injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head.
The IIHF rulebook allows referees to call illegal checks to the head as a major penalty and automatic game misconduct if, in their judgment, a player recklessly endangers their opponent by an “illegal check to the head or neck.”
The differences in wording are slight, but important.
Over the years, the IIHF has continued to adopt more and more rules from the NHL. If it’s been a while since you’ve watched Olympic hockey, you may be surprised by some rules that are now congruent with the NHL.
Trapezoid rule: The NHL introduced the trapezoid behind the goal line in 2004, preventing goalies from playing the puck in the corners. In the Olympics, goalies continued to be free to play the puck anywhere behind the goal line until the IIHF adopted the trapezoid in 2021. Now, it is ruled the same way as it is in the NHL.
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Crease violations: Crowding the goal crease to interfere with the goalie’s field of vision has become an increasingly popular offensive strategy in today’s NHL. Under previous IIHF rules, in which players were prohibited from ever stepping foot in the blue goal crease, that would be tough to execute. In 2018, the IIHF adopted a policy similar to the NHL’s, which allows players to skate through the blue paint, as long as they don’t interfere with the goaltender.
Icing: The last time NHL players competed in the Olympics, they played with automatic icing — meaning icing was called the moment the puck crossed the goal line, regardless of players’ positions on the ice. In 2015, the IIHF adopted hybrid icing, which matches what the NHL has used since 2013.
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Jesse Granger is a staff writer for The Athletic NHL based in Las Vegas covering the Golden Knights and goaltending across the league. He has covered the Golden Knights since its inception and was previously an award-winning reporter for the Las Vegas Sun. Follow Jesse on Twitter @JesseGranger_
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