JMS Hockey

I recently had an issue where I called off sides twice in one game, and the same player happened to be in on the play both times. The first call he was chirping that while it may have been close (he was a good five feet over the line) he should have gotten the benefit of the doubt. After the second call (which was closer, but he clearly passed the puck across the blue line), he started complaining that I always called off sides on him when he's on the ice. I get that this is pick 'em up hockey, not the NHL, but are we not to call anything? If the puck is iced, shouldn't we let the other team at least take the puck out of their offensive zone before pressuring? In the future, how should I handle situations like this? The player seemed to understand what off sides meant, but it was like he had a fuzzy idea of where the blue line was...

I believe you are talking about me. Here is the deal and why I was "chirping." if the play is close, who cares play it, especially if it was an honest attempt to keep it in. Rather than stop play and have that awkward transition play it. If someone clearly purposely ices/ goes offsides then I agree call it. Also if it gives the player a distinct advantage or break away I agree call it. Also in this particular instance, you clearly had the better team and we spent a lot of time in our defensive end,the likelihood that we took the puck out and actually got another offensive chance was low. We all want to try and score and play offense. Bottom line if you want to call it, call it, but assuming it is fairly close I say play. THere is also numerous times both teams are offsides, so in the effort to keep play moving again I say play it. In terms of pressure before icing, i agree with let it come out of the zone before pressure, but the games I have played its always different, perhaps something the captain can establish the standard before the game starts to clarify. I apologize if I offended you

I agree if it is close play it, keep the skate alive and not stop everyone on the ice. Icing is another thing that should be called every time, just as a safety issue.

Along those lines of icing... if it is indeed icing, the offending team needs to stay out of the offensive zone at least until the puck gets moving up towards the neutral zone. Nothing more irritating than an icing turnover because the pass is intercepted 5 feet in front of the goalie. In that circumstance, as a goalie, don't even call the icing then! ;-)

Andy- if the teams were that unfair talk to the captain about switching some players. I think it's better than seeing how we can adjust the rules.

Look...we're all in this for fun, but seriously in JMS there really are only two rules...offsides and icing...how is it a big deal to follow 2 rules? Most guys most of the time let close calls go...but when someone yells offsides its, well, because you were.....

In my limited experience the way it works is fine and everyone seems to be quite fair with the calls. From a selfish point of view I also would not mind the addition of an optional ref/linesman. His only responsibility would be to call off-sides, icing and to blow the play dead when the goalie covers the puck. No penalties, no faceoffs just an impartial set of eyes for the above. That and the whistle would be easier and clearer for everyone hear and understand what happened right away. I say selfish point of view cause I would do it occasionally when I want to skate but don't want to kill myself.

Quite a few years ago, Barb had a session that was reffed , but not a game. I think it'd be a cool one time option to have again for the lower level skaters who might not have any experience playing with a ref. I'd even volunteer to do it just to keep cost of the skate the same.

Yeah it should not cost the skaters anything extra. I would just make it an extra unpaid spot (like goalie) and maybe it only opens up only after all skater spots are full. it could be a backup skater spot too. If someone no-shows then the ref could skate so one team wasn't short. If no one signs up then its business as usual.

I don't get around to playing enough, but I think the unpaid/volunteer ref is a great idea. Probably the biggest benefit is goalie safety, but the 'ref' could also help out newer folks who might not know the rules and then maybe be the one to speak up to the captain about evening teams up when needed. I know that i'm too gassed at the end of a shift to go talk to the captain - especially if he's on the other team.

As far as off-sides goes, when I see it I stop, reset, and let the turnover happen. I do have a hard time as a carrier into the zone always knowing if I am on or off. But when observing the play it is fairly easy to determine when the puck has completely crossed the blue line relative to incoming players or when exiting the zone. Unless the captain calls for a continuation of play, it should be a dead play. If we start to get too loose with a simple off-side call it hurts game flow. Half the players stop to reset while the other half plays on. On a side note; please don't call off-sides as an opposing player before it even happens. I understand a warning shout, but that should be the carriers team's job. Call off-sides only when it happens, not when you think it might happen, and only when you observe a definite infraction. Lastly, when a stoppage of play happens (off-sides, frozen puck, goal, etc..) shouldn't we let off of the forechecking until the carrying team gets past their blue line?

Here's the deal. I usually call it if its way offsides. The guys I used to play with used to make a really loud "buzzer" sound, yelling "EHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" if it was off-sides and then players usually chip the puck in deep in then reset. 90% of the time, it's pretty obvious who the player was and most guys know what's close and what's not. The fact the guy was chirping is an indication he might not know exactly what it is, I mean, if its close, its close. When I'm a good two feet off because a guy had to make that one final move and cuts across the blue instead of taking the puck into the zone, I bail and its obvious. Even the guy with the puck will look up and see his teammates bailing out of the zone, so it must be off-sides (not much else it could be honestly, right?). The issue is what to do when the team who was off-sides isn't giving the puck back and not realizing what happened, or is just ignoring it. I let it go since it doesn't happen all that often, but if guys are taking advantage and the captain's not saying anything, I'll tell my guys to just stop playing, tell the goalie to let them score so we can get the puck back. After I do that once, someone will ask and then we confirm, that yes, your guy was off, but nobody was stopping, so we did. I'd also tell the player to read up the incredibly written and informative post entitled, "The unwritten rules of JMS" which outlines what to do in these situations. The feedback on the post was great and a lot of other people made some very useful suggestions. You can find it here: https://jmshockey.com/thread/view/thread-5381057ab182c