Rick McAdoo wrote:
> As a clarification -- the benches aren't EXACTLY opposite each other, as
> the visitors bench actually extends a few feet into one offensive zone.
> I have seen visitors use this as an advantage, where a player is leaving
> the ice at one end of the bench (at center ice), and the player coming on
> the ice enters already inside the attacking zone, right at the point.
 
This would be offsides.  Even at the youth hockey level where the officiating
can sometimes be brain-dead, they mostly get this right.  If a player coming
into the bench is outside the offensive zone and the player going onto the ice
goes immediately into the zone, he has to clear the blueline.
 
The only thing that might make it less obvious at the collegiate level is that
players are going over the boards whereas the kids go out the door making it
a lot more obvious.
 
DaveH