Two rules questions were asked recently:  1. When does a player have to
wait for a whistle to come out of the box? and 2. On delayed penalty to a
team already short-handed, does a goal nullify both the delayed penalty and
the penalty already being served?
 
Answers:
1.  There are two general situations where players have to wait for a
whistle to come out of the box. One would be when a player receives a
misconduct penalty. The second would be with some coincidental penalty
situations. Under NCAA rules, teams skate 4-4 with coincidental penalties,
but if there is already a penalty up, the new 2 wash. Those two guys have
to wait for the first whistle after 2 minutes to come out. Also, if one
player gets a double minor and the other player just gets a minor, the team
with the double minor would put another player in the box, who would come
out on the fly when 2 minutes is up. The player with the single minor would
come out at the first whistle after 2 minutes and the player with the
double minor would come out at the first whistle after 4 minutes.
 
As you can imagine, when you have to wait for a whistle, your 2 minute
penalty can sometimes keep you in the box for a lot longer. I've seen guys
stuck in the box for 10 minutes on a 2 minute penalty!
 
2. In the situation mentioned, where a short-handed team takes another
penalty, but before they touch the puck, the opposing team scores, the
player already in the box would come out and 2 minutes would go up on the
clock. Kinda sucks for the short-handed team, but that's life.
 
By the way, I wish people would stop bashing the officials. I know most
people are just blowing off steam, but it paints a bleak picture of the
game. While a ref may make a bad call now and then, you have to remember
that they are only human and will make an occassional bad call - even the
guys in the NHL do it.
 
I'd be willing to bet that most of the people talking about how bad the
officials are have never even been on the ice, let alone worn the stripes
for a game. About a year ago, Sports Illustrated ran an article about an
official who was pulled from a high school state football championship
because of a "blown call." He tried to commit suicide. The next time you
want to complain about how lousy the officiating was, find that article at
your local library. If you still want to complain after you've read it,
fine, but I don't think you will.
 
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