A first face-off violation usually replaces the centre; a second costs the team.

The ruleset used on this page

This page applies the International Ice Hockey Federation Official Rule Book 2026/27, published by the IIHF in June 2026 for its 2026/27 season. The main provisions are Rule 76, “Face-offs,” and Rule 82, “Line Changes.” Rules for the event that caused the whistle—such as icing or off-side—can override the general location rule.

This is an IIHF baseline, not a universal description of the NHL, USA Hockey, Hockey Canada or every domestic league. A national association or competition may appoint a different code or add event regulations; use that appointed rulebook when it is not the IIHF code.

The face-off has a legal beginning and end

Rule 76.1 defines a face-off as an official dropping the puck between the sticks of two opposing players to start or resume play. It begins when the official indicates the location and the officials and players take their positions; it ends when the puck has been legally dropped. A goalkeeper cannot take a face-off.

That timing matters. Encroachment and pre-drop contact are face-off violations. Contact after a legal drop is judged under the ordinary playing rules. A false drop or a violation can require the draw to be taken again, and Rule 76.9 requires time lost from the game or penalty clocks to be restored.

How to analyse any face-off

1. Name the stoppage. Icing, off-side, a penalty, a goal and puck out of play do not automatically lead to the same dot.
2. Apply that rule's location provision. If no specific rule covers the stoppage, use Rule 76.2's general location tests.
3. Complete permitted changes. Rule 82 gives the visiting team first change and the home team last change; some stoppages prohibit substitutions.
4. Set the centres and other skaters. Check feet, sticks, restraining lines, distance and which side establishes position first.
5. Identify the act and its timing. A late arrival, a face-off violation, an unfair puck drop and an offence after the drop have different consequences.
6. Count team violations on this draw. The first usually replaces the centre; the second by the same team brings a bench minor. Apply the icing exception where required.

Every IIHF draw uses one of nine spots

Rule 76.2 allows face-offs only at the nine marked spots: centre ice, four neutral-zone spots and four end-zone spots. The nearest dot is not always the answer. When two violations caused the stoppage, officials use the spot that gives the offending team the least territorial advantage. A neutral-zone stoppage not attributable to either team normally goes to the nearest spot outside the blue line; if two spots are equally near, the home team receives the greater neutral-zone territorial advantage.

A game and each new period start at centre ice under Rule 86.1. When only one team receives penalties that go on the penalty clock, Rule 76.2 normally puts the draw at one of that team's defending-zone spots, and the team starting the power play chooses which one. Rule 76.2 lists exceptions, including a penalty assessed after a goal or at the end or start of a period, when the draw remains at centre ice.

Icing and off-side supply their own location rules

After icing, Rule 81 places the draw in the offending team's end zone and gives the non-offending attacking team the choice of end-zone dot. The icing team normally cannot substitute before the draw, subject to the rule's stated exceptions, such as replacing an extra attacker with the goalkeeper, replacing an injured player or responding to a penalty that changes on-ice strength.

Off-side is more conditional. Under Rule 83.6, carrying the puck over the attacking blue line off-side sends the draw to the neutral-zone spot just outside that blue line. When a shot or pass creates the violation, the point of origin controls and the selected spot must give the offending team the least territorial advantage. Intentional off-side sends the draw to the offending team's end zone.

The teams choose personnel before they set

For a normal stoppage, Rule 82.2 gives the visiting team up to five seconds to change. The referee then raises a hand to close that change and gives the home team up to eight seconds; the home side therefore has “last change.” When the referee lowers the hand, the linesperson whistles and the players must normally be in position and on-side within five seconds.

Once the change procedure is complete, no further substitution is allowed until the face-off is legally completed and play resumes, unless a later penalty changes either team's on-ice strength. An attempted late change is an improper-line-change issue under Rule 82, not automatically a face-off violation under Rule 76.

Feet square, blade down, correct player first

Under Rule 76.4, the two players face the opponent's end approximately one stick length apart. At a marked spot they must stand square, clear of the markings where applicable, and place their stick blades on the ice within the designated white area.

• Eight non-centre spots: the defending player puts the stick down first, followed immediately by the attacking player.
• Centre ice: the visiting player puts the stick down first.
• Foot position: the centre's feet straddle the lines parallel to the side boards; touching those lines is allowed, but the toes of the skate blades must not cross the perpendicular restraining lines.
• Stick position: at least the toe of the stick blade must remain in the white area until the puck is dropped.

Wingers can cause the centre to be replaced

Rule 76.6 keeps every non-centre out of the face-off circle and at least 4.5 metres from the players taking the draw. At an end-zone face-off, those skaters must keep their bodies on their own side of the outer restraining lines. The attacking team's skaters establish position first; the defending team may then counter and must hold position until the drop.

Rule 76.7 makes the boundary test exact: both skates must remain outside the circle and outside the space between the hash marks. A skate may touch a line, but crossing it is encroachment. A stick may project into those areas if it does not contact an opponent or the opponent's stick. The violation belongs to the team even when a winger caused it, so that team's centre is the player normally replaced.

What counts before the puck is down

IIHF Rule 76.7 identifies four principal face-off violations:

• A non-centre encroaches into the circle or between the hash marks.
• A player makes physical contact with an opponent before the drop, including centre-to-centre helmet contact.
• A centre fails to take the prescribed position or keep the stick blade in the designated white area.
• A centre moves prematurely before the face-off.

Any of the four on-ice officials may identify a violation. If the linesperson cannot tell which centre initiated helmet contact, both teams receive a violation. Physical contact can also justify a separate minor penalty at the referee's discretion; replacing the centre does not erase that possible playing penalty.

First violation, replacement; second, bench minor

For an ordinary face-off, a first team violation causes the linesperson to order that team's centre replaced by any teammate then on the ice. The replacement must set promptly. If the same team commits another violation before this face-off is legally completed, Rule 76.7 requires an immediate bench minor announced as Delay of Game—Face-off Violation.

The count belongs to the team and to this face-off sequence. It does not matter whether the centre committed the first violation and a winger committed the second. It also does not mean that a team's first violation in the game creates a standing penalty threat for every later draw; the two violations must occur during the same face-off.

The first violation after icing does not eject the centre

Rule 76.4 creates a specific exception for a face-off resulting from icing. On the first violation by either team, the linesperson warns the centre that the team has committed its first violation but does not remove that centre. Any subsequent violation by the same team during that icing face-off produces the bench minor for Delay of Game—Face-off Violation.

This exception changes the procedure, not the location or the icing team's substitution restriction. It is also why “the first violation always kicks out the centre” is incorrect under the IIHF 2026/27 code.

Arriving late is tracked separately

Players who are slow after the linesperson's five-second warning whistle, or who arrive off-side for the draw, receive a team-and-coach warning once in the game under Rule 82.2. The centre is not replaced for that reason. A subsequent slow-proceeding offence brings a bench minor for Delay of Game—Slow Proceeding to Face-off Location.

The five-second line-up provisions do not apply in the final two minutes of regulation or during overtime; the linesperson instead gives a reasonable time to set after the player-change sequence. That is not permission to stall: Rule 82.3 still allows a bench minor for deliberate delay or other unnecessary actions.

A legal drop does not make every technique legal

The face-off ends with a legal drop, but Rule 76.5 adds a special post-drop restriction: either centre who plays the puck with a hand before a third player from either team has touched it incurs the handling-the-puck penalty in Rule 67.2. Once a winner is clear and the face-off is complete, the ordinary hand-pass rule applies.

Rule 87.1 also prevents either team from using a time-out immediately after a face-off violation. The draw is reset and the violation procedure continues.

A winger's skate crosses the circle

Situation: at an ordinary end-zone draw, Red's winger has one skate touching the circle line and the other crossing into the circle before the puck drops.

IIHF 2026/27 ruling: Red has committed its first face-off violation. Touching the line is permitted, but crossing it is not; Red's centre must be replaced by a teammate already on the ice. If Red encroaches again before the legal drop, Red receives the bench minor.

The same movement follows icing

Situation: the identical encroachment happens on the first attempt after Red iced the puck.

IIHF 2026/27 ruling: the linesperson warns Red but does not replace its centre because Rule 76.4's icing exception applies. A second Red violation during that draw results in a bench minor. Red also remains unable to make a normal substitution because of the icing.

A stick enters the circle but the skates do not

Situation: a winger keeps both skates outside the circle but extends the stick blade inside without touching an opponent or the opponent's stick.

IIHF 2026/27 ruling: no encroachment violation on those facts. Rule 76.7 permits the stick inside; it is the crossed skate or prohibited contact that changes the ruling.

The replacement commits the next violation

Situation: Blue's original centre moves early and is replaced. The replacement then fails to put the stick blade down in the white area.

IIHF 2026/27 ruling: Blue has now committed two violations during the same face-off, so the referee assesses the required bench minor for Delay of Game—Face-off Violation. Changing which player caused the second act does not reset the team count.

The linesperson makes an unfair drop

Situation: both centres are legally set, but the puck is dropped unfairly and one second runs from the game clock.

IIHF 2026/27 ruling: conduct the face-off again under Rule 76.7 and restore the lost second under Rule 76.9. The decisive fact is the defective drop, not misconduct by either team.

Four shortcuts that produce the wrong ruling

• “The centre must have cheated.” A teammate's encroachment can be the reason the centre is replaced.
• “The first violation is only a warning.” That is the current icing exception; most other first violations replace the centre under IIHF 2026/27.
• “Crossing the line with a stick is encroachment.” The stick may enter if it makes no prohibited contact; skates and contact decide this test.
• “Two violations anywhere in the game mean a penalty.” Rule 76's automatic bench minor requires two by the same team during the same face-off. Slow proceeding has a separate game-warning process under Rule 82.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• International Ice Hockey Federation — Official Rule Book 2026/27, Rules 76, 81–83 and 86–87
• International Ice Hockey Federation — Rules, Regulations & Guidelines, current 2026/27 rulebook and Situation Handbook downloads

Checked against the IIHF Official Rule Book 2026/27 and the IIHF rules hub updated in June 2026. The face-off procedure is primarily Rules 76.1–76.9; Rule 82 controls player changes and slow proceeding. IIHF event regulations and an appointed national or league rulebook may supplement or replace this baseline.