Ice hockey timeout rules explained
A timeout gives a hockey team a brief chance to regroup, rest or discuss its next play. The important questions are whether the team still has its timeout, why play stopped and whether the request arrived before the restart procedure went too far.
Key points
- IIHF 2026/27 Rule 87.1 gives each team one 30-second timeout for the whole game, not one per period, and overtime does not create a fresh allowance.
- For the IIHF 2026/27 timeout request, the coach or a player designated by the coach must tell the referee during a stoppage before the player-change procedure is completed by lowering the hand and pointing toward the face-off location.
- During a granted IIHF 2026/27 timeout, players on the ice, including both goalkeepers, may go to their benches, and the 30 seconds are not subtracted from the period clock.
- The IIHF 2026/27 one-timeout-at-a-stoppage rule counts a television commercial or power break as the official timeout, so a team cannot add its own 30-second timeout to the same break.
- IIHF 2026/27 Rule 87.1 denies the defending team responsible for icing a timeout, and also denies a defending team one after its goalkeeper freezes a long shoot-in originating beyond the centre red line or its player accidentally dislodges the net.
- Under IIHF 2026/27 Rule 87.1, no timeout is granted after a face-off violation, during the shootout, or during the penalty-shot procedure once the referee has given instructions to the shooter and defending goalkeeper.
- IIHF 2026/27 Rule 87.1 prohibits goalkeeper or replacement-goalkeeper warm-ups involving pucks during a timeout, and if the conduct continues after one warning, the referee assesses a delay-of-game penalty to the offending team.
Which hockey rules apply here?
This page explains the International Ice Hockey Federation Official Rule Book 2026/27, Version 1.0, issued June 2026. Rule 87.1 governs team timeouts; Rule 87.2 covers commercial breaks. All rulings and examples below use that edition.
This is an ice hockey page. NHL, college, national-association, youth and recreational competitions have their own adopted rules and event regulations. Check those before applying the IIHF procedure to a particular match; a familiar-looking timeout signal does not establish which code is in force.
One timeout for the whole game
IIHF Rule 87.1 gives each team a single 30-second allowance. It is not one timeout per period. A team that uses its timeout early has spent the same allowance it might otherwise have saved for the closing minutes.
The per-game limit also means that overtime does not award a fresh timeout. An unused timeout remains available at an eligible overtime stoppage; a used one does not return. No timeout is allowed during the shootout. See overtime and shootout rules for the separate competition formats.
Who asks, and how early?
Under Rule 87.1, the coach or a player designated by the coach tells the referee that the team wants its timeout. The request must reach the referee during a normal stoppage, before the referee completes the player-change procedure by lowering the hand and pointing toward the face-off location.
Waiting until just before the puck drops can therefore be too late. Officials check both the team's remaining allowance and the stage of the restart. A team cannot stop an opponent's live attack by calling for a timeout from the bench.
What happens to players and the clock?
Rule 87.1 permits the players on the ice, including both goalkeepers, to go to their respective benches. The referee informs the Game Timekeeper, who signals the end of the timeout. Both teams can use the break to talk, even though only the requesting team spends its allowance.
The timeout occurs while play is already stopped. It does not subtract 30 seconds from the period: a timeout at 1:12 remaining still leaves 1:12 to play, unless officials separately correct the clock. The game length and clock stoppage explainer covers playing time in more detail.
When must officials refuse a timeout?
Under IIHF Rule 87.1, having an unused timeout is not enough. These restrictions still apply:
- After icing: the defending team responsible for the icing cannot take a timeout.
- After a long shoot-in is frozen: the defending team cannot take one when its goalkeeper causes a stoppage from a shoot-in originating beyond the centre red line.
- After accidental net displacement: the defending team cannot take one when its player accidentally dislodges the net and causes the stoppage.
- After a face-off violation: no timeout is granted.
- During the penalty-shot procedure: no timeout is granted once the referee has given instructions to the shooter and the defending goalkeeper.
- During the shootout: no timeout is granted.
The first three restrictions specifically concern the defending team. The opposing team may request its own unused timeout if the request otherwise satisfies Rule 87.1. That distinction matters when a broadcast says simply that there is “no timeout after icing.”
A tired defending line wants a rest
Situation: Blue clears the puck the length of the ice, icing is called, and Blue's coach immediately asks for the team's unused timeout.
IIHF 2026/27 ruling: refuse the request under Rule 87.1. Asking promptly does not remove the icing restriction. If Red instead requests its own unused timeout in time, the defending-team prohibition does not prevent Red's request.
A chance to rest is also different from permission to substitute. Under IIHF Rule 81.4, the icing team's substitution restriction continues even if the ensuing stoppage includes a timeout, subject to that rule's specified exceptions. Read icing and hybrid icing and substitution rules for those decisions.
Can both teams call consecutive timeouts?
No. IIHF Rule 87.1 permits only one timeout at a stoppage, counting a television commercial or power break as an official timeout. One team cannot take its 30 seconds and then have the opponent add another 30 seconds before the same restart.
Example: Red's timeout ends and Blue now asks to use its own. Officials must refuse the second request at that stoppage. Blue keeps its unused allowance for a later eligible opportunity; benefiting from Red's break did not spend it.
A TV timeout is a separate allowance
Under Rule 87.1, a commercial break is not charged to either team's personal timeout allowance, but it does occupy the single timeout opportunity at that stoppage. A team cannot add its own timeout to extend the same break.
Rule 87.2 sets the IIHF Championship commercial-break framework, including eligible stoppages and event-specific adjustments. Do not assume every whistle triggers a broadcast break or that its duration is the same as a team's 30 seconds. For spectators, the useful distinction is who called the break and whether it actually used a team's allowance.
A timeout is not a goalkeeper warm-up
IIHF Rule 87.1 prohibits on-ice warm-ups involving pucks for a goalkeeper or replacement goalkeeper during a timeout. If that conduct continues after one warning, the referee assesses a delay-of-game penalty to the offending team.
A refused request and this penalty are different outcomes. Being too late to request a timeout means the break is not granted; the express warning-and-penalty provision here concerns the prohibited goalkeeper warm-up. For restart procedure, see face-off rules and violations.
How to understand the referee's decision
For an IIHF 2026/27 timeout request, check four things in order: whether the team has used its allowance, what caused the stoppage, whether another timeout or commercial break already occupies it, and whether the request beat the player-change deadline.
That sequence explains why two requests with the same time remaining can receive different answers. A timely request after an ordinary stoppage is different from a request after the team's own icing or after the face-off procedure has advanced too far. Return to the ice hockey rules overview for related rule explanations.
Sources and effective version
- IIHF Official Rule Book 2026/27, Version 1.0 (June 2026): Rule 87.1 (team timeouts, printed pages 151–152); Rule 87.2 (commercial breaks); Rule 81.4 (icing substitutions); Rule 76.9 (playing time).
- IIHF Rules, Regulations & Guidelines: official rulebook and interpretation resources.
Checked on 20 September 2026 against the cited 2026/27 edition. Use the rulebook version and event regulations adopted for the competition being played.