NHL Ice Hokey the National Hockey League instituted the clipping rule in 2002 as a needed addition to the NHL rulebook. That year, a player on the New York Islanders was injured due to a clipping call during a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The severity of the player’s injury kept him from playing the remainder of the year.

So how does one clip? There’s a few ways to do it. One involves flinging yourself on the ice in front of an opponent to block the knees. Kneeling on the ice and hitting an opposing player below the knees as a result is clipping. Clipping can result when you throw your body at opponent’s legs from any direction. Anything below the knees is a general no-no in hockey.

These illegal lower-leg hits result in a minor penalty in cases where no injury results to the opponent. However, major penalties can be assessed if the severity of the clip is evaluated and officials find the clipping to be intentional. Minor penalties result in 2 minutes in the penalty box and teams playing minus one player. Major penalties are 5-minute penalties that leave a team short-handed as well. Officials also tend to assess game misconduct penalties for clipping since the presumption is that there was initial intent to harm. The NHL commissioner has the right to evaluate each instance and institute more severe punishment if he chooses.

Don’t worry though. Clipping isn’t called when players get all tangled up with arms and legs flying to get control of a hockey puck. There are four referees on the hockey ice; two at the center and blue lines and one at each end near the goals. Referees exist to provide rule interpretation as well as making sure game play is safe. They also determine both intent and which kind of penalty to charge.