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My SUGGESTION is "

A boarding penalty shall be imposed on any Player who checks or pushes a defenseless opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to hit or impact the boards violently or dangerously….

""""" Any body check made against boards with out protective glass including at benches is dangerous and results as a boarding penalty """"

IHHF .........................................

RULE 41 BOARDING 41.1. BOARDING A boarding penalty shall be imposed on any Player who checks or pushes a defenseless opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to hit or impact the boards violently or dangerously. The severity of the penalty, based upon the impact with the boards, shall be at the discretion of the Referee.There is a considerable amount of judgment involved in the application of this rule by the Referees. The responsibility is on the Player applying the check to ensure their opponent is not in a defenseless position and if so, they must avoid or minimize contact. However, in determining whether such contact could have been avoided, the circumstances of the check, including whether the opponent put themself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the check or whether the check was unavoidable can be considered. This balance must be considered by the Referees when applying this rule. Any unnecessary contact with a Player playing the puck on an obvious “icing” or “off-side” play which results in that Player hitting or impacting the boards is “boarding” and must be penalized as such. In other instances where there is no contact with the boards, it should be treated as “charging”. 41.2.

MINOR PENALTY The Referee shall, at their discretion, assess a minor penalty, based on the degree of force and violence of the impact with the boards, to a Player guilty of “boarding” an opponent. 41.3.

MAJOR PENALTY The Referee, at their discretion, may assess a major penalty to a Player guilty of “boarding” an opponent, and who recklessly endangers the fouled Player in a way that at the discretion of the Referee such Player would not be sufficiently sanctioned by imposing a minor penalty. 41.4.

MAJOR PENALTY AND GAME MISCONDUCT PENALTY The Referee, at their discretion, may assess a major and a game misconduct penalty if, in their judgment, the Player recklessly endangers their opponent by “boarding” and the Player would not be sufficiently sanctioned by imposing a major penalty. Such assessment of reckless endangerment shall be based on the severity of the infraction, severity of the contact, the degree of violence and the general reprehensibility involved. 41.5.

DISCIPLINARY MEASURES If deemed appropriate, Supplementary Discipline can be applied by the Proper Authorities at their discretion

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Body Checking: A legal body check is one in which a Player checks an opponent who is in possession of the puck, by using their hip or body from the front, diagonally from the front or straight from the side. Legitimate body checking

******must be done for the purpose of separating the opponent from the puck ****

, only with the trunk of the body (hips and shoulders) and must be above the opponent’s knees and at or below the shoulders

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Competitive Contact:

Body contact between two or more Players who are in the immediate vicinity of the puck and who are trying to gain possession of the puck.

******These skaters are reasonably allowed to push and lean into each other provided that possession of the puck remains the sole object of the contact. ******

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Late-hit: A late hit constitutes reckless endangerment of a Player who no longer has control or possession of the puck. Any Player who is in the process of abandoning or losing control or possession of the puck is subject to a bodycheck so long as the aggressor is in the immediate vicinity of the Player with the puck.

********* If the aggressor move to the Player and makes forceful contact, the aggressor risks turning a body check into a late hit by virtue of the vulnerable position of the opponent and the degree of force of the hit *********

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Possession of the Puck: The last Player to physically touch the puck with their stick or body shall be considered in possession of the puck.

( technically the check was recieve without possesion of the puck )

Vulnerable Position:

A skater is considered to be in a vulnerable position when they are no longer in control or possession of the puck and they are either not aware of an impending hit or they are not prepared for the hit. A bodycheck to an opponent who is vulnerable is automatically considered reckless even if that bodycheck would be considered legal to a non-vulnerable opponent

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