What Happens when a Player or Coach Refuses to Start Play in Ice Hockey?
during the hockey game for some reason, and thinks the best course of action is to simply refuse to listen to the referee. However, this situation warrants very serious penalties, as it is extremely detrimental to the game. If one team refuses to start play for any reason after the referee has signaled it to begin, then they will first receive one warning. If the team does not comply with fifteen seconds of the warning, then the referee will issue a two minute bench minor penalty to the team. At this point, the coach or captain will have to choose one player from the ice to serve the penalty on behalf of the team. If the team still refuses to return to play even after the bench minor penalty has been assessed, then the next step is for the referee to suspend the game and issue the head coach a match penalty. This is an extremely severe penalty, as the coach will be suspended from future games until he or she meets with the proper authorities who will impose some sort of penalty. The su
