What Happens When a Hockey Goalie Gets a Penalty?

Like all the rules that apply to the players of an ice hockey game, goalies must submit to all the rules. They also get the penalties to form the actions that result in penalties. However, there are some events when goalies enjoy special consideration as the king of the ice rink; they cannot leave their crease.

When a goaltender in ice hockey gets a penalty, he doesn’t sit in a penalty box. Instead, another player selected by the coach serves the penalty and sits in a penalty box. Despite being called on a penalty, the goalie would still stay in the net and guard it.

This blog will answer many queries like; can a goalie get any penalty? Does the goalie ever go to the penalty box? Can’t the backup goalie take the fall for the goalie on the ice? After addressing these questions, we will tell you about the goalies who got penalized abundantly, the legendary Match penalty, and the leader of the goalie penalty!

Can a Goalie Get any Penalty?

Obviously, a goalie is himself a player before being a goalie. And the players can get a penalty for the actions defined by the National Hockey League rule book. These actions include; tripping, slashing, fighting, high sticking, roughing, and delaying the game. In all these cases, the goalies have specific penalties that only they can bear, like skating out in the corners of the trapezoid and freezing the puck when they are skating out of their crease. Thus, we can conclude that the goalie does get the penalties.

Does the Goalie ever go to the Penalty box?

No, the goalie himself does not go to the penalty box. Instead, his teammate takes the fall for him and goes to the penalty box instead of the goalies. The coach is the one who picks any random member from the game to go into the penalty box. Now that we see a team member in the penalty box, it does not mean the teammate will get blamed for the penalty. The penalty still belongs to the goalie, and the team member has nothing to do with it. Goalies cannot leave the rink as they need to serve at the net.

Initially, in the 1970s, when the National Hockey League started, the goalies served their penalty. In the era, the team member of the goalie had to cover the net in place of the goalie. That was the time with no coloured lines on the rink, but the new rule took over, and till now, the goalies do not serve any penalty except ‘The match Penalty,’ defined below.

Can’t the backup Goalie take the fall for the Goalie on Ice?

The matches have two goalies; one plays on the ice while the other is a backup goalie. So, the question is, why not the backup goalie goes to the goalie’s net when the penalized goalie serve a penalty? And also the backup goalie can serve the penalty for the penalized goalie? Let’s discover the facts behind these questions.

At first, the backup goalie does not serve on ice for just the penalty time, which is two, five, or ten minutes. The job of goalie is the hardest one in the matches. And if the backup goalie is called for that short period when he is not warmed up. Then, this will lead to disharmony in-game.

Secondly, the backup goalie does not serve the penalty because it is considered a particular form of penalty. The special penalty for the backup goalie gives the opposing team more power and the opportunity to score more as the player facing the penalty must come to the ice and play for his team. The backup goalie cannot do this with his heavy gear.

Thus, we can say that the questions mentioned before do not hold any validity to the procedure.

What is the situation if there is a 10-minute Misconduct penalty?

When there is a 10-minute misconduct penalty, the player who does it will be ruled out from the ice for 10 minutes. But this does not apply to the goalkeeper. A substitute player will do this in place of the goalie.

The legendary Match Penalty

It is the penalty when the players bear their penalty themselves either he is a goalie, but he did not get the exception. The match penalty is given when the player hurts any other player or tries to hurt him intentionally. This penalty suspends the player at fault for the whole game. And the respective team gets a penalty of five minutes. In the case of a goalie, the goalie is suspended from the team, his accomplice serves the penalty for five minutes in the penalty box, and the backup goalie takes the net for the remaining game.

The Goalies Who Got Penalized Abundantly

Following is the list of the player who got penalized abundantly in the matches they played:

Name	Team	Year	Games Played	PIM
Ron Hextall	Philadelphia Flyers	1988‑89	64	113
Ron Hextall	Philadelphia Flyers	1986‑87	66	104
Ron Hextall	Philadelphia Flyers	1986‑88	62	104
Tom Barrasso	Buffalo Sabres	1988-89	54	70
Gerry Cheevers	Boston Bruins	1979‑80	42	62
Ed Belfour	Chicago Blackhawks	1993‑94	70	61
Andy Brown	Pittsburgh Penguins	1973‑74	36	60

The leader of the goalie damages. Sounds irony!

List of All-Time Goalie Penalty Minutes Leaders

Here is the list of all time Goalie Penalty Minutes Leaders:

Name	Games Played	PIM
Ron Hextall	608	569
Billy Smith	679	475
Tom Barrasso	777	437
Ed Belfour	963	380
John Vanbiesbrouck	882	310
Sean Burke	820	310
Mike Vernon	782	271
Don Beaupre	666	268
Patrick Roy	1029	262
Dan Bouchard	656	255

Frequently Asked Question

Conclusion

We knew that the readers were curious about the fact that ‘The goalie does not serve his penalty,” so we created this content to satisfy their eagerness. The goalie cannot leave his net. That is the reason for calling him the king of the crease. All the players can take the fall for his penalty to continue the match smoothly and harmoniously. This blog includes all the details one fan needs about the penalty of goalies. We assume you will like it!

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