Hockey timekeeper training you can do tonight

How a period works

1. Listen. "Whistle at 12 34. Penalty, home number 7, tripping, minor." Speech is optional; every call is also shown as text.
2. Post it. Put the player and the time on the penalty clock, or leave it off if it is coincidental.
3. Write it. One row on the game sheet: period, number, served by, offence, minutes, time off, start and end.
4. Open the door. Release each player at the right second: on expiry, on a power play goal, or at the next stoppage.
5. Read your marks. The grader names each wrong start, end, server, release and queue order, with the rule number.

New for 2026-27 in Canada: delayed minors count on a goal

Hockey Canada's 2026-2028 playing rules changed Rule 4.2(b). When a goal is scored against a team that is short handed, or that would become short handed by a delayed minor, the delayed minor now counts as a penalty with 2:00 left in deciding which minor ends. Older timekeeper handouts do not cover it. The guide to the 2026-28 goal rule works through it, and the practice page has a situation for it in both profiles.

What you can practise

• Minors and the power play. Post a minor, count it down, open the door on the second it expires.
• Coincidental penalties. Equal penalties to both teams: who stays off the clock, who goes on it, who leaves at the whistle.
• Stacked penalties and the queue. A third penalty waits for a slot, and expired players stay in the box until the team may add a skater.
• Power play goal release. A power play goal ends the minor with the least time left. Majors never end.
• Delayed calls and the goal rule. A delayed penalty is signalled and the other team scores. Under the 2026-28 Canadian rule the delayed minor counts.
• Double minors. Four minutes posted as one, but a goal only ends the half being served.
• Major plus game misconduct. Five minutes served by someone else, a game misconduct on the sheet with nothing on the clock.
• Misconducts. Ten minutes with a substitute on the ice, and the player only comes out at a stoppage.
• Period carry-over. Penalty time left at the buzzer goes back on the clock for the next period.
• Penalty shots. A goal on a penalty shot releases nobody.
• Time-outs and stoppages. One time-out per team, taken at a stoppage, and the stoppage frees players waiting to come out.

Rule profiles: Hockey Canada Playing Rules 2026-2028 and USA Hockey Official Rules of Ice Hockey 2025-29, paraphrased with rule numbers. The penalty code sheet lists the offence abbreviations in our own words.

Private by design

Player numbers and any name you type for a certificate stay in this browser. Nothing is uploaded. There is no account and no server behind the drill. Progress lives in your browser and exports as a JSON file. Rinkclock is a practice tool. Your league or region's certification course is still required, and the referee's call on the ice is final.