The job in six steps
- Set the clock before the game. Set the period length your league plays, check the horn works, and learn where start, stop, set time and the penalty keys are on your console.
- Start on the drop, stop on the whistle. In stop time the clock runs only while the puck is in play: start it the moment the puck is dropped and stop it the moment you hear the whistle.
- Post each time penalty. At the stoppage, enter the player sitting in the box and the penalty length for each time penalty, leaving coincidental penalties and misconducts off the penalty clock.
- Write the sheet at the same stoppage. Write the period, number, offence, minutes and time of each penalty before the face-off, then the start and end once you know them.
- Open the door on time. Release a player the second their time expires during play, at the goal that ends their minor, or at the first stoppage when the rules hold them until then.
- Carry time over and close the period. At the end of a period note what is left on every penalty clock and put it back on for the next period, then sign off the sheet at the end of the game.
Stop time and running time
Most games are stop time: the clock runs only while the puck is live. Some leagues play running time for younger groups or to fit an ice slot, where the clock keeps going through whistles. Leagues set this under their own rules; the Canadian rulebook lets members set time of game under Rule 6.17, and USA Hockey Rule 636 sets the maximum game length. In running time, penalty clocks keep running through whistles too, because they follow the game clock.
A penalty from whistle to door
When the referee reports a minor, the clock is already stopped. You put the player on the penalty clock with the full length, write the row, and watch the face-off. When the penalty clock reaches zero during play, the player comes out at once, even though the puck is live. The example below is computed by Rinkclock's engine, the same one that grades the drill.
- P1 12:34 Penalty: Home #7, tripping (TRIP), minor
- P1 11:02 Whistle, stoppage
- P1 10:20 Penalty: Away #9, hooking (HOOK), minor
What the sheet and the door should show
two minors at different whistles
| Team | P | # | Served by | Offence | Min | Off | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 1 | 7 | TRIP minor | 2 | 12:34 | P1 12:34 | P1 10:34 | |
| Away | 1 | 9 | HOOK minor | 2 | 10:20 | P1 10:20 | P1 8:20 |
Box door
- Home #7 at P1 10:34 (time expired)
- Away #9 at P1 8:20 (time expired)
Home #7 went off at 12:34 and came out at 10:34 with play on. The whistle at 11:02 changed nothing for him. Away #9 went off at 10:20 and returned at 8:20.
What the rulebooks ask of the timekeepers
The USA Hockey rulebook splits the work in two. Rule 506 has the game timekeeper signal the start of each period, warn the teams before play resumes, announce the last minute, and report any clock failure to the referee at the next stoppage. Rule 507 has the penalty timekeeper record every penalty with the player, the infraction, the length and the time, post it correctly on the scoreboard, point out any difference between the clock and the correct time, and tell a penalized player how long is left when asked. The Canadian rulebook gives the same duties to the penalty timekeeper under Rule 5.5 and the game timekeeper under Rule 5.7, and in both books a dispute about time goes to the referee, whose decision is final.
Common mistakes
- Letting the penalty clock run during a stoppage, or starting it before the drop.
- Posting coincidental minors on the penalty clock, which tells the crowd a team is short when it is not.
- Holding a player until the whistle when their minor expired during play; they come out on expiry.
- Releasing a player whose penalty expired while a stacked third penalty is running; they wait. See the guide to delayed and stacked penalties.
- Forgetting to carry penalty time into the next period.
Practise it on the free daily period, which gives you a console, a sheet and a narrator, and marks every release to the second.
Sources
Checked against these sources on 27 September 2026. Rules are paraphrased with their numbers, never quoted at length. Leagues and associations add their own rules; where yours differ, follow them.
- Hockey Canada Playing Rules 2026-2028. PDF from the Hockey Canada officiating downloads page. Sections 4 (types of penalties), 5 (officials, including Rules 5.5 penalty timekeeper and 5.7 game timekeeper) and 6.17 (time of game and time-outs). Read 27 September 2026.
- USA Hockey Official Rules of Ice Hockey 2025-29. PDF from the USA Hockey rules and resources page. Rules 401 to 409 (penalties), 506 (game timekeeper), 507 (penalty timekeeper) and 636 (time of game and time-outs). Read 27 September 2026.