Timekeeper clinic prep and a pre-game checklist

What clinics expect you to know

Leagues train timekeepers differently. The Greater Toronto Hockey League, for example, asks new timekeepers to attend a timekeeper certification clinic before the season, treats them as independent contractors, and expects them to arrive early and stay in the timekeepers' area for the whole game. Many house leagues staff the box with parent volunteers trained at the rink. Whatever the format, the content comes from the rulebook sections on penalties and on the timekeepers' duties: Canadian Rules 4.1 to 4.15, 5.5 and 5.7, and USA Hockey Rules 401 to 409, 506 and 507.

A study order that works:

1. Penalty lengths for your league, including the USA pro-rated minors if you play under USA rules. The code sheet has a table.
2. Running the clock: when the penalty clock runs and when the door opens.
3. Coincidental penalties, which stay off the clock.
4. Which penalty ends on a goal, including the 2026-28 Canadian change.
5. Stacked penalties and the order players come out.
6. The game sheet, row by row.

The pre-game checklist

1. Arrive early. Get to the rink well before warm-up so you can find the box, the console and the game sheet before the teams arrive.
2. Check the clock. Set the period length your league plays, test start, stop and set time, and sound the horn once.
3. Find the penalty keys. Learn how your console posts a penalty, adjusts one, clears one and stacks a third, before you need it.
4. Know the league's numbers. Confirm the period length, stop or running time, the minor length and the time-out length for this game.
5. Set up the sheet. Have the game sheet, a pen and a spare, and the list of offence codes where you can see them.
6. Agree the door. Agree with the box attendant who opens the door and how you will signal a release.
7. Never leave the box. Stay at the timekeeper's bench for the whole game, including stoppages, and tell the referee about any clock problem at the next stoppage.

The end of a period

A clinic will ask what happens to penalty time at the buzzer. It carries over: penalties are playing time in both rulebooks (Canadian Rule 4.1, USA Rule 401(a)), so note what is left on each clock and put it back on for the next period. Players waiting for a stoppage leave at the end of the period.

Common mistakes on the first night

• Not knowing the league's period length and minor length before the puck drops.
• Leaving the box during a stoppage and missing a call.
• Letting the clock run through the first whistle while writing the sheet.
• Forgetting to reset penalty time after the intermission.
• Guessing at a call: ask the referee at the stoppage instead.

For clinic instructors, projection mode reads a period to the room and reveals the correct board after each call. Trainees can warm up at home on the free daily period.

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.

• GTHL, Timekeeping: Get Started. The Greater Toronto Hockey League's page for new timekeepers: a certification clinic before the season, independent contractor status, arrival times and staying in the timekeepers' area. Read 27 September 2026.
• 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.