How to Get an Instigator Penalty in Ice Hockey

Any time an official calls you for a penalty, you run the risk of leaving your team short-handed and open to a power play. In the event that you receive an instigator penalty, your team will be vulnerable for even longer. Here's how you can get an instigator penalty in ice hockey.

Instructions

    • 1

      Be the obvious instigator in a fight. This means that you clearly started a fight by either attacking a player while the player was still chasing the hockey puck or seeming otherwise oblivious. This is a tricky penalty, and so it is not called very often. However, an instigator penalty during a hockey game can be devastating.

    • 2

      Get your sitting bones ready. The fighting penalty that accompanies an instigator penalty is usually five minutes long. The fighting penalty then tacks on an extra two minutes to that time. That's all time your team is playing one player short of full-strength.

    • 3

      Avoid an instigator penalty by not fighting, not starting fights on the hockey rink or by not attacking a player who is not squared up and ready to fight back. Of course, you'll still get a fighting penalty called, but odds are your opponent will receive the same penalty. So at least your team will not be under power-play conditions.