Under Rule 81.1 of the 2026–27 National Hockey League Official Rules (PDF pages 133–135), icing occurs when a player shoots, bats, or deflects the puck from his own half of the ice completely beyond the opposing goal line. To "gain the center red line" and nullify icing on a dump-in, the puck while on the player’s stick—not merely the player’s skate—must make contact with the center red line before the puck is released.
Hybrid Icing Judgements, Goalkeeper Waivers, and Trapped Units
When a potential icing clearance travels down the ice, Rule 81.1 requires the Linesperson to make two sequential determinations: first, whether the puck will cross the goal line; and second, whether a defending player or an attacking forechecker would be the first to touch the puck. That decision must be made no later than the instant the first player reaches the end-zone face-off dots (using the player’s skate as the determining factor), though the rulebook emphasizes that the decisive criterion is which player would first touch the puck—not which player reaches the dots first—with any tie resulting in an icing stoppage. Under Rule 81.3, if the opposing goalkeeper leaves his crease and moves in the direction of the puck, attempts to play it, or feigns playing it, icing is immediately nullified and play continues. When icing is called, Rule 81.4 bars the offending team from making any player substitutions before the ensuing face-off (absent an injury, a penalty that alters on-ice strength, or the need to restore a goalkeeper pulled for an extra attacker), while Rule 81.2 gives the attacking team the choice of which end-zone face-off dot to use.
Rule 83.1 and the Possession-and-Control Blueline Entry
At the attacking blueline, Rule 83.1 (PDF pages 137–138) establishes that both the skate blade and the three-dimensional vertical plane of the leading edge of the blueline govern off-side: a player is on-side so long as either skate is in physical contact with, or breaking the vertical plane of, the blueline when the puck completely crosses its leading edge. Crucially, Rule 83.1 provides an explicit exception for a skater who actually controls the puck: a player who is in possession and control of the puck with his stick prior to his trailing skate completely crossing the leading edge of the blueline—and who maintains that possession and control immediately after the puck enters the attacking zone—is not off-side even if his skates precede the puck across the line.