Penalty (ice hockey) the 1921–22 season, while five- and ten-minute penalties were added two years later. Both the NHL and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) recognize the common penalty degrees of minor and major penalties, as well as the more severe misconduct, game misconduct, and match penalties. A minor penalty is the least severe type of penalty. A minor penalty is two minutes in length. The offending player is sent to the penalty box and in most cases, his team will play shorthanded. If the offending player is the goaltender or a team is given a "bench minor" penalty (assessed against the
Penalty box penalty currently being served is cancelled; if at least one penalty interval remains, the penalty clock is reset to reflect this (two minutes if one interval remains, four minutes if two intervals remain) and the player must remain in the box; if less than two minutes remain, the remaining penalty is cancelled and the player is released. A major (5-minute) or misconduct (10-minute) penalty must be served in full, regardless of the number of goals scored by the opposition. To keep play fair, coincidental minor penalties ("matching minor" penalties assessed to both teams simultaneously) are also served in full regardless