Soccer offside vs hockey offside
Same word, structurally opposite rules. What gets measured, when the picture freezes, and whether the position is itself an offence — all different.
What part of the player is measured
- Soccer — IFAB Law 11
- The foremost part that could legally score — head, body or feet. Hands and arms are excluded for everyone including goalkeepers, with the boundary at the bottom of the armpit.
- Hockey — NHL Rule 83
- Skates, and only skates. The stick is irrelevant, and so is the body — a player can lean well over the line and stay onside.
When the picture freezes
- Soccer — IFAB Law 11
- The moment a TEAM-MATE plays or touches the ball. Not when the ball is received.
- Hockey — NHL Rule 83
- The moment the PUCK crosses the leading edge of the blue line.
Is being in an offside position an offence?
- Soccer — IFAB Law 11
- No. It is only an offence with involvement in active play: interfering with play, interfering with an opponent, or gaining an advantage.
- Hockey — NHL Rule 83
- Effectively yes. Preceding the puck into the zone is itself the infraction.
What happens at exactly level, or on the line
- Soccer — IFAB Law 11
- Level with the ball or the second-last opponent is ONSIDE.
- Hockey — NHL Rule 83
- A skate on, or above, the leading edge has not broken the plane, so ONSIDE.
Does anything reset it
- Soccer — IFAB Law 11
- Yes. An opponent who DELIBERATELY plays the ball resets the situation; a deflection, a save, or a rebound off the post does not.
- Hockey — NHL Rule 83
- Yes, but differently: a delayed offside can be negated by tagging up — every attacker clearing the zone — and there the skate must contact the line.
Restarts it cannot happen from
- Soccer — IFAB Law 11
- Throw-in, goal kick, and corner kick. Absolute, whatever the positions.
- Hockey — NHL Rule 83
- Not applicable — offside is about zone entry, not about the restart type.
Change the inputs
Use the form on the home page to move a position and watch the verdict move with it, or call the API or MCP server. This page is also available as markdown.
Related calls
Not an official ruling and not a substitute for a match official. This works through published decision procedures from the inputs you supply; it cannot see the play, and the hard part of a real offside call is almost always judging the inputs rather than applying the rule. Refereeing judgement, video review protocols, and competition-specific variations are outside what this models. Rule texts belong to IFAB and the NHL and are not reproduced.