What are the differences between NHL, PWHL, and Olympic hockey rules?

It’s no secret that Canadians know and love hockey. 

But sometimes, when watching Team Canada play at the Olympic Games, you may notice some slight differences than when you’re cheering on your favourite NHL team. The emergence of the PWHL as the premiere professional women’s league in 2024 introduced another slightly different viewing experience of Canada’s favourite game.

To keep it all straight, this article outlines some major differences between NHL, PWHL, and  International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) rules used at the Olympic Games.

Ice Size

Historically, one of the major differences between NHL play and Olympic hockey has been the size of the ice surface. NHL competition, as well as PWHL competition, takes place on 60 metre X 26 metre ice sheets. Traditionally, Olympic hockey has been played on 60m X 30m sheets. 

The Olympic-sized rinks are common in Europe, while the NHL-sized rink is more prevalent in North America, and sometimes referred to as “Canadian-sized,” given our nation’s hockey history. The different sized rinks have influenced playing styles, with European hockey known for greater movement and less contact, while North American hockey encourages contact in tighter quarters and a faster pace.

Vancouver 2010 was the first Olympic Games to have hockey played on NHL-sized ice. The Games returned to Olympic-sized ice for Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018, before switching back to NHL-sized ice at Beijing 2022 (a Games at which NHL players intended to, but did not actually participate). 

The upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Games will be played on NHL-sized ice, indicating a trend towards the acceptance of NHL-sized rinks for international play. The IIHF indicated in 2019 that it would begin allowing world championships to be played on NHL-sized ice as of 2022, in part to encourage North American hosting.

Shootouts

The NHL, PWHL, and IIHF feature slightly different rules for shootouts.

In the NHL, a shootout proceeds as a best-of-three. If a winner is not determined, the shootout proceeds to “sudden death.” A coach must use the entire bench before a player may shoot for a second time.

Under IIHF rules, five players are selected to shoot. Should the score remain tied, a given player may take a second shot once the first five players have participated. 

In the PWHL, shootouts are a best-of-five before proceeding to sudden death. A player is allowed to shoot again, without any limitations.

While the NHL, PWHL, and IIHF may have slightly different rules regarding shootouts, they are all mostly aligned in the process of how one arrives at a shootout. In a regular season NHL or PWHL game, as well as a preliminary round of an IIHF tournament, if teams are tied at the end of regulation time (defined as three 20-minute periods), teams will play five minutes of overtime. If teams are still tied at the end of the five minute overtime period, they proceed to a shootout.

The IIHF features another intermediary step of 10 minutes of overtime during playoff games before teams move to a shootout. There are no shootouts in NHL or PWHL playoff games; teams will continue to play periods of overtime until a goal is scored. The IIHF also uses this format for international finals, such as the Olympic gold medal game.

Overtime is played three-on-three (featuring three, rather than five skaters, plus a goaltender) in NHL, PWHL, and IIHF formats.

Equipment

All players in the PWHL, or who are playing IIHF women’s hockey, are required to wear full face protection (for example, a fully caged helmet rather than visor), regardless of their age. The IIHF requires male athletes under the age of 18 to wear full face protection, while players over 18 may choose to wear full protection, or a visor. 

The NHL began phasing in mandatory visors during the 2013-2014 season by requiring all players with less than 25 NHL games to their name to wear a visor. However, there remain a handful of NHL players who compete without them.

Intermissions

The NHL, PWHL and IIHF all use a standard of three 20-minute periods of play, each of which are separated by an intermission. All three organizations have a different length of time for those intermissions, however. IIHF intermissions are 15 minutes long, PWHL intermissions are 17 minutes long, and NHL intermissions are 18 minutes long.

All three rulebooks revert to a 15-minute intermission between the third period and an overtime period.

Points

The IIHF and PWHL award three points to a team for a win within regulation time. A team that wins in overtime/shootout is awarded two points, while the losing team receives one point. No points are awarded for losses in regulation time.

In the NHL, a winning team receives two points, regardless of whether the team wins in regulation or in overtime/shootout. A loss in overtime/shootout earns a team one point. No points are awarded for losses in regulation time.

Penalty/Power Play Rules

As a newer league, the PWHL has made some innovations in their rulebook. One of the most exciting tweaks is the introduction of a “jailbreak rule.” In NHL and IIHF penalty killing, a player continues serving their penalty to the fully assigned time, even if their team scores a short-handed goal. In PWHL play, if a team serving a minor penalty scores a goal short-handed, the penalty is immediately over and the player is released (“jail broke”) from the box. In all formats, if the team with the power play advantage scores while the opposing team is short-handed, the penalty is terminated.

The PWHL has also introduced a “no escape rule.” When a team is assessed a penalty, all its players must remain on the ice until after the faceoff. This ups the ante on a penalty kill, as the special teams unit may not be able to get on the ice right away. The NHL and IIHF do not require the players on the ice at the time of the penalty to remain.

Fighting

Don’t tune into Olympic hockey for the fights. 

Technically speaking, fighting is not “allowed” in IIHF, NHL, or PWHL hockey. All three rule books make it clear that penalties are awarded for fighting, with stronger repercussions for instigators of fights.

But anyone who watches NHL hockey knows that fights are a common occurrence. In the NHL’s recent 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, the preliminary round game between Team Canada and Team USA featured three fights within the first nine seconds of play, with players largely allowed to go at it for a period of time before being separated by officials.

The IIHF rulebook seeks to set international hockey apart. The section of the rulebook pertaining to fights begins with the following statement: ‘Fighting’ is not part of international ice hockey’s DNA. This is a noticeable departure from the NHL’s approach to fighting and is grounded in international competition’s roots as a coming together of nations.

The PWHL rulebook positions professional women’s hockey similarly to that of international hockey, with a similar statement to the IIHF: ‘Fighting’ is not part of PWHL’s game.