Rule 503. Linesman

1. The duties of the LINESMAN are to determine any infractions of the rules concerning off-side play at the blue lines, center red line, or any violation of the ``Icing the Puck'' rule.

   He shall stop play when the puck goes outside the playing area, when it is interfered with by any ineligible person, and when it is struck above the height of the shoulder, when it is passed to a teammate with the hand and when the goal post has been displaced from its normal position. When he is in the vicinity of the goal, he shall stop play when he observes the puck enter the goal. He shall stop play for off-sides occurring at the face-off circles. He shall stop play when there has been a premature substitution for a goalkeeper under Rule 205(a) (Change of Players), for injured players under Rule 206(f), and interference by spectators under Rule 622(a).

2. He shall conduct the face-off at all times, except at the start of the game, at the beginning of each period and after a goal has been scored.

   The Referee may call upon a Linesman to conduct a face-off at any time.

3. He shall, when requested to do so by the Referee, give his version of any incident that may have taken place during the playing of the game.

4. He shall not stop play to report any penalty except any violation of Rules 205(a) and 205(c), Change of Players (too many players on the ice) and any violation of Rules 601(c.3) and 601(h.3) (articles thrown on the ice from vicinity of players' bench or penalty bench), and he shall report such violation to the Referee who shall impose a bench minor penalty against the offending team.

   He shall report immediately to the Referee his version of the circumstances with respect to Rule 609(c) (delaying the game by deliberately displacing the goal post from its normal position).

   He shall report to the Referee at the next stoppage of play his version of any infraction of the rules which he believes constitutes a bench minor, major, match, misconduct, ( For Juniors only - game ejection), game misconduct, or penalty shot under these rules, or any Injury Potential Penalty (See Glossary) that occurs behind the play and is not observed by the Referee. The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a penalty for such infractions.

5. Should an Official accidentally leave the ice or receive an injury which incapacitates him from discharging his duties while play is in progress, the game shall be immediately stopped by an On-Ice Official.