How to fill in an ice hockey scoresheet: goals, assists, penalties and the clock

Published 9 November 2026 · 21 min read

The tool for this guide: Open the hockey score counter

Short answer

Before the face-off, check both rosters, the C and A letters and the coaches' signatures. During play, write each goal with the period, time, scorer and up to two assists, and each penalty with the player, infraction, minutes and its Off, Start and On times. Afterwards, total everything and give the sheet to the referee to sign.

Who keeps what at the hockey timekeepers' bench

USA Hockey's rules split the off-ice job three ways, and at most youth rinks one or two volunteers do all three. The official scorer keeps the sheet's rosters, goals and assists; the game timekeeper runs the clock and the period signals; the penalty timekeeper records penalties and makes sure each one is served for the right time. The text below is from the 2025-29 Official Rules of Ice Hockey, in force for every USA Hockey game since 1 August 2025, which is what every rule number on this page refers to.

The three off-ice jobs in USA Hockey Rules 505 to 507
Job	Before the game	During the game	After the game
Official scorer (505)	Rosters of eligible players, C and A letters, coaches' signatures	Each goal with its scorer and assists; who actually played; goalie changes and empty-net goals	Prepares the sheet for the referee's signature and sends it to the league
Game timekeeper (506)	Signals the start of the game	Starts each period, warns three minutes before play resumes, announces one minute left, whistles the end if there is no horn	Notes any clock fault and tells the referee at the next stoppage
Penalty timekeeper (507)		Records each penalty: player, infraction, length and time; posts it on the scoreboard; checks time served; tells a penalized player the time left	Reports to the referee a player at the penalty limit or a second major

Two rules shape the work at the bench. Only penalized players and off-ice officials may be in the penalty box, and play does not restart until anyone else has left (Rule 507(c)). And every dispute about time goes to the referee, whose decision is final (Rule 506(b)). The scorer records; the referee decides. Netball divides its bench the same way, with two scorers and two timekeepers, and the netball scorer and timekeeper guide sets their duties out under the 2024 rules.

Before the face-off

Most of the scorer's mistakes are made before the puck drops, because a wrong roster makes every later line wrong. Rule 505(a) and Rules 201 to 203 give the checks:

Rosters. Each team lists the players and goalkeepers eligible to play, usually on a roster sticker. A team may dress at most 20, no more than 18 of them skaters; Tier I 15-Only, 16U, 18U and Girls Tier I 19U may dress 22, no more than 20 skaters (Rule 201(a)).
Captain and alternates. One C and no more than two A's, marked against the names. A goalkeeper cannot be captain (Rule 202(a)).
Coaches. In youth and girls' games, every coach signs the sheet before the game with their coaching education (CEP) card number, level and the year they reached it, and one is named head coach (Rules 201(b) and 505(a)).
Players who are not playing. A rostered player who is injured or sick may sit on the bench in the team jersey but must not be listed as eligible (Rule 201(b)). Leagues mark such players their own way; the NORCAL scoresheet instructions, for example, strike the name through and write "abs" or "susp".

A player added after the game has started can be written in at a stoppage, as long as nobody is deleted and the roster limit holds, but each addition costs a bench minor for illegal substitution (Rule 203(a)). The scorer writes it in and the penalty timekeeper records the bench minor.

Which time to write: the clock or time elapsed

Write the time the way your league's sheet asks, and the same way all game. USA Hockey's rules say the penalty timekeeper records "the time at which the penalty was assessed" (Rule 507(a)) without saying whether that is the time on the clock or the time played. Most youth and amateur rinks write the clock as it reads, counting down: every penalty example in Hockey Calgary's scorekeeper guide does, and so do the NORCAL instructions. Professional records do the opposite. The NHL's game summary for Chicago at Florida on 7 October 2025 lists a Chicago tripping minor at 12:26 of the first period and Florida's power-play goal at 14:08: time elapsed, 1 minute 42 seconds into the power play.

Mixing the two is the commonest error on a youth sheet, and it makes a penalty appear to end before it began. The conversion is one subtraction: elapsed = period length − clock.

The same moments written both ways, in a 20-minute period
Event	Clock shows	Time elapsed
Penalty called	15:42	4:18
Power-play goal	14:10	5:50
Double minor called	11:05	8:55
Goal during the double minor	9:30	10:30
Player back on the ice	7:30	12:30

Penalty time runs the other way from a countdown clock, so a two-minute minor called at 15:42 ends at 13:42 on the clock, but at 6:18 elapsed. On a clock that counts down, subtract the penalty length from the start time; on elapsed time, add it.

Goals and assists

A goal goes to the player who propelled the puck into the net, and up to two assists go to the players who had possession immediately before (Rule 617(a)). If the defending team puts the puck in its own net, the goal is credited to the last attacking player to play the puck. No player gets more than one point on the same goal. Each goal takes its own line, in order, with no blank lines between. Lacrosse, by contrast, allows one assist at most.

What goes on each goal line
Column	What to write	Example
Period	1, 2, 3, or OT	2
Time	Clock or elapsed, as the sheet asks	14:10
Goal	The scorer's number	9
Assists	Up to two numbers, in the order announced	21, 4
Situation, if the sheet has it	PP power play, SH short-handed, EN empty net	PP

The referee awards goals and assists, and the referee's decision is final (Rule 617, note). The scorer's job is to hear it right: ask at the next stoppage if the numbers were not clear, because requests for changes are considered only "at or before the conclusion of the game" (Rule 505(b)) and no change can be made once the referee has signed. The scorer also notes the time any substitute or temporary goalkeeper entered the game and marks any goal scored with the goalkeeper pulled (Rule 505(b)); those marks decide which goalie a goal counts against, the same split the save percentage section of the hockey score counter explains.

The penalty section, column by column

Every penalty line answers four questions the rule lists: who was penalized, for what, for how long and when (Rule 507(a)). Most sheets add two columns for the penalty timekeeper's own check: when the penalty time started running and when the player came back.

The penalty columns on a typical scoresheet
Column	What it holds	When it differs from the obvious
Per	The period
No.	The penalized player's number	A bench minor or a coach's penalty has no player number: write "Bench" or "Coach"
Served by	Who sits in the box	A teammate serves for a goalkeeper, a bench minor, and the time part of a major plus game misconduct
Offence	The infraction: tripping, hooking, cross-checking	Misconduct, game misconduct and match are written as the class, not an infraction
Min	The penalty length	Pro-rated by period length (below)
Off	Time the penalty was called
Start	Time the penalty began to run	Later than Off for a third penalty that must wait (Rule 408(a))
On	Time the player returned	A power-play goal ends one minor early; coincidental penalties end at the next stoppage

Penalty lengths depend on the period length

A USA Hockey minor is not always two minutes. The length of minor penalties "shall be pro-rated" for the period length (Rule 402), and affiliates may also shorten majors, misconducts and match penalties to the same scale (Rules 403 to 405). Adult minors are always 2:00, and the shortened majors, misconducts and match penalties do not apply to adults.

USA Hockey penalty lengths by period length (Rules 402 to 405)
Period length	Minor	Major	Misconduct	Match
12 minutes or less	1:00	3:00	6:00	3:00
More than 12, under 17 minutes	1:30	4:00	8:00	4:00
17 to 20 minutes	2:00	5:00	10:00	5:00

The minor scale applies unless the affiliate has granted an exception, which it may do for 14U and older; the other three are reductions an affiliate or governing body may choose. A 15-minute youth period therefore usually means 1:30 minors, and a sheet full of 2:00 minors in that game may be wrong. Ask the referee before the game which lengths apply. High school games under the NFHS rules, which play 15-minute periods, use standard lengths, according to the USA Hockey, NFHS and NCAA rules comparison updated on 30 September 2026.

Penalties that need two lines

In USA Hockey every major carries a game misconduct, as the rules comparison puts it, so a major is written as two lines: the major time, served in the box by a teammate who was on the ice, and the game misconduct against the player. Game misconducts and match penalties are charged in the records as 10 minutes, whenever they are imposed (Rule 404(b) note 2 and Rule 405 note), even though nobody sits in the box for the game misconduct part.

How the common penalty types go on the sheet
Penalty	Who sits in the box	Lines on the sheet	Can a goal end it?
Minor	The player	One	Yes, a power-play goal ends the first minor being served (402(c))
Double minor	The player	One for 4:00, or two minors, by league	Ends one minor per goal
Bench minor	A player on the ice at the infraction, chosen by the coach through the captain (402(b))	One, "Bench" or "Coach"	Yes, as a minor
Major plus game misconduct	A teammate who was on the ice	Two: the major, served by the teammate, and the game misconduct, 10 in the records	No: served in full
Misconduct	Nobody extra: the player sits, a substitute plays at once (404(a))	One	No
Minor plus misconduct	The player for the minor, plus an extra player in the box (404(a))	Two	Only the minor part
Penalty shot	Nobody	One, with the time of the infraction and no minutes

A goalkeeper does not go to the box. Any time penalty to a goalkeeper is served by a teammate who was on the ice, designated by the coach through the captain, and "all penalties assessed to a goalkeeper, regardless of who serves the penalty ... shall be charged in the records against the goalkeeper" (Rule 407). Write the goalie's number in No. and the teammate's in Served by.

Worked example: one period of penalties

A second period of 20 minutes, with a clock that counts down, minors of 2:00, and every rule applied as USA Hockey writes it. The rulings that decide each On time are the ones a penalty timekeeper is most often asked about.

The penalty lines for the period, with the rule behind each On time
Per	Team, No.	Offence	Min	Off	Start	On	Why
2	Home 12	Tripping	2	15:42	15:42	14:10	Visitors score on the power play at 14:10; the minor ends (402(c))
2	Visitors 7	High-sticking	4	11:05	11:05	7:30	Home scores at 9:30: the first minor ends, the second runs from 9:30 to 7:30
2	Home 4	Roughing	2	6:20	6:20	4:02	Coincidental with Visitors 19: no power play, out at the first stoppage after 4:20 (402(f))
2	Visitors 19	Roughing	2	6:20	6:20	4:02	As above
2	Home 9	Hooking	2	3:00	3:00	0:30	Time up at 1:00, but with three in the box he waits until Home is entitled to another skater (408(b))
2	Home 22	Slashing	2	2:30	2:30	0:00	Time up at 0:30; 9 goes back first, so 22 waits for the next stoppage, the end of the period
2	Home 5	Interference	2	2:10	1:00	3rd period, 19:00	A third penalty waits: its time starts when 9's ends, and 1:00 carries into the next period (408(a))

Five of those On times are not simply Off minus the minutes, and each is a rule:

The power-play goal. Home 12's minor would have ended at 13:42, but the visitors scored at 14:10 while Home was short-handed, so the first minor being served ended then. A goal ends only one minor, and never a major or a coincidental penalty; the power-play table on the hockey score counter sets out which penalty each goal ends.
The double minor. A double minor is two minors served back to back, as Hockey Calgary's guide explains it. Visitors 7's first minor would end at 9:05; Home scored at 9:30, so the first minor ended at 9:30 and the second began, ending at 7:30. Had Home scored at 8:00, during the second minor, the player would have come back at 8:00.
Coincidental minors. With equal minors to both teams, substitutes go on at once, the penalty time is not put on the scoreboard clock, and the players come out "at the first stoppage of play following the expiration of their penalties" (Rules 402(f) and 507(b) note 2). Here the next stoppage was at 4:02.
The third penalty. With Home 9 and 22 already in the box, Home 5 goes in at 2:10 and a substitute may replace him on the ice, but his time "shall not begin until the first such penalty has expired" (Rule 408(a)), at 1:00. With one minute left in the period, the other minute is served at the start of the third, because unexpired penalty time carries on.
Three in the box. While a team has three players serving and a substitute on for the third, "no players may return to the ice upon expiration of their penalty except at a stoppage of play", unless expired penalties entitle the team to more players, and then they return "in the order in which their penalty has expired" (Rule 408(b)). Home 9's time is up at 1:00, but Home still has two serving, 22 and 5, so he stays. At 0:30, 22's time is up, Home is entitled to a fourth skater, and 9 goes back first; 22 waits for the next stoppage, which here is the end of the period.

A double minor called at 11:05 and scored against at 9:30 brings the player back at 7:30 on a countdown clock: the goal ends the first minor and starts the second, and the same moments read 8:55, 10:30 and 12:30 as time elapsed.

A penalty that a goal wipes out is still written down

When the referee's arm is up for a delayed minor and the other team scores, "the first minor penalty shall be imposed and recorded but shall be deemed expired" (Rule 409(b)). It goes on the sheet with its infraction and time, and the player does not go to the box. The rules comparison lists this as a requirement of both USA Hockey and NFHS rules, and not of NCAA rules. A major or a second minor on the same delayed call is served in the normal way.

The limits the penalty timekeeper reports

The penalty timekeeper counts each player's penalties as they are written and tells the referee when a limit is reached (Rule 507(a), citing Rules 401(b) and 403(b)). The referee assesses what follows; the bench only reports it.

Penalty limits in a USA Hockey game, 2025-29 rules
What reaches the limit	Who	What follows	Rule
A fourth penalty in one game	Youth, girls and high school players	Game misconduct	401(b)
A fifth penalty in one game	Adult players	Ejected for the rest of the game, no further suspension	401(b)
12 or more penalties to one team in a game	The head coach, except in adult play	Suspended for the team's next game	401(b)
A second major in one game	Any player or goalkeeper	Game misconduct and a two-game suspension	403(b)
A second misconduct in one game	Any player	Game misconduct in place of the second misconduct	404(a)

Many league handouts still give the older limits. The 2013-17 edition of the rules, which USA Hockey still hosts, set a youth game misconduct at five penalties and the coach's suspension at 15 team penalties; the NORCAL scoresheet instructions repeat those figures. The 2025-29 rules say four and 12. NFHS high school rules use five, according to the rules comparison.

Time-outs, intermissions and overtime

The game timekeeper's job is short in the rules and constant in the rink. Each team has one 60-second time-out in the game, overtime included, and none in a game played to a curfew; it must be asked for during a stoppage, before the line change is complete (Rule 636(f)). The maximum game is three 20-minute periods with a 15-minute intermission for an ice resurface between each (Rule 636(a)), and the timekeeper warns both teams three minutes before each period resumes (Rule 506(a)).

Overtime follows the league's rules. Rule 638 recommends a 5-minute rest, then a 10-minute sudden-victory period, repeated until someone scores, and says "all unexpired penalties shall remain in force". A shoot-out may be used as well or instead, and a player still serving a minor or misconduct at that moment may not take part. How a shoot-out win goes into the final score, and why it adds one goal to the winner, is in the hockey score counter's section on tied games and the guide to penalty shootout records.

After the final horn

Total the goals by period and check them against the scoreboard. A difference is almost always a missed or doubled goal line.
Total the penalties, counting game misconducts and match penalties at 10 minutes each in the records, and check every On time against its Off time and length.
Fill in the goalkeepers' lines if the sheet has them: who started, when any change was made, and shots and goals by period, as the league asks.
Hand the sheet to the referee. The referee checks the sheet, "including team rosters and players in uniform, for accuracy prior to signing" (Rule 502(e)), and the scorer then sends it to the proper authorities, the governing body of the teams (Rules 505(c) and 508).

Hockey Calgary's guide puts the reason in one line: "If it wasn't recorded, it didn't happen." League standings, scoring statistics, penalty minutes and suspensions are all taken from this sheet.

Mistakes the ranking handouts repeat

The pages that rank for this question are league handouts, and each is right for its own league. Read against the 2025-29 USA Hockey rules, these are the points where a scorer goes wrong:

Common scoresheet advice, checked against the rules
A handout or habit says	The 2025-29 USA Hockey rules say
A fifth penalty brings a game misconduct; 15 team penalties suspend the coach	Four and 12 for youth, girls and high school; five is the adult ejection
Every minor is two minutes	Minors are pro-rated: 1:00, 1:30 or 2:00 by period length, unless the affiliate has an exception
A goal on the power play ends the penalty	It ends the first minor being served, one per goal; never a major, and never coincidental penalties
A goal ends a double minor	Only the minor being served; the second starts at the goal
A goal during a delayed penalty means nothing is written	The first minor is imposed and recorded, and deemed expired
A goalie's penalty goes against the player who serves it	It is charged against the goalkeeper
The time column can be filled in either way	Pick the clock or elapsed time, as the sheet asks, and never mix the two

What this guide does not cover

This guide follows the USA Hockey rules for youth, girls, high school and adult games. Other rulebooks change the details a scorer records. In Hockey Canada games, as Hockey Calgary's guide sets out, a third stick infraction or a third head contact penalty in one game also brings a game ejection, recorded on a line of its own with no time. NCAA college hockey displays only the time difference on the clock when a major and an opposing minor coincide in the last five minutes or overtime, and does not require a delayed penalty wiped out by a goal to be recorded. The NHL and the IIHF have their own scoring staff and procedures. If your league publishes scoresheet instructions, they decide the format; the rulebook decides the rulings. Field hockey, the game much of the world calls hockey, changed its card rules on 1 November 2026, as the FIH rule changes set out.

Simple Online Counter is a free, browser-based set of counters that keeps its counts in your browser's own storage. Its hockey score counter keeps goals by period and shots on goal, with empty-net goals kept out of the save percentage, but it has no penalty clock and does not replace the official scoresheet. For other sports' table jobs, see the guides to the FIBA basketball scoresheet, the badminton umpire scoresheet and the water polo table officials.

Frequently asked questions

How do you fill out a hockey scoresheet?

Check the rosters, captains, alternates and coaches' signatures before the game. Record every goal on its own line with the period, time, scorer and up to two assists, and every penalty with the period, player number, infraction, minutes and the times the player went off, started serving and came back. Total the goals and penalties at the end and have the referee check and sign the sheet.

Do you write the time remaining or the time elapsed on a hockey scoresheet?

Whichever your league's sheet asks for, the same way all game. USA Hockey's rulebook does not say. Most youth and amateur sheets take the clock as it reads, counting down, as Hockey Calgary's examples do; NHL game summaries give time elapsed in the period. In a 20-minute period, elapsed time is 20:00 minus the clock, so 15:42 on the clock is 4:18 elapsed.

How many assists can be given on a hockey goal?

Up to two. Under USA Hockey Rule 617, assists go to the players who had possession of the puck immediately before the goal, at most two, and no player can be credited with more than one point on the same goal. The referee awards goals and assists; the scorer records them and may correct an obvious error only before the referee signs the sheet.

What do Off, Start and On mean in the penalty section?

Off is the time the penalty was called and the player went to the box. Start is when the penalty time began to run, usually the same as Off but later when a third penalty must wait for another to expire. On is when the player came back: when the time ran out, when a power-play goal ended a minor, or at the first stoppage after expiry for coincidental penalties.

How do you record a double minor on a hockey scoresheet?

As four minutes on one line, or as two separate minors, as your league's sheet directs. Either way it is served as two minors: a power-play goal during the first ends only the first, and the second starts at the time of the goal. Called at 11:05 on a 20-minute clock and scored on at 9:30, the player returns at 7:30.

How many penalties before a game misconduct in USA Hockey?

Four. Under the 2025-29 USA Hockey rules, a youth, girls or high school player who receives four penalties in one game is given a game misconduct, an adult player is ejected at five, and a head coach whose team receives 12 or more penalties is suspended for the next game. The penalty timekeeper reports these to the referee. The 2013-17 rules said five and 15.

Who signs the hockey scoresheet?

Under USA Hockey rules the coaches sign before the game, with the coaching certification number and level for youth and girls' games, and the referee signs at the end after checking it. The official scorer prepares the sheet for the referee's signature and sends it to the league. Once the referee has signed, no change can be made to the goals or assists.

Is a goalie penalty recorded against the goalie?

Yes. A goalkeeper does not go to the box for a minor or misconduct; a teammate who was on the ice serves it, designated by the coach through the captain. USA Hockey Rule 407 says every penalty assessed to a goalkeeper is charged in the records against the goalkeeper, so write the goalie's number as the penalized player and the teammate's in the Served by column.