PWHL vs NHL Illegal Check to the Head rules

NHL Rule 48

Rule 48 from the 2024-2025 NHL official rule book reads:

Rule 48 – Illegal Check to the Head

48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A hit resulting in contact with an opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted. In determining whether contact with an opponent's head was avoidable, the circumstances of the hit including the following shall be considered:

(i) Whether the player attempted to hit squarely through the opponent’s body and the head was not "picked" as a result of poor timing, poor angle of approach, or unnecessary extension of the body upward or outward.
(ii) Whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position by assuming a posture that made head contact on an otherwise full body check unavoidable.
(iii) Whether the opponent materially changed the position of his body or head immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit in a way that significantly contributed to the head contact.

48.2 Minor Penalty – For violation of this rule, a minor penalty shall be assessed.

48.3 Major Penalty – There is no provision for a major penalty for this rule.

48.4 Game Misconduct Penalty – There is no provision for a game misconduct for this rule.

48.5 Match Penalty – The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head.

If deemed appropriate, supplementary discipline can be applied by the Commissioner at his discretion.

https://media.nhl.com/site/asset/public/ext/2024-25/2024-25Rules.pdf

PWHL Rule 48

The new PWHL rule 48 reads as follows:

Rule 48 Illegal Check to the Head

48.1 Illegal Check to the Head

A hit resulting in contact with an opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted during playing time. In determining whether contact with an opponent's head was avoidable, the following circumstance of the hit will be considered:

(i) Whether the player attempted to hit squarely through the opponent’s body and the head was not "picked" as a result of poor timing, poor angle of approach, or unnecessary extension of the body upward or outward.

48.2 Major Penalty

For violation of this rule, a major penalty shall be assessed (see Rule 48.5 – Game Misconduct).

48.3 Minor Penalty – Accidental Contact

All infractions that are called for illegal check to the head shall be reviewed automatically by the On-Ice Official(s) with the PWHL Off-Ice Video Review Staff. Upon review, and at the discretion of the Official(s), the infraction may be reduced to a minor penalty if in the opinion of the Official(s) that the illegal check to the head was accidental, under the following criteria:

(i) Whether the opponent put herself in a vulnerable position by assuming a posture that made head contact on an otherwise full body check unavoidable; or,
(ii) Whether the opponent materially changed the position of her body or head immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit in a way that significantly contributed to the head contact.

48.4 Match Penalty

The Referee(s), at their discretion, may assess a match penalty if, in their judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately injured her opponent with an illegal check to the head.

If deemed appropriate, supplementary discipline can be applied by the Hockey Operations Officer at their discretion.

48.5 Game Misconduct

When a major penalty is assessed for illegal check to the head, a game misconduct must also be imposed.

https://media.nhl.com/site/asset/public/ext/2024-25/2024-25Rules.pdf

As you can see, the PWHL uses the same template for their rules the NHL uses, and in fact all hockey uses a broadly similar rule book. What the PWHL has changed about this rule is the way in which the exceptions to a match penalty can downgrade the penalty to a minor.

In both leagues a match penalty sees the offending player ejected, a second player named by the coach serves 15 minutes in the penalty box, and the team plays shorthanded for 5 minutes.

The PWHL is starting from a place where they call the major by default and a game misconduct comes with that by default. The referee is allowed to escalate that to a match penalty when there is an injury or an attempt at injury – a very subtle difference from a major and a game misconduct. To downgrade the penalty to a minor, the off-ice officials have to decide that the hit meets the definition of accidental and that review is automatic. The PWHL removes the discretion from the referee here.

There has to be a reason found to call it accidental, not a reason found to say it isn't.

If you would like to compare this to the IIHF rule, you can:

https://blob.iihf.com/iihf-media/iihfmvc/media/contentimages/4_sport/officiating/rule_book/24_25/2024_iihf_rulebook_24052024_v1.pdf

The language is stronger regarding what is an illegal hit to the head, but the exceptions that call a hit accidental are the same.

In both the NHL and PWHL a match penalty also requires the league official to review the incident. This is a kind of overlap with supplemental discipline, but the player is formally suspended until that review.