What does PIM mean in hockey ?

Penalties in ice hockey are measured in minutes, signifying the duration of punishment. Every infraction corresponds to a specific number of minutes. Typically, minor penalties result in a 2-minute sentence, while double minors entail 4 minutes of punishment. Major penalties carry a 5-minute duration, while game misconduct penalties extend to 10 minutes. The accumulation of these penalty minutes is a vital statistic used to track a player's disciplinary record throughout the year.

Penalty and Non-Penalty Violations in Hockey

Penalty and Non-Penalty Violations in Hockey

Penalty and Non-Penalty Violations

In hockey, if you break a rule, the referee must blow the whistle. However, when you break the rules, sometimes a player is penalized and sometimes not. For example, non-punishable offenses include icing, offsides, and hand passes.

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More serious infractions, such as tripping, backing up, undercutting, and fighting, are punishable. The penalty means that you will have to sit in the penalty box for a predetermined amount of time and your team is not allowed to replace you with a player. The consequence of this is that your team will have to play outnumbered (one less player on the ice) for as long as you are in the penalty box. 

There are different types of penalties a player can receive. Each of these penalties has a different amount of time which is added to the total amount of penalties for the player and the team.

The five types of penalties are

  • Minor (2 minutes): The least serious type of penalty, which includes penalties such as hooking, boarding, interfering with the goalie, delaying play, and too many people on the ice. This is by far the most common type of penalty.
  • Double Minor (4 minutes): A player may also receive a double minor penalty for more severe offenses.
  • Major (5 minutes): Given for a more serious type of minor penalty, such as a stick hit that causes another player to bleed, a fight, or a dangerous type of bodycheck.
  • Match (5 minutes): Imposed when a player intentionally attempts or inflicts an injury on another player. In addition to the 5-minute penalty, the player will be suspended for the rest of the game. Another player from their team will serve the penalty in their place.
  • Misconduct (10 minutes): The longest penalty, but unlike other penalties, the team will not be reduced. The team will be allowed to replace another player in their place while serving the penalty. For example, a 10-minute misconduct may be imposed for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Penalty shot: A penalty shot does not have a time offense; instead, the player is allowed to break through to the goalkeeper unhindered. This penalty is most often awarded when a player is hooked during a breakaway.

How many PIMs does a player get per game or season?

Today's NHL players receive far fewer penalties than those who played a few decades ago. The style of play has changed and what is considered acceptable has changed. One major factor is that the number of fights in the NHL has dropped significantly. In the 1980s, fights happened in most games. Now there are virtually no fights in the NHL. This has led to a decrease in the number of penalty minutes.

Most players in a game get zero penalty minutes, with about half a dozen on each side getting 2 to 4 minutes. If they get more than 4, usually because of a fight, it is overkill.

To give you an idea of how much PIM a player gets per season, I've put together the best penalty minutes of the 2018-19 season and the best PIM in NHL history.

The best penalty minutes in 2018-2019

Player Team PIM Evander Kane San Jose 153 Tom Wilson Washington 128 Antoine Roussel Vancouver 118 Ian Cole Colorado 115 Brendan Lemieux New York Rangers 108 Zach Kassian Edmonton 102 Wayne Simmonds New Jersey 99 Brad Marchand Boston 96 Kyle Clifford Los Angeles 96 Sam Bennett Calgary 93

Top 10 leaders in PIM for the season

Player Year PIM Dave Schultz 1974-75 472 Paul Baxter 1981-82 409 Mike Peluso 1991-92 405 Dave Schultz 1977-78 405 Marty McSorley 1992-93 399 Bob Probert 1987-88 398 Basil McRae 1987-88 382 Joey Kocur 1985-86 377 Tim Hunter 1988-89 375 Donald Brashear 1997-98 372