Learning About Ice Hockey: Can Teams Have More Then Two Penalties at a Time?

For anyone familiar with ice hockey, you should know that a team can only serve two penalties at any given time. However, teams can, and often do, receive three or more penalties that overlap in time. The rules of ice hockey state that only two penalties can run simultaneously, so the remaining players must serve a penalty length that is longer then their normal penalty.

If a hockey team already has two players in the penalty box serving their penalties that are displayed on the clock, such as a minor or major penalty, then if a third player gets a penalty box he or she must wait until a penalty expires before his or her penalty can even start. However, if the players that are already ion the penalty box are serving a penalty that is not displayed on the score clock, such as a ten minute misconduct penalty or a coincidental penalty, then the additional players penalty will start right away. For example, if the first player in the penalty box has thirty seconds remaining in his or her penalty, and the second player has one minute remaining in his or her penalty, then the third player must wait the first thirty seconds in the penalty box before his or her penalty can even start.

If a hockey team has two players already in the penalty box, then their team will be shorthanded and will be playing with only three players instead of the usual five. Usually when a penalty expires, the player is free to jump right back onto the ice and continue participating in the play. However, if there are three people serving penalties, the player whose penalty expires first does not get to leave the penalty box as soon as the penalty expires. If he or she did, then the team would have too many players on the ice, as their team would still be serving two penalties. Instead, the player must wait until a stoppage of play in order to return to the ice. If there is no stoppage in play until the team should have a player return, then the time keeper should allow the player whose penalty expired first to return to the ice.

Sources:

USA Hockey
Composite Hockey Sticks