Slashing (ice hockey)

Slashing in ice hockey is called when an offending player swings their hockey stick at an opposing player, regardless of contact, or breaks an opposing player's stick with their own. The penalty for such an infraction ranges from a minor penalty to a match penalty, depending on the seriousness of the injury to the opposing player. It is also an infraction in the sport of ringette. This article deals chiefly with ice hockey.

Non-aggressive stick contact to the pant or front of the shin pads should not be penalized as slashing. Any forceful or powerful chop with the stick on an opponent’s body, the opponent’s stick, or on or near the opponent’s hands that, in the judgment of the referee, is not an attempt to play the puck, shall be penalized as slashing.[1]