Machine-translated from Hungarian.
The 2026/27 season of the Andersen League kicks off on Saturday, and the league will be playing under three new rules. The Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation is introducing them at the request and on the recommendation of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF): the IIHF recommends these to leagues as developmental rules in its rulebook, and they are already in use in the Champions Hockey League (CHL) – the two penalty rules have been in place there since 2023, and the third since 2025. The aim is more goals, and for games to be decided in overtime rather than in a shootout.
1. Goal conceded while shorthanded: the penalty stays
Until now, if the penalized team conceded a goal, the minor penalty ended and the penalized player could return to the ice. From now on, the penalized player stays in the box even after a goal against: the penalty must be served in full, so one penalty can lead to several goals. The same applies to a delayed penalty: if the non-offending team scores before the whistle is blown, the penalty must still be imposed.
Last season, 281 minor penalties in the league ended with a goal conceded – nearly one in five of the 1,495. From now on, these run their full length, so discipline matters even more. Our team did well here too: of our 134 minor penalties, only 14 ended with a goal conceded. That is 10.4 per cent, the best ratio in the league.
2. Goal scored while shorthanded: the penalty ends
Until now, a shorthanded goal did not affect the penalty; the penalized player had to serve the full two minutes. From now on, if the penalized team scores, the minor penalty ends immediately and the penalized player may return to the ice. The rule applies to minor penalties only: with several penalties, the one expiring first ends; with a double minor, the first two minutes; a major penalty is still served in full.
This rule could suit us particularly well. Last season we scored 17 shorthanded goals, the most in the league – second-placed Lehel HC scored nine. That was 7 per cent of all our goals, and nine different players scored shorthanded: Bence Dézsi, Benedek Madácsi and István Szűcs scored three each, Dániel Csölle and Martin Sági scored two each, Sebestyén Csata, Barnabás Dézsi, Bence Láday and Ádám Vizi scored one each. Under the new rule, 14 of our penalties would have been cut short: two of the goals came during a major penalty, and one was the second goal during the same penalty.
3. No return: no going back in overtime
The third change concerns 3-on-3 overtime. A team in possession and control of the puck in the attacking zone may not carry, pass or play it back into the neutral zone or its own defending zone. If it does, the referee stops play, the face-off takes place in the offending team’s defending zone (the opponent chooses the side), and the offending team may not make a line change. It is not an infraction if the puck leaves the zone after a shot on goal (even if blocked or wide), after a legal defensive play, or straight off a cleanly won face-off – unless an attacker deliberately lets it leave the zone. The rule applies only at equal strength.
Last season, 18 games went to overtime in the Andersen League, and 5 of them were decided in a shootout.
We start the season under the new rules this Saturday in Zalaegerszeg, away to the Egerszegi Titánok. You can see them live on home ice for the first time on Saturday 3 October at 6:00 pm at the Győr University Ice Sports Center, against the Kárpáti Farkasok. Tickets: unigyoretohc.hu/jegyek
Hajrá UNI GYŐR ETO!
Sources: MJSZ – Supplement to the IIHF Rule Book regarding the Andersen League; IIHF Official Rule Book 2026/27, Appendix VII (Developmental Rules for Piloting). The statistics are taken from the MJSZ competition officiating system (VBR): Andersen League 2025/26, regular season and play-offs, 154 matches.