The referee will normally signal you to flash the goal light to show it is working before the starting face-off of each period. Watch for this and respond to his signal. After this use the light only to signal a goal or to indicate that the goal has moved from it's moorings. Keep a tally of shots on goal and goals on the sheet you are given, so make sure you have a working pen.

A shot saved is only counted if the puck would have gone into the goal if the netminder had not intervened. Spectacular catches and stops of shots that were going to miss the goal should not be counted no matter how good they are, whereas weak mishits and ricochets that would have just crept over the line if not stopped should be counted. Shots from rebounds are to be counted if on target so a netminder may have two or three shots saved recorded in a second or two and then a goal recorded in the appropriate column if the next rebound is put into the net. A shot saved is one that would have gone in if not saved and a goal is a shot that did go in - obviously only one of these things can happen to a single shot and only the appropriate entry should be made for that shot. Keep a tally of shots in your head if the action stays around your goal, and note them down when you get the chance - you don't want to be writing down shots and miss a goal because you're not watching the game.

A goal is scored when the puck has completely crossed the goal line (between the goal posts and under the crossbar!). Do not anticipate - wait until you can see the puck is in. The goal light should then be put on and left on until the referee acknowledges it. Do not switch off the light just because the referee does not notice it immediately. Sometimes the referee will ask you what happened (e.g. was the puck kicked in for instance. Please note that the final decision on whether to give a goal is the referee's, not yours.

If the goal is moved from it's moorings the goal judge should flash the goal light until the goal is returned to it's correct position by the referee/linesmen (or possibly by the netminder or some other player) no matter how long it takes for you to be noticed. It is important to keep flashing the light if the goal remains out of position because normally no goal can be scored in it whilst this remains the case. This obviously puts one team at a disadvantage and will be embarrassing for you if the puck enters the net in such a situation and you have not been continually flashing the light.

Please check the goal light is working before the start of each period (and if you seem to be being ignored when you switch it on during the period). If it is not working please inform the people in the announcers box if you discover this before a period, or revert to drawing the referee's attention in some other way (waving is good, flashing something else may get you ejected) if a goal is scored or at the next break in play.

At the end of each period inform the scorer of the number of shots on goal at your end of the rink.

A goal judge should pay attention to the game at all times so should not be surrounded by a group of friends chattering away. If supporters abuse you or try to distract or pressure you please report the matter to the nearest rink or club officials.

A goal judge is not allowed to try to distract the netminder (or other players) and should not shout abuse at the netminder (or other players). Similarly players are not allowed to shout abuse at you and if they do so you should report them if they are unduly offensive. Some netminders like to talk and it is OK to speak to them if they initiate the chat.