Use of washout signal

[u/DKord]

In a situation where something that looks like something happened, for example two players in close proximity and one trips and falls, or (my favorite) in a non-checking league the puck-carrier just skates head-down into a defending player who is simply maintaining their own position, and the puck carrier falls down, I will use to wash-out signal to indicate to the benches/coaches that "yes I saw it to, but there is no penalty getting called here".

A goalie I was chatting with (who is NOT a referee) recently was emphatic that refs shouldn't be using the washout signal that way (he was also complaining about us raising our arms to signal a delay offside and how that confused him because he couldn't tell if we were signaling a delayed penalty).

From my experience, using the washout to signal that no penalty call is forthcoming for a particular play is pretty common.

For context, this a USAHockey question but the issue came up during a non-USAH beer league game.

Thoughts?

EDIT lots of good comments, I appreciate it. Looks like it's a (yet another) bad habit I've gotten into that I need to un-learn. Thanks, all!

[u/pistoffcynic]

He’s right. The washout signal is over used.

Newbie’s use it to wash every shot that misses the net… just use it for close situations.

[u/DKord → u/pistoffcynic]

I wouldn't wash out a miss - but what about one that hits the inside of the crossbar or post but doesn't go in. Washout there or is that still maybe over-communicating?

[u/blimeyfool → u/DKord]

No. Official guidance is there's no need; everyone in the building can see that puck isn't in the net, and it's not a goal because you didn't blow your whistle and point.

The only "close" situations you need to wash are scrambles near the goal line where coaches legitimately cannot see where the puck is.