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Many people have explained what icing is. But hybrid icing is a new phenomenon that the NHL introduced 10 years ago to combat players getting hurt when going back to either touch up for an icing or beat out an icing. Don Cherry famously called for the rule to be put in after pointing out on Coaches Corner how many guys were getting hurt battling all the way to the goalline to either prevent or cause an icing. Instead of the defending or attacking player actually going all the way to the goalline and being the first to touch the puck, the referee makes a judgment call when either player reaches the faceoff dot (so if the defending player is ahead of the attacking player, it’s an automatic icing and the play is blown dead. If the attacking player is ahead of the defending player, the icing is waved off and the two can continue to battle for the loose puck).
It’s one of the rule changes the NHL has gotten right (way less injuries) even though from time to time there can be a dispute on whether either the attacking or defending player reached the faceoff dot first (especially in the playoffs where every call, faceoff matters, an icing or non-icing could be big when it comes to the outcome of the game).
Don Cherry all the way back in 2008 talking about this: https://youtu.be/d8NAVK-DyqA
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