Soccer: Mexican Finale Correction and the Offside Penalty

I'd like to make a correction to my posting this past Monday about the Mexican Liga MX soccer playoff finals for the Apertura split season.  At the article's end, I had speculated that the Tigres of UANL could conceivably win the championship without a victory in a single game (they've advanced to the finals after four straight ties), but the format in the finals is different from the earlier rounds, something of which I was unaware.  True, there are two games involved between the finalists América and Tigres (game #1 tonight and game #2 on Sunday), with the aggregate goal total for both determining the champion.  But should a tie in total goals result at the end of regular play in the second game, there will be overtime and then a possible penalty kick shootout, much like it is in the knockout rounds of the World Cup.  So Tigres will definitely have to win at least ONE game to become champion!

That's one rule I think I've got right, finally.  Another one is the offside rule in soccer: many times I would see an attacking player close to the goal receive a pass from behind, apparently in an offside position, and go on to score a goal.  Later I found out that it is that player's position at the moment when the pass is kicked, not when he (or she) receives it, that determines whether the attacker is offside or not.  So the receiver of the pass in those instances that were actually legal were in the proper position as the pass was released to them...and then they ran ahead of the other defenders as they received it...

Now I'm trying to understand ice hockey's version of the offside penalty (as well as icing).  I think I have it down to the requirement, when an attacker skates across the blue line with the puck into the opponent's defensive zone, that there can't be any teammates already there.  Now that I intellectually know the rule, though, I'd like to see it applied in action...meaning I'll just have to sit down and try to follow a hockey game (good luck with that)...

By the way, you can see the Liga MX Aperatura season finals tonight and Sunday on TV by watching Univision Deportes (in Gainesville it's on Cox Cable Channel 410)...