The penalty here isn't because your equipment fell apart, it is if you keep playing with broken equipment then that is a penalty. If your stick breaks and you drop it on the ice then you are fine.
Broken sticks are sharp so playing with one is a safety hazard.
I think it's just called the "broken stick" rule. Specifically, if you break your stick, you HAVE to drop it on the ice immediately and be done with it. If you even skate back to the bench holding it, you can get called for a penalty.
I have seen maybe a total of 15 minutes of hokey in my life so sorry if the question is dumb, but I would expect that there is a risk to stumble upon the stick?
In volleyball, if a ball rolls within the court, the play is stopped immediately (this happens quite often when you play on several courts side by side)
The answer to 'what happens if' in ice hockey is 'play goes on' more than in any other I'm aware of, I think it's great.
'Substitutions' being on the fly too (and <1m apart), there's just something kind of raw and basic about it. Obviously there's loads of rules, but the general gist/feel of it just seems a lot more.. I don't know, 'informal', or something, than other games.
It's actually not quite so simply as the ref near it grabbing it. Depending on the play, and where the broken stick is at, the ref may elect to leave it be. I've seen broken sticks get 'accidentally' kicked/nudge near, or in front of the net which causes a sort of clean pass prevention '6th player'. The ref is generally reluctant to get too into the middle area of the play so a broken stick can become a sort of extra player out there. It's a kind funny/unique situation that doesn't happen that often.
Intentionally moving a broken stick to block or possibly block the puck is also a penalty. It is one of the more "judgment call" type calls a ref can make.
It stays on the ice until a whistle, then an official takes it off the ice. It can interfere with play, such as if a pick hits it, but players are not allowed to purposely interact with it.
I think the worry is a broken stick has a chance of producing something sharp that can injure others. I think it is more of a worry when the break is along the shaft of a wooden stick (as you could stab someone, you're basically wielding a spear) but even a split along the bottom of a wooden stick's blade has the potential to lose splinters.
Yeah I mean while it's technically possible they'd call that, you generally don't see that happen very often, if ever. They're use to be a blade curve limit rule too, which probably still exists but I couldn't tell you the last time I saw the tool they used to check that in a time-keeper box, beer league or NHL even.
Basically the rule is there in case the stick is broken in such a way that it becomes sharp and dangerous, which generally would mean it's not functional anyway. In that case you are required to drop the stick on the ice and get a new one mid-play, or get off the ice.
The penalty here isn't because your equipment fell apart, it is if you keep playing with broken equipment then that is a penalty. If your stick breaks and you drop it on the ice then you are fine.
Broken sticks are sharp so playing with one is a safety hazard.