The NHL Players Association announced its agreement to an icing rule change Monday; the NHL will use hybrid-icing in the 2013-14 season after testing it out during the preseason. The rule change was put in place in order to ensure player safety and stave off injuries that stem from players racing down the ice full-speed to try to touch the puck to either negate or force an icing.
Since 1937, the league has been using the touch-icing rule which requires players to race down the ice to battle over iced pucks. Starting this season the league will use the automatic-whistle rule when necessary.
Under the new rules, if the puck passes the goal line and the defenseman is not behind in the race to the faceoff dots in his own defensive zone, then the play will be blown dead by the linesman automatically instead of having two players race for the puck. The NHL hopes this will enforce player safety and help avoid players colliding into each other or the boards during races down-ice.
However, if the attacking player is ahead in the race, the officials are supposed to let play continue as he can still touch the puck to negate an icing.
"Ultimately the [general] managers believe it's a safety issue. It makes the game safer for the players and we think it's important," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said per NHL.com.
Daly knows it will take some time for the players, fans and officials to adjust to the new rules, but also believes it will be worth it in the long run as it makes the game safer.
"I think it will be an adjustment," Daly told NHL.com. "In the preseason games I've had a chance to see, I've seen a progression already in terms of the linesman's comfort in making the call and it's becoming more consistent, and obviously consistency is very, very important for the rule to be effective. It may take some time and I'm confident. Once you have a rule in place our officials grasp it and apply it, and I think it'll work."
The rule comes into play after a slew of injuries have occured on players' racing down towards the puck. Joni Pitkanen of the Carolina Hurricanes will miss all of this season as he is still recovering from a broken left heel he suffered in April while racing Washington's Troy Brouwer on an icing touch-up last April.
This is the major rule change heading into this season, while other changes have also been made. Under NHL rules going forward, all players with less than 25 games of experience will have to wear visors and jerseys cannot be tucked in while equipment can't be popping out either, according to NHL.com.
Other rules include players that remove their helmet during a fight can be subjected to an extra two minute minor while the nets are shallower as the goal frames were trimmed by four inches on each side. Goalie's leg pads have also been shortened.
There are significant rule changes as the NHL season kicks off Tuesday night with three games on the schedule, and the hybrid-icing is a major advancement in player safety going forward.
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