New Rules Set for the Season

The NHL’s Board of Governors approved several new rules for the upcoming season, including permitting players to make accidental contact with an opponent with a high stick if the act is committed as a backswing or follow-through of a player’s shooting action.

The standard for high sticking was also changed from the waist to shoulder level. Also, game misconduct penalties will now accompany major penalties assessed for elbowing or charging.

In other changes, littering the ice with any object except hats to celebrate a hat trick may result in a two-minute delay of game penalty against the home team. That was in response to delays caused when Florida Panther fans tossed toy rats onto the ice last season.