BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — NHL general managers moved a step closer to changing the league’s icing rule in an effort to make the game safer.
After the second day of their three-day meetings, the GMs on Tuesday said they were united in a rule being called hybrid icing.
NHL rules currently allow players to chase the puck to the end boards, which can create full-speed races in an effort to get to the puck first. Under hybrid icing, the race for the puck would end at the faceoff dots, allowing players to battle for possession more safely at 30 feet away from the boards instead of 3 feet away.
Hybrid icing has been discussed for six years, but this will be the first time the GMs will bring it to the competition committee and seek the Board of Governors approval to put it in place.
