Brush up on hockey rule changes for the 2024-2025 season – Grand Forks Herald

GRAND FORKS UND associate athletic director Erik Martinson brought a unique perspective to the NCAA Ice Hockey Rules Committee.

Martinson officiates hockey games in his spare time, so he knows firsthand the challenges referees face.

When it came time to change the rules for the 2024-26 hockey seasons, changes are allowed once every two years. Martinson and the committee have made several adjustments to make it easier for officials to make accurate and logical decisions.

“A perfect example is if a defensive player does everything right, but a player turns his back at the last minute to try to draw a five-minute check-from-behind major, that is no longer an automatic five Martinson said. “There is more leeway for officials to make the right decision instead of having their hands tied.”

Martinson said the committee sought feedback from each men's and women's conference before coming up with recommendations for the rules.

“We tried to get as much feedback as possible,” Martinson said. “We gave every coach the opportunity to give us feedback.”

Here are some rule changes you should know about:

In the past, the crossbar was an important place to determine whether a puck was played with a high stick.

Everything below the bar was okay. Anything higher was a violation.

Now shoulder height will be the rule.

This should make it easier for referees to make decisions, especially on deflections several meters away from the goal.

“Some people didn't want a strict rule at all,” Martinson said. “Some wanted the rule to stay the same. We tried to find a balance.”

If a team scores a goal during a delayed penalty, there will no longer be a power play.

The NCAA has abolished the double jeopardy rule. The NCAA rule now follows other levels of hockey.

“When the NCAA did it, we thought others would follow suit,” Martinson said. 'It didn't catch on. We are the only governing body that has it. It didn't make any sense.'

Majors for rear check or head contact are now reserved for serious incidents.

In recent years, accidental minor scratches on the head have been called majors. Officials now have the leeway to call minors or nothing.

Officials also have the leeway to call a minor into the signs from behind at check-in. Players began deliberately turning their backs at the last second to draw majors.

When officials turn to a video review to determine whether a severe penalty is warranted, they now have a third option.

They can call a major or a minor, or they can wipe out the penalty altogether.

In the past they were forced to name a major or a minor.

Supervisors have been instructed to make sure officials don't call the majors on the ice just to review everything.

“The concern is whether we're going to get more video reviews, but we feel good about talking to supervisors that they will make sure that if it happens more than a few times with a particular officer, they will have that conversation. Martinson said. “You can't use this as a crutch.”

If a minor penalty is called on the ice, the officials cannot go to the video review.

In years past, the game was considered dead as soon as a referee blew his whistle. If a puck crossed the goal line but had not yet crossed when the whistle blew, it was considered a no goal.

From this season onwards it is possible for a goal to count after an unintentional whistle.

The shot must be released before the whistle.

This will come in handy for shots that trickle through a goalie. If the whistle blows before it crosses the line, but the referees determine that the whistle has no influence on the game, this may be considered a goal.

The old faceoff rule returns.

If a foul occurs, the centers are kicked out of the faceoff spot and a winger is forced to draw.

The only exception are situations where no change occurs, such as icing. Then the center is not removed. In the past, teams would send wingers in to tie the game after icing so they could be fouled on purpose, get kicked out and give their team a few more seconds of rest.

The rule is changing because centers would deliberately cheat on the first faceoff attempt, knowing they would get a second chance at it.

“One of the biggest things we started working on was, 'How are people gaming the system and how can we stop it?'” Martinson said. “Centers found a way to cheat on the first. If they got called, it was free. If not, they cheated and got the advantage. We went to that rule (keeping centers in after a foul) to speed up the game sped up, and we didn't feel like it actually sped up the game.”