The Ontario Hockey League has announced some new measures to crack down on fighting and blindside hits. The new rules are an attempt to improve player safety while forcing players to take more responsibility for both their checks and their willingness to drop the mitts.
The new regulations put in place by the OHL’s Board of Governors will reduce the limit of how many fights a player can have in a season. The old limit of 10 fights has been dropped to three fights.
Here’s the new rule, via the league’s site:
In addition, the league took further steps to address fighting in the game by lowering the threshold prior to automatic disciplinary action being assessed from 10 fights per player per season to three fights per player per season. Players exceeding such threshold will be subject to an automatic two game suspension, for each fight exceeding the threshold.
Note: If a player is instigated upon, the fighting major is not included in the player’s total number of fights.
In summary, a player will receive an automatic two-game suspension for each fight they participate in after three initial scraps. If a player is instigated, the fight won’t be included in the total number of fights they’ve had in that season.
The OHL dropping the fighting limit from 10 bouts to three is a pretty significant change which should see players drastically cut down how often they drop their gloves. Players will have to think twice before engaging or risk missing time.
In addition, the OHL will alter how they discipline blindside hits.
Blindside Hit Rule: whereby there will be a penalty assessed for those players who check an opponent from the blindside. Based on the discretion of the referee, a minor, major and game misconduct or match penalty may be assessed. Such infraction would also be subject to review and possible supplementary discipline by the league.
This new language will allow OHL refs to punish blindside hits which may not fall into another category such as boarding or elbowing. By expanding the rule some, officials will have more freedom to police hits which may have previously gone uncalled.
With so many big changes coming to the OHL regarding player safety, one has to wonder if other leagues – like the NHL – will eventually follow in their footsteps.
