Rule changes ’11-12

The AHL posted its 2011-12 rulebook Tuesday. The worst change is a slight adjustment in the spacing in some spots. One more or fewer line per page means identical rules aren’t in the same spot when you alt-tab back and forth. Darn it. I may have missed a few unmarked changes. Let’s try anyway.

2.1 — The goal pegs are yellow instead of lime green.
5.1 — The veteran rule removes reference to the “International Hockey League.” If you were playing in that league 10 years ago, I guess, you’ve probably racked up 320 games somewhere since then. (Its name has been usurped by another league in the meantime, too).
9.2 — Name and number must be on the back of warmup and special jerseys.
23.1 — Specifies that a game misconduct is worth 10 PIM in the records.
24.2 — If the puck comes to a complete stop at any point on a penalty shot attempt, the try is over: no goal.
24.4 — The number appears to have been missing in the header of this rule. It’s back.
32.4 — In addition to some numbering changes, the rule now says that a linesman’s duties include stopping play and calling the double minor if the referees don’t see an injury caused by a high stick.
41.1 — The boarding penalty has been rewritten: now penalizes a “player who checks or pushes a defenseless opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to hit or impact the boards violently or dangerously.” The player delivering the check must make sure the opponent isn’t in a “defenseless position” (formerly “vulnerable”); if so, he must avoid “or minimize” contact (“minimize” is added). The boarding penalty on an icing touch-up is now for a player “hitting or impacting” the boards, rather than “being knocked into” the boards.
48.1 — Rewritten. The “lateral” or “blind-side” qualifiers are gone. Simply, a hit with contact to the head where the head was targeted and was the principal point of impact isn’t allowed. (The change also corrects “principle” to “principal.”) The new rule does allow a referee to consider whether the player who received the hit put himself in a vulnerable spot.
48.2 — It’s now a minor penalty.
48.3 — There’s now no major for an illegal check to the head. Thus…
48.4 — There’s now no game misconduct, so…
48.6 — Eliminated, as there are no game misconducts to accumulate and result in a suspension.
81.5 — Clarifies, in the rule where a linesman can wave off an icing on a receivable pass to the far side of the red line, that the puck must be both within reach and on the ice.
83.4 — If a team shoots the puck in when it’s offside, and the puck goes into the net, the faceoff is at the spot “closest to the point of origin of the shot that gives the offending team the least amount of territorial advantage.”

Michael Fornabaio

Rule changes ’11-12

The AHL posted its 2011-12 rulebook Tuesday. The worst change is a slight adjustment in the spacing in some spots. One more or fewer line per page means identical rules aren’t in the same spot when you alt-tab back and forth. Darn it. I may have missed a few unmarked changes. Let’s try anyway.

2.1 — The goal pegs are yellow instead of lime green.
5.1 — The veteran rule removes reference to the “International Hockey League.” If you were playing in that league 10 years ago, I guess, you’ve probably racked up 320 games somewhere since then. (Its name has been usurped by another league in the meantime, too).
9.2 — Name and number must be on the back of warmup and special jerseys.
23.1 — Specifies that a game misconduct is worth 10 PIM in the records.
24.2 — If the puck comes to a complete stop at any point on a penalty shot attempt, the try is over: no goal.
24.4 — The number appears to have been missing in the header of this rule. It’s back.
32.4 — In addition to some numbering changes, the rule now says that a linesman’s duties include stopping play and calling the double minor if the referees don’t see an injury caused by a high stick.
41.1 — The boarding penalty has been rewritten: now penalizes a “player who checks or pushes a defenseless opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to hit or impact the boards violently or dangerously.” The player delivering the check must make sure the opponent isn’t in a “defenseless position” (formerly “vulnerable”); if so, he must avoid “or minimize” contact (“minimize” is added). The boarding penalty on an icing touch-up is now for a player “hitting or impacting” the boards, rather than “being knocked into” the boards.
48.1 — Rewritten. The “lateral” or “blind-side” qualifiers are gone. Simply, a hit with contact to the head where the head was targeted and was the principal point of impact isn’t allowed. (The change also corrects “principle” to “principal.”) The new rule does allow a referee to consider whether the player who received the hit put himself in a vulnerable spot.
48.2 — It’s now a minor penalty.
48.3 — There’s now no major for an illegal check to the head. Thus…
48.4 — There’s now no game misconduct, so…
48.6 — Eliminated, as there are no game misconducts to accumulate and result in a suspension.
81.5 — Clarifies, in the rule where a linesman can wave off an icing on a receivable pass to the far side of the red line, that the puck must be both within reach and on the ice.
83.4 — If a team shoots the puck in when it’s offside, and the puck goes into the net, the faceoff is at the spot “closest to the point of origin of the shot that gives the offending team the least amount of territorial advantage.”

Michael Fornabaio