HOUGHTON - The NCAA is at it again.
And many believe once the NCAA gets involved in anything, nothing good can come out of it.
The body that governs college hockey for Division I and Division III men and D-I and D-III women recently proposed some rules changes for the game at a meeting with those schools in Florida. And as often is the case, some of the proposed changes are very controversial.
The most radical changes proposed have to do with icing the puck. If one of the two new rules involving icing is adopted, a team playing shorthanded will not be allowed to ice the puck.
The second rule would do away with no-touch icing. This new rule would put the icing call in the official's hands.
The officials would make the determination whether icing should be waved off based on which player would reach the puck first. If the official feels the offensive team would have reached the puck first, icing will be waved off.
If the race for the puck is considered a tie or the defensive team is ahead in the chase for the puck, icing will be called. Which team's player gets in front of the faceoff dots first will determine the call.
These changes to the icing rule were not well received by the schools in attendance. The vast majority believe the rule should be left as is.
"All of the D-I men's schools were against changing the rule," Michigan Tech coach Jamie Russell said. "It could make the referees less inclined to call a penalty because players would have to stay on the ice for the entire two minutes.
"The rules committee's heart is in the right place. They want to make changes to improve the game, but some of the changes could have a severe impact (on the game)."
A far less controversial rule has to do with the contact to the head call. If this new rule is put in place, players would receive a major penalty and could be kicked out of the game or suspended for the next.
"The NHL has brought in a new rule eliminating blind-side hits," Russell said. "No matter what level of hockey it is, no one wants to see a player get hurt.
"But it's a fine line because the game is so physical and players have become much bigger and faster."
The committee is also considering allowing players to wear half-shields instead of the full facemasks they currently sport. But it was determined that not enough research had been done and the proposal was tabled until a final one could be drawn up.
Three other rule changes were also proposed during the meeting. The first called for goaltenders to change ends between the third period and overtime.
The second would do away with the obtainable pass, and the third would allow a team a power play even if it scored during a delayed penalty call. None of these proposals, however, have been permanently adopted.
All the proposals will be approved or denied when the NCAA's Playing Rules Oversight Panel meets in July.
