MSU Hockey Will Have to Adjust to New NCAA Rule Changes
The No. 4-ranked Michigan State Spartans hockey team will have to do some adjusting before the start of the upcoming season on October 4th. On Tuesday afternoon, new rules changes were made to all the conferences within the NCAA and will be introduced in the 2024-'25 season.
Listed below are several of the key rule changes that will be in effect across all levels of NCAA hockey:
Hitting/Checking from behind
This is a common part of hockey and is something that both officials and players will have to adjust to early in the season.
The rule states that a player must not push, charge, cross-check, or body-check an opponent from behind into the boards or open ice. The caveat to this rule change is that a minor penalty will be introduced for certain circumstances when it used to be a major penalty regardless of the situation.
If the player delivering the hit does not extend, elevate, or use excessive force, it will be determined as a two-minute minor penalty. In the past, we would see this as a boarding penalty.
Continuous play
Continuous play refers to when a goal is scored right after the whistle is blown by an official, it will still be counted as a good goal if it was otherwise scored legally.
The example given by the NCAA rules committed was: "If a shot trickles behind the goalie and the referee's view is blocked by other players." This would draw a whistle from the official since his view is blocked. Previously, that goal would not have counted since it came after the whistle was blown.
Face-off location
This is a new rule that has been inherited from the NHL, and it involves the location of the face-off during an enforced penalty. The non-offending team will have a choice of which offense zone face-off circle, right or left, that they would like to select for the next face-off following the penalty.
Puck out of play in offensive zone
If the puck is deflected out of play in the offensive zone, the following face-off will remain in that same zone. Previously, certain situations warranted a neutral zone face-off.
This rule was altered in hopes to speed up the contest due to the high amount of stoppages and officials' discussions to determine the face-off location.
Disqualification appeal
In circumstances where a disqualification penalty is enforced, a conference has the option to appeal to the NCAA secretary-rules editor and coordinator of officials to review the penalty in hopes of a potential reduction.
Even though disqualification penalties are fairly rare, they do accompany a suspension of a student-athlete for the next contest. With an option to appeal a disqualification that may have been incorrect, it allows those student-athletes to not be falsely suspended for the next game.
Tied Game/Overtime
For all regular season contests that are tied at the end of three periods, there will be a five-minute overtime period with three skaters on each team (unless penalties are in effect). If the game remains tied after the five-minute overtime, a shootout will follow.
One stipulation of this rule is that any shootout results will not be used when comparing and selecting teams for NCAA postseason competition.
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