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NHL’s competition committee proposes new headshot penalty

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According to The Canadian Press, the NHL’s competition committee has proposed a rule change for next season, that would have players given a penalty on the ice for intentional hits to the head.

Mathieu Schneider said that the committee met on Friday, and on top of the proposed rule change also agreed on rules for goaltender equipment and approved the Heritage Classic game in Calgary for this season.

If you remember, the committee first sought to block an in-season change proposed by the general managers regarding head shots when the NHL knee-jerked after a number of dangerous hits left several players severely injured. The committee eventually agreed to the temporary rule change, with the plan of approving a much more detailed plan this summer.

The hangup this past season with the temporary change was that in-game penalties wouldn’t change but gave the NHL room to suspend players for breaking a rule that technically wasn’t in place yet. You could understand the committee’s reluctance to agree on such a change, but the NHL fired back saying they could make the change with or without the players’ approval.

The NHL’s board of governors will meet during next week’s draft in Los Angeles, where they will vote on the proposed rule changes by the competition committee.