On Tuesday, the American Hockey League announced it would extend its trial period of hybrid icing.
American Hockey League President and Chief Executive Officer David Andrews announced today that the league’s Board of Governors has voted to continue the current test of AHL Rule 82 (“Icing”) until the resumption of play in the National Hockey League, at which time it will be reconsidered by the AHL Board.
At the request of the National Hockey League, the AHL Board of Governors in June approved a test of a variation of Rule 82 that, in the event of a potential icing violation, completes the play should a defending player be the first to reach the end zone face-off dots and provided the puck will cross the goal line at that point.
In late October, Andrews spoke with The Sporting News about the implementation of hybrid icing and was quick to call it a success:
SN: You have hybrid icing this year. It’s not the first time you’ve tetsted rules for the NHL. How is this one going?
DA: Perfect. I have had nothing but positive feedback from coaches, from players, from scouts. It’s going really well. We’re going to evaluate it on Nov. 19, when we meet with the competition committee, and we’ll get feedback from NHL general managers, but I expect we’ll leave it in for the rest of the year.
Sabres GM Darcy Regier has been following AHL Rochester throughout the year and said he’s on board with the hybrid idea.
“I’ve seen enough of it that I want to see more of it,” he told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.