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To ‘attack’ embellishment, NHL wants to ‘bring alive’ old rule

2011 NHL Entry Draft - Round One

ST PAUL, MN - JUNE 24: Senior Executive Vice President, Hockey Operations Colin Campbell speaks during day one of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft at Xcel Energy Center on June 24, 2011 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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NEW YORK -- The NHL would like to “bring alive again” a rule that’s already in the rulebook, with some slight alterations, in an attempt to reduce the amount of embellishing in the game.

The league’s director of hockey operations, Colin Campbell, shared the plan today in a New York hotel after the general managers had finished meeting prior to Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.

“We have a process in place that we approached the GMs with, and we also asked the players’ association to consider,” said Campbell.

“There’s a rule in the rulebook already that we haven’t used for the last few years that we’d like to bring alive again, for lack of a better term, but without the game suspension and just a series of fines, a warning the first time, and a series of fines after that if the same player embellishes. It would be by video review from our office.

“There’s also an element that we would probably add a fine to the coach/organization after so many embellishments to a team. And it’s something the players’ association are going back and asking their people, and something we have to run by the board. But it got a lot of traction, a lot of support from the managers that embellishment is going too far in our league and we have to attack it again.”

Campbell added: “It’s not about taking a player out of the game. It’s about making everyone aware that this player does embellish. And more than that, it’s about the players that don’t embellish that ask the question, ‘Should I start embellishing now because I’m on an uneven playing field here.’”

Related: Embellishment is ‘out of control’