The NHL is going to make head coaches think long and hard as to whether or not they want to challenge an offsides call (or lackthereof) during the course of a game.
Wednesday, the League ruled that a failed offsides challenge would result in a two-minute minor penalty which could be particularly devastating to a team who probably just gave up a goal on the prior play. This is given the fact that offsides are really only challenged if a team gives up a point on the play in question.
Off-hand this seems like a unnecessary rule change considering it not really being a problem last season. The NHL game is pretty fast paced and it seems a little unfair to further penalize a team who wants to make sure the on-ice official got the call right in the first place.
Another rule changed by the League is eliminating the opportunity for a team to use their timeout after just icing the puck which adds to their inability to make a line change. This isn’t a huge change however could play an impactful role late in games, especially if the opposing team has pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker.
Finally, the more minor of the three changes is a modification to rule 80.4 which states: a team on the power play that was guilty of playing the puck after a high stick saw the ensuing faceoff come deep into their own zone. Now the team on the power play will have the faceoff moved to the neutral zone on the faceoff dot closer to the defending team’s blue line. This of course is making the assumption that the team on the power play who played the puck after a high-stick did so in the offensive zone.
h/t: Sportsnet
