The New Hockey World

As the New York Rangers enter their third day of training camp, it gives us a chance to slip in the changes that are taking place in the hockey world. Starting with this season, Hockey Canada is putting into effect new head contact rules.

Using slogans like "Respect, knowing the rules it all leads to injury prevention," Hockey Canada has rolled out an entire program including videos that spell out what will be legal and what will not.
It starts right here with a website devoted to the changes; http://www.hockeycanada.ca/HeadContactRule.

The main change is known as rule 6.5 Head Contact and it addresses the penalties for any contact to the head at each level of the game as Canada goes for a "zero tolerance" policy. We do need to point out that the 3 leagues that make up the Canadian Junior leagues are subject to these rules except when the players are playing in international events like the World Under-20 Championships.

The rules are outlined as well as explained in video clips such as those found here and the one thing that the message that they are trying to get out is they are not trying to take hitting out of the game. They want to show the right ways to use body checking and to help prevent injuries.

Hockey Canada produced a series of videos to show proper checking and as well as areas for officiating, standards of play and a pdf about concussions that you really should read. Hockey Canada is going to do via training what the NHL will not do via rule changes.

If you want to keep thinking that these rule changes will weaken the game then sorry that is not the case.

Camp Notes

John Tortorella says he has no idea who is going to become the left winger for Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik. That was good for a chuckle to see how many people actually believed that one.

Tortorella knows what Brad Richards can do for the Rangers and has been planning on how to use him even before the Rangers had Richards signed. The bigger question is are the Rangers really going to try to play the 2011-2012 with just 1.36 million in salary cap space?

Sean Avery (1.9 mil), Wojtek Wolski (3.8 mil) and Erik Christensen (0.9 mil) better not think about an extended stay in New York not if they are 4th liners. See that is the question that people should be asking about the Rangers.

(First Cuts are expected Sunday Night or Monday Morning and we need to start getting ready for the OHL and WHL openers so we are going to take a day or two to get ready so we should be back Tuesday or Wednesday)

Tortorella courtesy of the New York Rangers