USA Hockey Rule Changes
The world is constantly changing around us. This includes the great sport of hockey. As hockey fans and players, we generally reject rule changes, after all, we think our sport is perfect. Our governing body, USA Hockey, agrees - but it is in constant motion to make our game safer and its environment more enjoyable resulting in continued growth of the sport. This year USAH will introduce changes to a fair amount of rules that will continue to push the game of hockey in a new direction. The major changes can be summarized into two categories, safe play and sportsmanship. Elite Amateur Sports is in full support of any changes that ensures a safer and more enjoyable experience during our hockey tournaments.
The USA Hockey Board of Directors approved the rulebook for 2021-25. The organization modifies/updates the playing rules on a four-year cycle. Highlights of modifications include:
The principles of the declaration of safety, fair play, and respect that were originally passed by the Board in 2019 will be fully implemented into the new rulebook, including zero tolerance of hateful and discriminatory language and as well as hits from behind, hits to the head and late hits.
All levels of youth hockey outside of high school will include both immediate offside and the removal of the exception to ice the puck when shorthanded.
Major and match penalties will be determined on the principle of reckless endangerment, not based on injury.
All major penalties will now also include a game misconduct penalty.
Modified the length of penalties based on length of period.
A full summary of the changes will be available later this month at usahockey.com.
Before the start of the season, we implore players, coaches, and organization heads to reach out to their local officials association to be properly educated on all of the changes in the new 2021-2025 USA Hockey Rulebook. We don’t want to see any players or coaches in a sticky situation, whether it be during an Elite Amateur Sports event, or any other event during the season.