[sureLoss]

https://www.espn.com/nhl/insider/sto...cross-checking

In a video shown to the Board of Governors this week that will be distributed to the teams in training camp, the NHL states that there will be "stricter enforcement" of Rule 59 on cross-checking. Specifically, the "stricter enforcement" will occur in three areas where cross-checks are delivered:

Around the boards: The example provided by the NHL included a series of cross-checks being delivered to a player as he battled for the puck in the corner, as well as a cross-check from behind that knocked down a player along the boards. Basically, a tap by a defender will be tolerated, but if he starts acting like an amateur chiropractor, it's a penalty.

Open ice: Players are allowed to use their sticks to "push or guide" a player defensively. But it's when that push involves excessive force that's the problem. Among the examples given here: Connor McDavid being knocked down by a stick while driving into the opposing defensive zone. (Someone please tell Connor that's he's been heard and seen.)

Net front: The specific infraction here isn't necessarily the battles in front of the goal, where offensive and defensive players can sometimes trade cross-checks as they jockey for position. Rather, the league wants to crack down on cross-checks from defensive players from the faceoff dots down to the crease, sending opponents to the ice while there's a shot coming from the point.

The Department of Player Safety will scrutinize two kinds of cross-checks for potential supplemental discipline: cross-checks away from the puck to a vulnerable area of an opponent, and cross-checks delivered the back while a player is skating toward the boards at a significant speed, causing a collision. In the case of the first, there's an element of intent to injure. In the case of the second, the results of the plays can be accidental, but Player Safety will still ring them up for recklessness.