Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkGio
I assume the helmet rule is because of the NHL fighters who took each others helmets off?.The fighting rule is to curb goons having multiple fights in a single game.
Damn, the NHL has been very sneaky about slowly getting rid of fighting
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As Acey said, it is to curb injury.
This is a rule in almost every junior and European league. I believe even the KHL has this rule. In the CHL, you can't touch the puck if your helmet is off, not done up properly or you are not wearing a mouthguard, instant penalty. They don't want a player going into the corner or getting into the play compromised and getting injured. And that has been at least for the last 15 years because I played with WHL boys when I was 16 (oh man, I'm old
) who constantly fiddled with their helmet to just get in under the helmet rule without having it done up tight or to lift the visor (both of which there are tougher rules now. you can't stuff your helmet to have it sit higher up and lift the visor). It was a fine line between having a "loose" helmet and something that didn't pop off when you got checked and you had to get it back on before you could jump into the play.
It's very similar to the visor rule they implemented last year. This is something that all Major Junior and European players will have been brought up with since they started playing so implementing it now isn't going to be a huge change. I think the NHL is the only organization in the world that doesn't mandate visors for all players.