The controversial proposal to call icing while a team is shorthanded has been pulled off the table, the NCAA announced Thursday.
But it’s not going away entirely, and it could resurface again.
The NCAA Ice Hockey Rules Committee’s proposal met with largely negative reaction from coaches, so it will be used in exhibition games only during the two-year cycle of the next rule book, which starts with the coming season.
The committee will then have experience to work with in determining whether the rule will be implemented starting with the 2012-13 season.
“The committee appreciates the membership feedback and values the opinions of coaches and administrators,” Forrest Karr, outgoing chair of the committee and athletic director at Alaska, said in a statement. “Responses indicate that while several coaches like the concept, there are concerns about the potential for unintended consequences.”
The other proposals forwarded to the Playing Rules Oversight Panel for final approval were unchanged. The panel is scheduled to meet via conference call on July 29.
In proposing always-on icing, the rules committee cited the desire to reward speed and skill and to help create scoring chances.
Karr also noted that it had been brought up that allowing icing while shorthanded is, in a way, rewarding a penalized team by giving it the benefit of a ruling it doesn’t get at full strength.
