6 things to know about the 2013-14 NHL season

TORONTO – Touch icing and jersey tucking are out and visors and John Tortorella are in.

We take a look at what Canadians need to know about the 2013-2014 NHL season.

1. Hybrid icing is in effect

The National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) gave the go-ahead for the rule change that makes icing a race to an imaginary line across the faceoff dots instead of the puck.

The new rule was given a trial run in the pre-season, and the goal is to prevent serious injuries, like the one that has sidelined Carolina Hurricanes defenceman Joni Pitkanen for the entire upcoming season.

“We are hopeful that the implementation of the hybrid icing rule, which is a middle ground between the old rule and no-touch icing, will help minimize the incidence of player injuries on icing plays,” said NHLPA special assistant to the executive director Mathieu Schneider in a Monday statement.

Hockey Night in Canada’s Don Cherry has been pushing for clarification on icing rules for some time, saying in June that rules should be “straightened out before somebody gets killed in this game,” and asking, “Can’t they see what’s going to happen?”

They saw, Don. And they added an imaginary line!

Click here for the official wording of the new rule.

2. Extra penalty if you take off your helmet before you punch someone

If players remove their helmet before engaging in a fight, they will get an additional two-minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The idea is to reduce the risk of someone smashing their head into the ice while not wearing a helmet, but as Krys Barch and Brett Gallant know, it’s very sportsmanlike to remove each other’s helmet. Watch their dual discard below:

A provision penalizing players who lend a hand in the name of helmet removal was rejected by the League.

3. New lineup for the Leafs: will it make a difference?

The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed some promising new players: goalie Jonathan Bernier, centre Dave Bolland, right-winger and Toronto native David Clarkson.

The team also locked up star forward Phil Kessel to an eight-year extension worth US$64 million. If you’ve never seen Kessel without his helmet on, you can see him below, signing his contract, or click here for a spectacularly awkward Olympic glamour shot.

4. Vancouver’s new coach hates Twitter

John Tortorella is the new bench boss for the Canucks. Hailed as one of the NHL’s most experienced coaches, he’s got more than 400 wins and one Stanley Cup under his belt. But don’t expect to get any re-tweets from his players; he hates Twitter.

“There better be no information coming out of the locker-room with that damn Twitter,” Tortorella said Sept. 12. “It’s nothing but trouble.”

Watch Global BC’s Shanel Pratap with reaction to Tortorella’s plans for the Canucks at a June press conference:

5. NHL’s realignment: solving problems but creating queries

Realignment into four divisions — the eight-team Metropolitan and Atlantic in the East and the seven-team Central and Pacific in the West — will solve some travel problems but also create more questions.

Uneven playoff odds between the conferences is one point of contention: some question whether having 16 teams for eight spots in the East is “really fair” compared to 14 teams for the same amount of playoff berths out West. However, one trade-off is that teams in the Western Conference still have tougher travel than those in the East.

One change players loved is that every team will see every other team at least once on the home and on the road.

For our full story on the pros and cons, click here, and check out the realignment preview graphic below:

6. Stop exposing your equipment: the tuck rule

The league was asked by 30 general managers to strictly enforce provisions in the uniform rule, according to NHL.com. This means uniforms can’t be altered and no equipment can be exposed, coining the “Jersey Tuck Rule.”

“Our managers said, ‘Clean it up,'” NHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell told NHL.com. “We’ve gotten some pushback obviously, but we’re trying to keep it as uniform as possible. We’ve been able to give teams warnings and penalties and they’ve argued, but we’ve been told by the managers, unequivocally, 30-0, ‘Do it, clean it up, it’s your job.’ It had gone way too far. The reason they call it uniform is because it’s supposed to be uniform, all the same.”

So anyone whose jersey is tucked in will receive a warning to untuck, and if he doesn’t listen, he’ll get a two-minute minor penalty for game delay.

The other change to the uniform rules? Players with less than 25 games of NHL experience must wear a visor.

The unsportsmanlike penalty for instigating a fight while wearing a visor has been eliminated.