NHL Board Of Governors Approve Headshot Rule: NHLPA Not Pleased

The NHL Board of Governors has approved the headshot rule that was submitted by the NHL GM’s two weeks ago. This comes after the Competition Committee has discussed the proposed rule but have not come to a concrete conclusion. From the league:

The National Hockey League’s Board of Governors tonight unanimously approved a rule prohibiting “a lateral, back-pressure or blind-side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact.”

The timing and details of implementation are being worked on by the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department in conjunction with representatives of the National Hockey League Players’ Association.

The league is trying to get a rule passed as quickly as possible and the NHLPA is not too pleased that they are essentially being left out of the process. From the official statement by the union:

“Under the CBA, the league’s proposal cannot take effect until it first receives the support of the joint NHLPA/NHL competition committee, and then is endorsed by the NHL board of governors,” said spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon. “To date, the competition committee has neither agreed on a proposal, nor forwarded a proposal to the board of governors for its vote.”

This is setting up to be a fight between the NHLPA and the NHL unless these two parties can broker an agreement quickly. The union may be up against the wall unless the start to get organized quickly.