The NHL announced last week that uniform guidelines will be more heavily enforced during the 2013-14 season. According to the rules outlined by the league, players will no longer be allowed to tuck their jerseys into their pants, have their elbow pads exposed or cut their pants.
NHL rule changes: Jersey tuck no longer permitted
The NHL has decided to more strictly enforce its uniform policy, which means the jersey tuck will not be allowed.
USA TODAY Sports
While these rules have been in the NHL’s rulebook since 1964, the league took a lax approach in enforcement. The NHL’s senior vice president of hockey operations Kris King told Elliotte Friedman of CBC that the league’s general managers were the ones who requested stricter enforcement be put into place, via CBC:
“This was a GM’s initiative,” NHL senior vice-president of hockey operations Kris King said. “Some of them [general managers] came to us last year and said they didn’t like where it was going.”
The concern is largely centered on safety issues and players being injured from exposing too much of their body.
In order to properly educate the players about the “new” rules, the league will post this picture in locker rooms for reference:
If a player doesn’t adhere to these guidelines, he will be issued a warning. If a second instance occurs, he will be given a two-minute delay of game penalty. A third instance results in a misconduct and fourth leads to a game misconduct.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has become the poster boy for this change given that he is one of the league’s most recognizable players and has one of the most prominent jersey tucks in the game. He is not happy about the change.
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