The annual rule changes for D1 NCAA are here. Since the 5-in-5 rule hasn’t passed yet, we won’t discuss that one right now — though I do have some thoughts on it that I will share later. Instead, I'm going to give five proposed rule updates ratings based on how good of a change I think they are #1: CUT-RESISTANT GEAR IS RECOMMENDED FOR 2026-27 AND MANDATED FOR 2027-28 RATING: 10/10 I’m a huge fan of this rule, and I think it should be implemented immediately. There have been multiple extremely dangerous occurrences in the NCAA in recent years due to skate blade contact. It’s possible that some of them might have been avoided with cut-resistant gear. We’re seeing this change come to most levels of the sport, including the NHL, and it’s a good move for the NCAA to do it as well. I’m all for player safety. Great rule change. #2: HAND PASSES ARE NOW ALLOWED IN THE DEFENSIVE ZONE RATING: 7/10 This is one of those rules that you see called maybe twice a year and you have to go look up why the team just got a penalty. I’m fine with this rule change. This is allowed in the NHL, and I can’t think of a good reason why the NCAA shouldn’t instate it. Basically: sure, why not. Perfectly fine rule change. #3: THE TRAPEZOID COMES TO COLLEGE HOCKEY RATING: 0/10 BOOOOOOO. One of the most fun things about college hockey is that the goalies are absolutely unhinged. Just wandering all over the ice, playing the puck wherever they want, going into the corners at utterly inopportune moments — it’s so much fun. Where would we be without the wild roamings of Erik Portillo? It gave the goalies the freedom they long for. This rule change removes a beloved part of our sport and traps our goaltenders in a trapezoid. Let them go into the corners! Bad rule change. #4: NO TIMEOUT IF YOUR TEAM ICED THE PUCK RATING: 6/10 I’m conflicted on this rule. On one hand, I appreciate that the NCAA Is trying to prevent teams from slowing down the game, and I like that you might have to force a coach to make different lineup decisions late in the game. I think that could get very interesting. On the other hand, if those guys have been stuck out there for several minutes, there could potentially be a dangerous situation that occurs, and I don’t like that. You also might see more time-wasting tactics like goalies pretending to have equipment issues or players feigning injury, which we see sometimes in the NHL, in order to get their team a bit of a rest. I like the intention, and I think it will probably be fine, but I don’t love it. Ehhh rule change. #5: BOTH PLAYERS MUST HAVE THEIR BLADES FLAT ON THE ICE FOR A FACEOFF RATING: 9/10 I’m for anything that will reduce faceoff nonsense and get the puck dropped faster. The amount of silliness that occurs at faceoffs with the referees and the players in this league is, quite frankly, ridiculous. If this rule standardizes that procedure so we have less of that, I’ll consider it the greatest rule change ever. For right now, it’s just a good rule with potential for greatness. BONUS: #6: WOMEN’S HOCKEY PLAYERS CAN NOW PLAY THE PUCK WITH HIGH STICKS Rating: ??? This rule change fascinates me. It’s only for women’s D1, but essentially, they are now allowed to play the puck with sticks above shoulder height — high sticks. Goals scored with high sticks will also now count. There’s a part of me that really likes this rule. The finicky “shoulder height vs crossbar height vs whatever height” has always annoyed me, and I generally like rules that introduce more scoring. That being said, the whole point of disallowing high sticks is that you don’t want people waving their fiberglass sticks around willy-nilly and potentially hitting people in the face. The full face shield in college hockey takes some of the danger out of that, but I’m still not a huge fan of people being allowed to just wave their sticks in the air. That seems like it could cause some problems. However, it also seems like it could cause some good chaos — and I'm always for that. My rating remains ???? because I have no clue what brought this change on, but I’ll say this is a positive change for now.
