The WCHA will be implementing a new, experimental rule allowing players to high stick the puck anywhere on the ice, including to score.
While some state concerns over the safety of encouraging sticks to be up high, others see the benefits of added possession time and scoring opportunties.
One of the proponents of the rule change was University of Minnesota head coach Brad Frost, who said the push originated out east a decade ago with St. Lawrence women's hockey coach Chris Well.
"First of all, we're wanting more scoring in hockey," said Frost of the rule reasoning. "This is an opportunity to have that. Secondarily, and maybe most important for me, is it seems like any time there's a potential high stick goal, the referee will either call it a goal or they'll wave it off. And they have an eighth of a second to make that decision. Even if they go back to review, it's still really hard to decipher whether that was a high stick or not because of the angles of the cameras, because everything happened so quickly, because of the quality of cameras."
Frost believes taking the onus off officials for those often game changing decisions, it a good thing. It means that any puck that enters the net, no matter where the height of the stick that directed it there, will stand as a good goal. Frost also believes it's a skilled play for net front players.
While Frost supports the rule, he also understands the concerns, and doesn't believe they'll come to fruition.
"I know that the concerns are that it could potentially bring more injuries," he said. "I don't see that happening. I guess we'll find out this year."
The WCHA and NCAA rules committee will be watching the adaptation closely both for penalties, scoring, and the potential for increased injuries. At the end of the day, Frost believes the data will speak, and he's excited to see the results.