The ice hockey series in the AHL will require players and referees to use neck protection in the future.
The NHL’s farm series AHL will introduce mandatory neck protection for the upcoming season.
All players, referees and line judges in the series, regardless of age or experience, are obliged to use approved neck protectors starting this fall.
League announced on Friday that the AHL board unanimously approved the contract.
Last season, cut-resistant socks and wrist guards were already ordered for players and referees.
The use of cut guards came to the fore even more last season, when a former NHL player Adam Johnson29, died in an English hockey league game after being hit in the neck by an opponent’s skate blade during the game.
Neck protection has not yet been made mandatory in the NHL. Almost 90 percent of current NHL players have played in the AHL during their careers.
Commissioner of the NHL Gary Bettman has previously said that the league cannot make neck guards mandatory on its own, but could do so in conjunction with the NHL players union.
Last December, the International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF ordered a neck protector as mandatory protective equipment for all competition series under it.