The goal of the changes is to steer the league’s game culture in a direction where blocking and holding plays will be significantly reduced.
The ice hockey league teams are slowly starting the practice match season, whose traditions include the Lace Tournament played on Friday in Rauma. In addition to the players and coaches, practice matches are also important for the referees, who are testing the new blocking and holding referee line in the starting practice match season.
League websites at the start of the 2024–25 regular season, new interpretations of the rules on blocking and holding will be introduced. The goal of the changes is to steer the league’s game culture in a direction where blocking and holding plays will be significantly reduced.
– The development of ice hockey has gone in a direction where we want to eradicate slow and obstructing play from the game. According to our assessment, the League has seen too much blocking and holding play on the borderlands of rule interpretations. This is what we want to change now, the league’s sports director Jussi Markkanen opened.
Through changes, the league wants to provide the best possible conditions for skill and speed to emerge.
– We have looked at the whole thing carefully and discussed the matter extensively. There is solid support for the new policies within the League. We all together now want to steer the game in a new direction in Finland with quite strong moves, Markkanen said.