After watching defenseman Joni Pitkanen suffer a broken heel bone on an icing chase Tuesday night -- an injury that will shelf Pitkanen for the rest of the season -- Carolina head coach Kirk Muller said a change in icing rules should’ve happened already.
“I think it’s long overdue,” Muller told the Washington Times. “There’s no real benefit in the game on it compared to what can happen to guys.
“The automatic icing, it should be there for sure.”
On Wednesday, the ‘Canes announced that Pitkanen would be out 10-12 weeks after suffering a broken left calcaneus bone (heel) after ramming into the end boards following a puck pursuit with Caps forward Troy Brouwer:
The injury has renewed calls for hybrid icing.
A mixture of touch and no-touch icing, hybrid icing gives the linesman the discretion to blow his whistle and stop the play if he believes the defending player will reach the puck first.
Of note, the American Hockey League used hybrid icing during the lockout, but resumed to standard icing rules once the NHL resumed play.