I mentioned to Dave that I think this is a rule that, at least in the
past, has been pretty much ignored except when NC$$ tourney time rolls
around.  I distinctly remember that in 1988, when Northeastern was
seeded third in the East, almost the entire team had to be fitted for
mouthpieces before the series with Merrimack.  There was a meeting
covering things that the officials would be checking for during the
tourney, and mouthpieces was one of them...however, I also recall that
the players pretty much only had to have a mouthpiece present and
attached to their face masks - they were not too strict about forcing
the players to actually use it.
 
However, this year rule 3-4(c) is a change and requires players to
actually wear it, and I quote, "[covering] all the remaining teeth of
one jaw."  First violation is a warning and the player is sent to the
bench, second is a misconduct, and third is a game misconduct.  We'll
have to see how this is enforced.
 
(the only change is in the new third violation...the wearing of it is not
new this year, nor are the first and second violations.  But I don't
recall ever seeing anyone penalized for this.)
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93
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