>      The rules (more-or-less) state that the icing is called if the puck
>      is shot across the goal line without the puck having crossed the
>      center ice red line.  Emphasis was to be on that rule this year.
>      The HE emphasis will be that the puck *must reach* the red line,
>      whereas in previous years icing was not called if the puck was shot
>      from within 6 inches or so of reaching the red line.
 
The original icing rule stated that the center red line divides the ice
into two halves, and that if a player "iced" the puck from his own half,
then icing was called.  This meant that if the puck was touching any part
of the red line, icing would be nullified.
 
The redefinition of icing says that icing will be nullified if (among other
possible criteria also) last contact with the puck is made completely over
the red line.  This means that if the puck is touching any part of the red
line, and the puck is "iced", then icing will be called (notwithstanding
the other criteria in the rule).
 
I'm not exactly sure how Hockey East's emphasis is different, but that's
how the rule should be interpreted.  As a side note, the 1992 rule book
is now available, as mine arrived late last week.  I don't like the way it
got slightly "out of order", with "roughing" and "throwing stick" being
inserted in between rules to fill in the space left by removing "game
misconduct" and "obscene gestures" from Rule 6, but it's understandable,
since all the rules would be renumbered if they pushed everything up.  And
that would throw off all those guys who have spent years memorizing the
book.  :-)   Also, thanks Mike for your pre-book listing of rule changes
and points of emphasis for 1992.             -- kennyz
 
---
Kenny Zalewski -- Information Technology Services at Rensselaer
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 83 Albright Court, Troy, NY, 12180
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