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 <<<<< Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors (station TBA for 94-95) >>>>>