Retired NHLer Mike Johnson Speaks Up: The NHL and Gary Bettman Need to Listen to His Rule Change Ideas
Every year the NHL's board of governors meets to discuss the rules, and often rule changes are proposed. Though often minor in nature, it's at this meeting where the game has the potential to change forever.
Johnson's Changes
Former NHLer Mike Johnson recently discussed some major potential rule changes he would like to see for the NHL. He started by discussing the hand-pass rule, calling for a major revision to when players are allowed to make a hand pass.
This would be a huge change to how offensive play could work, with players being able to make offensive plays by using their hands. But this wasn't the only offensive change he proposed:
Kicked-in goals are always controversial, though while this seems like a huge change, it wouldn't amount to much, as most goals that go in off skates occur within the crease anyway.
High Sticking?
Johnson offered this solution to high-sticking goals as well:
This would be a potential solution to controversial high-sticking goals that are hard to determine. However, on the flip side, this could certainly increase the amount of stick-waiving that Johnson alludes to.
Either way, the NHL is evolving. While these rules aren't likely to be implemented, the NHL will certainly change as time goes on.
As read on Hockey Feed - "Former NHLer Mike Johnson proposes some big rule changes."
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 2 | 162 ANSWERS Retired NHLer Mike Johnson Speaks Up: The NHL and Gary Bettman Need to Listen to His Rule Change Ideas Should the NHL adopt Johnson's proposed rule changes? | ||
| Yes | 64 | 39.5 % |
| No | 55 | 34 % |
| Some, but not all. | 43 | 26.5 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Werenski | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| Sean Monahan | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jesper Bratt | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jack Hughes | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Mackenzie Weegar | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Kent Johnson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alexander Wennberg | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Mitchell Chaffee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Coronato | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nick Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Conor Geekie | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Stefan Noesen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Corey Perry | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dmitry Voronkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||