NCAA Shrinks Their Rule Book

On Saturday, the NCAA announced a new set of rule changes, designed at simplifying their massive rule book, and eliminating what NCAA president Mark Emmert described as "unenforceable rules". The end result is about 25 pages will be removed from the massive 500+ page NCAA rule book, mostly having to deal with recruiting.

The headlining change was the removal of rules limiting the type and amount of contact coaches can have with recruits once they are juniors in high school. Coaches are now free to call or text recruits as frequently as they want, a rule that was implemented in college basketball earlier this year. The rule changes also state that once a player signs a letter of intent, coaches aren't limited in the type of contact they can have with a player.

The consequences of these changes for college hockey, positive or negative, end up being pretty minimal. Some coaches, particularly out east, aren't happy with a new rule that bans coaches from attending games not involving their own team. The increased contact once a player signs a letter of intent may help some coaches retain committed prospects who are heavily courted by the CHL.

Not getting the green light from the NCAA, was a proposal that would have pushed the date coaches can begin contacting prospects to the beginning of their sophomore year, a change that would have been significant for college hockey, because that is around the time potential prospects are being drafted into the CHL. Last year's ground-breaking proposal to give players a $2000 stipend for miscellaneous expenses was not brought up again, though the NCAA did change a number of rules allowing athletes to receive compensation for specific expenses incurred while student-athletes.