Safety first: NHL and union recommend making visors mandatory for new players

TORONTO – The NHL competition committee will recommend making visors mandatory for all players entering the league.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, hybrid icing was recommended for testing during the 2013-14 preseason, as were shallower nets.

Any changes must first be approved by the league's board of governors. That also includes a change that makes all four-minute high-sticking penalties subject to video review.

But the decision on visors was the biggest item. Former NHL defenseman Mathieu Schneider, special assistant to NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr, said a "clear majority" of players supported grandfathering visors. But he declined to say what percent of players voted in favor of the change in an internal survey.