By:  Keegan Barrett

The NHL has announced the alteration of 10 rules for the upcoming 2014-2015 season. Most notable is the addition of the rule that will fine players for embellishing or “diving.” Diving for example is when a player pretends to be tripped or punched to attract the attention of the referees in order to have a penalty called on the other team. There are many ways of embellishing and some players and coaches will do anything to trick the refs to award them an advantage.

Hockey players aren’t as infamous for diving as major league soccer players are, however, they are enacting the rule in order to stop the diving epidemic from getting out of control like it has in major league soccer.

I think this addition to the rulebook is a fantastic one. I for one am sick of players like Sidney Crosby and PK Subban embellishing to try to get a penalty. Not only is it unfair when players fake a penalty and then get a two minute powerplay, but it is an embarrassment to the sport itself. Diving and embellishing is bad for the sport of hockey, it teaches kids the wrong lessons about playing fair and playing the game the way it should be played. The NHL has decided to fine repeat offenders and their coaches for embellishing calls, which hopefully will prevent anyone from diving in the future.

Below are two clips of NHL players embellishing:

Mike Smith dive http://nesncom.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/mike-smith-embellish_medium.gif?w=400&h=219

Subban dive http://cdn1.bloguin.com/puckdrunklove/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2014/05/SubbanEmbellishment.gif