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Photo credit: All Montreal Hockey \/ NHL<\/p>\n
Things are heating up for the Ottawa Senators, and Gary Bettman has just sent a very clear message regarding helmet-free warmups.<\/p>\n
The little trend started by Ottawa in Las Vegas – where the entire team jumped on the ice without helmets before facing the Golden Knights – has become a superstition ever since they finally won there after six straight losses in the city of sin.<\/p>\n
Other clubs like San Jose and New Jersey have copied the approach, and it is starting to seriously irritate league headquarters.<\/p>\n
The rule states that all players who made their NHL debut starting in the 2019-2020 season must keep their protective helmet on during warmups, while some veterans retain a grandfathered exemption.<\/p>\n
League executives confirmed that an official reminder will be sent to the teams involved, including Ottawa.<\/p>\n
Gary Bettman tightens the screws on the Ottawa Senators<\/p>\n
For Canadiens fans, the issue hits a nerve. Over the past few seasons, rookies like Lane Hutson or even Connor Bedard have regularly been fined for their traditional helmet-free rookie lap.<\/p>\n
When a single young player gets dinged for a magical moment, but an entire team skates bareheaded without immediate consequences, it makes people in Montreal grind their teeth.<\/p>\n
“For now, teams will not receive fines. But players will be warned.<\/p>\n
They expose themselves to a $5,000 fine each if they break the rule.”<\/p>\n
– TVA Sports<\/p>\n
Lane Hutson, incidentally, is right in the middle of all this. At 21 years old, the Canadiens defenceman already has 4 goals and 16 assists for 20 points in 24 games this season, while playing more than 22 minutes a night for a salary of $950,000 and an entry-level contract that will soon give way to a massive $70.8-million extension.<\/p>\n
When your star defenseman pays every detail of the rulebook to the last cent, you look differently at a rival team turning warmup into a helmet-free parade. In the end, everything points to the same question: how far is the NHL willing to go in tolerating this “no-helmet” superstition that has become the Senators’ trademark?<\/p>\n
After the warnings, the next logical step is real fines for multiple players at once.<\/p>\n
If Ottawa takes the ice without helmets again, do not be surprised to see Gary Bettman move from words to penalties.<\/p>\n
Previously on All Montreal Hockey<\/p>\n
POLL<\/p>\n
17 MINUTES AGO\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a07 ANSWERS<\/p>\n
NHL sends a firm warning as the Senators’ helmet-free warmup faces possible sanctions<\/p>\n
Should the NHL crack down on the Senators for the no-helmet warmup?<\/p>\n
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