linesman's job just got easier in the British Columbia Hockey League. Or maybe it just got harder.

The BCHL, which loves to claim to be the training ground for Paul Kariya, Brett Hull, Brendan Morrison, and others, is experimenting with the removal of the red line for the purposes of offside passes. The move has been a long time coming. League president Ron Boileau has publicly expressed his desire to make the change for several years, but it wasn’t until this year’s Annual General Meeting that he finally convinced enough league governors to go for it.

The new rule makes the league fall into line with international rules. More importantly, it also harmonizes it's rules with Canadian and U.S. college and university hockey, which is the prime destination for the graduates of Junior A leagues. The Alberta Junior Hockey League also plays without the red line.

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