The talk of the NHL world over the past week has surrounded the league's imposed crackdown on slashing and its new strict policing of players cheating on faceoffs.
While the league insists the reinvigorated enforcement is in place to promote player safety and the integrity of the game, the players the penalties are supposed to protect are almost unanimously not in favor of them.
Related: Marchand: Crackdown on faceoff violations is 'an absolute joke'
Except for the best hockey player on the planet, that is. "A lot of guys that use their feet won't like it," Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby said of the new rules, according to Pens Inside Scoop.
"I don't, so that's why I like it."
Crosby is coming off his worst season at the faceoff dot since he entered the league in 2005 - posting an average winning percentage of only 48.2 at even strength - so perhaps stricter penalties for guys cheating in the circle will lead to improved results.
