The New Jersey Devils drew attention Monday by warming up without helmets, leading to a league warning.
The team hit the ice to honor Brenden Dillon’s 1,000th NHL game, wearing No. 5 Jerseys, hats, and special numbers on their sleeves.
While their support was evident, the NHL noted that warming up without helmets violated league rules.
In 2023-24, the NHL mandated that all players who joined the league after the 2019-20 season wear helmets during warmups. The rule is officially NHL rule 9.6, which states that “it is mandatory for all players who entered the NHL beginning with the 2019-2020 season or later to wear their helmet during pre-game warm-up. To be clear, all players who entered the League before the 2019-2020 season and who are currently playing are exempt from this mandate.”
As a result, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly issued the Devils a warning. Daly’s warning comes amid a continuing trend of teams deciding not to wear helmets during warmups.
Last Wednesday, the Ottawa Senators decided as a team not to wear helmets in hopes of shifting their luck. The Senators won that game.
The San Jose Sharks also aimed to turn their season around by removing helmets in warmups; however, the team ultimately lost that game.
Unlike the other teams, the Devils did not forgo helmets in hopes of turning their season around.
The team chose to wear hats to honor their teammate, who became the only active undrafted player to reach 1,000 games.
The night didn’t go as hoped. Dillon left the game after Dmitri Voronkov dropped the gloves and knocked the Devils defenseman to the ice. Dillon returned for the second period before exiting the game again. He did not play in the third period.
Not only that, but the Devils also lost their second straight home game, after starting the season without a regulation home loss for the first 10 games.
The team was only issued a warning for violating the NHL rule–a fortunate result.
The Devils face the Dallas Stars next.
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