NHL Approves Verification Line, Thinner Mesh Netting; Changes Could Come Soon

At the NHL's Board of Governors meeting on Tuesday afternoon, approval was passed to implement the "verification line" first tested at the summer's Research, Development and Orientation Camp in Toronto. The line, a three-and-a-quarter inch green mark behind the goal line and inside the net, helps replay officials gauge whether or not a puck has fully crossed into the net. 

The line was tested in an NHL preseason game on Monday night between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, as were shallower nets that create more room below the goal line, thinner mesh along the top of the net that aids with camera angles from a birds eye view, and a plastic skirt across the bottom of the net. 

All of these changes, save the shallow nets, were also approved Tuesday. There's no time frame on exactly when the changes could be implemented into NHL rinks, and the final decision on when or if that happens will fall on the NHL's Director of Hockey Operations, Colin Campbell.

But in the case of the verification line, we could see implementation before the beginning of the 2011-12 regular season, which kicks off in about two weeks. We'll keep you posted.