NHL rule change: Brett Gallant, Krys Barch find hilarious loophole before fight

The NHL is rolling out some new rules for the 2013-14 season and players have already found a loophole in one of them.

By Matt Brigidi Sep 20, 2013, 9:47am EDT

The best thing about new rules is finding ways to break them. New Jersey Devils forward Krystofer Barch and New York Islanders forward Brett Gallant discovered a hilarious way to get around the NHL's rule on removing helmets before a fight.

As it currently stands, the league will give any player who removes his helmet before a fight an extra two-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct. This led many to speculate that two willing combatants would mutually agree to remove their helmets so each player would be assessed the same amount of penalty minutes.

Instead of doing that, Barch and Gallant got creative:

We might be overreacting, but it was really entertaining to watch those two negotiate how the helmet removal was going to work.

These two fought three times on Thursday night and were both given game misconducts in the third period. Will the NHL look to close up this loophole? Sean Leahy of Puck Daddy thinks so:

Because this loophole has now been discovered, it won't be long before there's yet another rule ensuring that if this situation were to occur again before a fight, both players will be assessed an unsportsmanlike minor penalty. Count on it.

If that turns out to be the case, at least we'll always have this video to remember it.

(h/t Puck Daddy)