2006-2010 Local Rules Additional Clause Addendum Re: Mouth Guard
As of 1 Jan 2008, white, beige, and transparent mouth guards are unacceptable.
– Mouth guards must be coloured and easily identifiable。Therefore white, beige, and transparent kinds cannot be used.
– This rule is effective as of 1 January 2008.
According to IIHF Rule Book section 227, players that meet certain conditions must wear mouth guards. However, there are no specifications for mouth guards as a piece of equipment. This rule has been implemented as a Japanese local rule in order to improve player safety and improve equipment identification on players and on ice when mouth guards get dropped onto the ice during game play. This is due to recent incidents during university games where fallen mouth guards caused Zambonis to malfunction.
Original 2007/12/26 JIHF press release (Japanese):
Japan, Hockey, Baseball, etc. 