The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League just got a whole lot cleaner.

In a statement released Thursday, the QMJHL announced new safety regulations that will be put in place ahead of the 2023-24 season, including the elimination of fighting from the top Canadian league’s games.

“In order to prevent physical and psychological violence that may result in minor or serious injury, or in extreme circumstances, death, the QMJHL is responsible for establishing rules of intervention when a fight occurs between two or more people during a game, regardless of whether they are players or other team members,” the statement read. 

The revised rules detailed that those participating in a fight will be automatically ejected from the given game, and the player who instigated the bout will receive a one-game suspension. 

The person identified as “the aggressor” in the fight will be dealt a two-game suspension, at minimum.

If a player later gets in a second fight, he will receive an automatic one-game suspension on top of the initial game misconduct.

“Rule 47 of the Playing Rules, starting with the 2023-24 season, provides for fights being prohibited with more restrictive and dissuasive sanctions in order to emphasize a safe quality of play conducive to the development of players participating in QMJHL activities,” the league wrote in the statement. 

The suspensions are part of the major effort from new QMJHL commissioner Mario Cecchini to instill a “culture change” in the league, as he emphasized back in March. 

“We obviously have to improve on these situations [fighting and hazing], and even eliminate them in some cases,” Cecchini said, according to The Athletic.

“How do you make a culture change? With a lot of determination, with a lot of conviction, and with a lot of precision and clarity in how you expect everyone to behave. For me, that’s going to be paramount.” 

For the AHL and ECHL –– the top two professional ice hockey minor leagues –– as well as the NHL, fighting remains a permitted part of the game.