from Jeff Z. Klein of the New York Times,

Despite a series of rule changes and awareness campaigns aimed at eliminating spinal cord trauma, amateur hockey players continue to sustain paralyzing injuries from crashing into the boards. Tom Smith of Swampscott, Mass., had the extraordinary misfortune to incur two separate spinal injuries, in 2008 and 2009.

“Hockey was my life,” said Smith, 24, who walks with the aid of two canes. “I didn’t want anyone to have the game of hockey ripped away from them because of a head injury, a neck injury, any injury. So we came up with the Look-Up Line.”

The line is essentially a visual warning track, alerting players to their proximity to the unyielding boards. USA Hockey’s board of directors will vote on a proposal to adopt the Look-Up Line when it meets on June 6 in Colorado Springs.

If the measure is approved, every arena under USA Hockey’s jurisdiction will paint a 40-inch-wide bright orange band on the ice along the boards. The arenas will have to comply by 2017, but the board could also vote to expedite the change as a matter of safety.

continued including a picture of the proposed warning area...