Hockey Canada explores non-bodychecking options

I hear there is a sports program available to those who are worried about body checking in hockey, which is, and hopefully always be, a full contact sport..... it's called figure skating.

Bring back enforcers, nobody will check too hard after that happens.

Perhaps you should read the article.

There's no need to have checking in minor hockey for young kids. Body checking at 11 is dumb, dangerous and scares kids away from the game due to the obvious size difference some kids have at this age.

The game is evolving, like it always has.

It's time we put the 'meathead' mentality away and stop saying things like Hyack has said above.

Perhaps you should read the article.

There's no need to have checking in minor hockey for young kids. Body checking at 11 is dumb, dangerous and scares kids away from the game due to the obvious size difference some kids have at this age.

The game is evolving, like it always has.

It's time we put the 'meathead' mentality away and stop saying things like Hyack has said above.

I'm with you on this one, OnTheIce. I love hockey. My son (8) plays hockey. There shouldn't be any sport you put your kids in where you're worried you're kid's going to end up with post-concussion syndrome by the time he's 16. It's physical game, sure, but let's let skill have it's place too.

I would have no problem if they cracked down on it even in the NHL. Not eliminate it, but tone it down. They just have to do it consistently and not penalize one Player while letting another doing the same go.

Perhaps you should read the article.

There's no need to have checking in minor hockey for young kids. Body checking at 11 is dumb, dangerous and scares kids away from the game due to the obvious size difference some kids have at this age.

The game is evolving, like it always has.

It's time we put the 'meathead' mentality away and stop saying things like Hyack has said above.
Make a separate league for those that don't want contact. If they are all playing hockey with no checking they will be scared of it if they ever move to the bigger leagues, contact is a major part of the sport, games with no checking are incredibly boring in comparison to games with it. Next I suppose you will want to ban high school contact football and just make it two hand touch.

After rereading the article, I have to somewhat agree with you. Where there can be a significant difference in size between players of the same age group there is a definite possibility of injury to the smaller statured players, along with a fear of intimidation playing against those of greater size and strength. As the article states....



Body checking is an integral part of the game, and always has been. Two players going after the puck, fighting for it in the corner or jostling for position in front of the net looking for the tip in or rebound, going shoulder to shoulder battling for the puck. This has to be taught at some point in a player's development, maybe this should be as a player advances to the bantam leagues where the size difference is not so great. Of course there will always be the exceptions, the Charas and Byfugliens.

The issue of the "big hit" can be a different story though, and has no place in junior hockey. This is even being addressed by the NHL where head shots, late hits, hits below the knees and slamming the opponent into the boards on an icing call, are all now being called deliberate attempts at injury, and are now being dealt with with penalties and or suspensions, so yes, the game is evolving, making it safer and prolonging the careers of the players.

As jeff744 pointed out, games with no physical contact can be extremely boring, just watch the exhibition games or the All Star games, while they do show off the players abilities and skill there is definitely something missing without the physical aspect of the game. Without the bodychecking, you may as well sit back and watch the paint dry.

I prefer to watch skill over size any day.

How many people find Olympic hockey fun to watch? It's pretty damn good despite the hitting and the fighting, isn't it?

The NHL is often terrible to watch. Slow and lacking talent.

I have no problem with contact on the boards when playing for a puck or wrestling in front of the net to score, we need to weed out open ice/career ending hits.



In the kids leagues, the ones with hitting would be empty. I coach and I can tell you that if you did that, any league that went non-contact would be flooded with kids.

"Contact" is not a major part of the sport. It's a factor, yes, but not a major part. It never was always a part of the game, the celebration of open ice hits, watching and cheering a guy getting a brain injury.

Haven't we evolved past the point where we find someone getting a brain injury fun to watch?

I prefer to watch skill over size any day.

How many people find Olympic hockey fun to watch? It's pretty damn good despite the hitting and the fighting, isn't it?

The NHL is often terrible to watch. Slow and lacking talent.

I have no problem with contact on the boards when playing for a puck or wrestling in front of the net to score, we need to weed out open ice/career ending hits.
Those only went up after they decided to start picking off enforcers, they forced players to actually slow down because they knew if they hit somebody too hard the next game would result in them being one with the boards.


Non-contact may have more people but it is not because all the kids want to play that, it is because their parents will only let them play non-contact sports. I know of more kids that actually wanted to have contact in women's because the game becomes more about attempting to avoid a collision with another player than actually having fun. I never said excessive violence was good, but banning it all together just makes the game even more tedious because now when you get a guy skating around a corner instead of being able to hit him for the puck you have to stop just before them and try to free it.

Sorry, but that's not even close to the reality that I see on a day to day basis.

Especially with young kids 11-13 this is when they start to change. Some kids are huge and some are little. The little more skilled players often are scared to death that that big kid on the other team because he's out to knock them out.

Now, let's be real for a second...kids at 11-14 aren't interested in making a smart hockey play, they're looking for that hit to lay someone out.

If someone's skating around you into the corner, you make it out like your helpless, ignoring the fact that you're holding a stick (a poke check is often much better as you don't take yourself out of the play) or that you can use positioning and a little nudge to battle for the puck.

I've been on both sides of the fence. I was the big kid in minor hockey, throwing my weight around and kicking ass and when I went into the upper levels, AA and AAA I was the little guy for a few years until I caught up.

Remove body contact from all house league and house league select teams and leave the contact for those kids playing AA and above.

OMG what alternate universe do you come from?

Let me guess, another guy that enjoys fighting in the NHL?

Let me guess, another guy that enjoys fighting in the NHL?

I think the point he's trying to get across is that Olympic hockey along with the IIHF are still full contact sports where body checking is a major part of the game, although fight is prohibited and will result in an automatic game misconduct penalty and suspension.

[quote="Hyack"

I think the point he's trying to get across is that Olympic hockey along with the IIHF are still full contact sports where body checking is a major part of the game, although fight is prohibited and will result in an automatic game misconduct penalty and suspension.

Yes, they are, but why so much less?

Contact is far less a factor in International play than it is in leagues like the NHL and IMO, makes for better hockey