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Editorial: "Hockey hit ban makes sense"

The province of Alberta is going ahead with plans to ban body checking at the pee wee hockey level (11-12 years old).  However, those at the Bantam level and higher will be allowed to bodycheck.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2013/05/08/calgary-hockey-alberta-peewee.html
 
Hockey Canada bans bodychecking at the pee-wee level (11-12 year olds), followIng the lead set earlier in the province of Alberta (also including the provinces of Nova Scotia & Quebec).

http://www.sportsnet.ca/more/hockey-canada-abolishes-checking-from-peewee/

 
You could have inflatable cushions that wouldn't weigh much on a player's helmet, but offer protection.  But they would look stupid.  Equipment is designed to look good, sell good.
 
moon111 said:
You could have inflatable cushions that wouldn't weigh much on a player's helmet, but offer protection.  But they would look stupid.  Equipment is designed to look good, sell good.
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I am imagining those inflatable sumo wrestler suits.  That would look hilarious on the ice.
 
90 something percent of kids playing hockey will never play a game of contact hockey in their adult lives.  Almost all kids will not even play on a travelling team in the youth hockey career.  Why do we need to have kids facing massive injuries that puts their future at risk for the 1 or 2 percent who will try to pursue hockey as a career??  Why don't we have a system that allows only the elite players to ever be in a league that allows hitting?  And why don't we teach that a body check in hockey is supposed to be used to remove a player from the puck and not to try to kill the other player??  If you want a reason for these rule changes just drop into an average bantam game some night, it's downright scary what is happening on the ice!!  And it's not the elite players where the trouble is happening.  It's the kids who should be playing rec hockey with no contact.
 
Bates said:
90 something percent of kids playing hockey will never play a game of contact hockey in their adult lives.  Almost all kids will not even play on a travelling team in the youth hockey career.  Why do we need to have kids facing massive injuries that puts their future at risk for the 1 or 2 percent who will try to pursue hockey as a career??  Why don't we have a system that allows only the elite players to ever be in a league that allows hitting?  And why don't we teach that a body check in hockey is supposed to be used to remove a player from the puck and not to try to kill the other player??  If you want a reason for these rule changes just drop into an average bantam game some night, it's downright scary what is happening on the ice!!  And it's not the elite players where the trouble is happening.  It's the kids who should be playing rec hockey with no contact.
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While I agree with most that you're saying, they are attempting at changing the culture of hitting by teaching kids the proper way to check.

I don't necessarily agree with moving hitting back to bantam age players. I think that having a player that is starting to push 175lbs and 6' tall should be just learning how to check.
 
Bates said:
90 something percent of kids playing hockey will never play a game of contact hockey in their adult lives.  Almost all kids will not even play on a travelling team in the youth hockey career.  Why do we need to have kids facing massive injuries that puts their future at risk for the 1 or 2 percent who will try to pursue hockey as a career??  Why don't we have a system that allows only the elite players to ever be in a league that allows hitting?  And why don't we teach that a body check in hockey is supposed to be used to remove a player from the puck and not to try to kill the other player??  If you want a reason for these rule changes just drop into an average bantam game some night, it's downright scary what is happening on the ice!!  And it's not the elite players where the trouble is happening.  It's the kids who should be playing rec hockey with no contact.
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Agreed Bates, completely.
 
The CMA (Canadian Medical Association) called for a ban on head hits, as well as hits from behind, and admonished the NHL (& team owners) for not doing enough in eradicating "hockey violence".  They reiterated that the above-mentioned acts of harm lead to concussions and spinal cord injuries.

They also proposed that other sports be banned such as MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), deeming it too dangerous.  Boxing has long been singled out as a sport that should be banned as well.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canadian-medical-association-comes-down-hard-on-nhl-owners-over-hockey-violence/article13897652/
 
over 100 yrs  of hockey and now they are crying for no hit hockey. my idea is if they play in the NHL or want to hitting is part of the game. They get paid millions but no matter what people will get hurt. how about the other trades like plumbing. I could be in the basement crawlspace of some house and hit my head and be in just as much trouble as a player who took a head hit. I myself was in never never  land for 14 days lying in a hos bed from a head hit. it took me a year and a half to recover, and still today 6yrs later I have effects of it. my point is after it I still go do my job. and still play ball. I think there are to many people trying to change things that are not broken. sports have dangers, but the pros get pait more then enough for them. how about the whiners who cant take watching the hits and such just turn it off. and watch soaps.
 
There's not much that annoys me more than the recycled editorials Canada's newspapers run out every few months condemning violence in hockey. The absolute worst was a Globe editorial from January stating that NHL teams should force fighters into retirement.

This time, on the heels of the CMA's ruling to "condemn the complacency of the NHL" on hockey violence, the Toronto Star slams the NHL for "promoting violence" and says the league should "end violence" and at the very least do it "for the kids."

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2013/08/23/doctors_are_right_to_slam_national_hockey_league_on_violence_editorial.html

First of all, I'm not sure why the CMA is even wading in to this debate. Why are they acting as activists on this issue? Canadians don't need the CMA to tell them hockey's dangerous. We're all aware. Adult hockey players as well as the parents of youth hockey players have full knowledge of the significant injury risk involved in playing hockey. Instead of condemning the NHL as an evil organization that promotes violence for financial gain the CMA must realize that violence in hockey is part of the game. Same with football, boxing, and rugby. Get over it.
 
KoHo said:
First of all, I'm not sure why the CMA is even wading in to this debate. Why are they acting as activists on this issue?
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The CMA is a health care advocacy group. They offer their opinion, as doctors, about health issues. Nevertheless, I think there's a pretty wide berth between making a relatively short statement like they did and being "activists" on the issue.

KoHo said:
Canadians don't need the CMA to tell them hockey's dangerous. We're all aware. Adult hockey players as well as the parents of youth hockey players have full knowledge of the significant injury risk involved in playing hockey.
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I think it's disingenuous to say that parents or players are fully aware of the injury risk that comes with playing hockey considering the risks surrounding head injury in the form of concussive and sub-concussive trauma aren't really fully understood by doctors.
 
GTHL decides to ban body contact at the "A" level...

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/worlds-largest-minor-hockey-league-takes-on-hitting-finances/
 
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