Checking is used to move a player off the puck.
It is not a skill to be used to harm a child. We are confused as players and parents when it comes to understanding the difference between the skill of checking and brutal unregulated hitting. The latter has no place in youth ice hockey.
An appropriate shoulder check will move a player off the puck with minimal impact to the opposing player. There is a difference between checking and pounding a player into the boards or onto their back. And sadly the appropriate penalties for bad, inappropriate and brutal hits don't exist in youth ice hockey. Two minutes is nothing. Five minutes is nothing. Ten minutes is nothing. Not getting a head injury is everything.
Intention and harm are not the issues. Potential harm is. Saving one child harm is why I am taking this issue up. The rules need to be changed to immediately remove a player from the ice for a head hit. Immediate penalties will teach children and teenagers how to appropriately and safely use the checking skill.
I encourage all parents to start calling their hockey clubs to get involved and express an opinion on head hits and brutal hits. I believe a push from parents with the support of their hockey clubs (and 99% want your input and will support you) will cause quicker rule changes in youth ice hockey. A child can not be put on the ice as a free target. They must be protected. The rules must change. The weight and height differences between 11 and 16 are drastic. A 75 pound player has no defense against a 120 pound player. The hockey clubs and parents must get invovled to make drastic changes to protect our children from head hits and brutal hits.
I propose the following rule changes, below, to youth ice hockey. It is a starting point for discussions.
No contact to the head. No intentional player contact that causes head contact to the boards or ice surface. Any head contact by a player or head contact caused by a player will lead to an immediate game ejection and will be reviewed for future penalties. If the penalty occurs beyond the mid way point of a game then the player will also miss the first half of the following game.
A player that is called for hitting a player in the back will be given an automatic 10 minute misconduct penalty.
A player that uses excessive force in a check will be assessed a 10 minute misconduct when head contact is not an issue.
A player identified to be purposely taking runs at players will be ejected from the game and subjected to review.
A player that recieves three penalties during a game will no longer be able to play in that game.
These are not difficult penalties to assess or rules to add to the game of youth ice hockey. They are easily understood. Before you rebuke or is it the Scottish rubute these... ask yourself the following questions:
1. How many times has your child gotten three penalties in one game? Not many.
2. How many times has your child been hit in the back for a boarding penalty? It's not uncommon.
3. How many times have you seen a child hit in the head during a game? Just about every game.
4. Is size difference an issue? Yes.
5. Do you want you child harmed? No.
6. Would youth ice hockey still be a great experience for your child if checking and head hits were better managed? Yes.
7. Why haven't the rules been changed sooner? Beats me.
The bottom line is how many times are kids getting hit in the head or severly hit during a game. Not how many times do these hits cause harm. Tracking 6 injuries is not the same as noting 21 brutal hits or head contacts over the same period of time. My goal is to reduce the latter to reduce the number of injuries.
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