To body check. Or not.
Hockey Canada voted Saturday to eliminate body
checking until players reach bantam, at aged 13, and it has sparked much
debate.
Don Cherry threw his two cents in recently on Coach’s
Corner and, not surprisingly, he isn’t a fan. Cherry thinks Hockey Canada is
heading down the wrong path. His partner in crime, Ron MacLean, asked an
interesting question: should there be two leagues — one for body checking and
the other without.
Cherry’s response: “House league is perfect.”
I think Hockey Canada has made the right decision and
has a vision for the future of the sport in Canada. Our country and our world
isn’t getting any smaller. Unless the National Hockey League expands — and, I
certainly don’t see that — the number of kids making the NHL will remain the
same: a very small per centage. And that very small number needs to learn the
mechanics of body checking. Absolutely.
But for the mass majority — an increasing number— they could very well be
interested in playing non-contact recreation hockey — without hitting. And we
should be able to have programs in place for hockey in a safe environment. So
is learning to hit really that important?
The game has changed. And we need to move with those
changes.
Because the most important question on the way home
from the rink shouldn’t be whether you won or lost. Rather, are you OK?
Talk to
Tait @camtait on Twitter Email camtait@telus.net
Please give your feedback by clicking
a box on the bottom
Talk to Tait @camtait on Twitter Email camtait@telus.net
Please give your feedback by clicking a box on the bottom
test
ReplyDeleteHockey Canada is heading in the wrong direction. I have played Hockey all my life, and I love it. If we teach kids at the Atom level how to properly give and recieve bodychecks the number of Hockey injuries would decline. All competitive Hockey leagues should have bodychecking. I have played, reffed and been involved in House league and "rep" league. House league being without bodychecking makes sense, almost everyone is there to have fun and play the game they love. As soon as a league is considered competitive it should have bodychecking. There are too many cases of kids who havn't played contact coming into a contact league for the first time getting hurt, and this is the perfect way to minimize injuries in kids.
ReplyDelete