Quote:
Originally Posted by Strange Brew
Well of course it’s a parents choice. But I am curious as to who here have decided their kids can’t play hockey. This is after all a hockey fan discussion board. Are there people who are huge fans of the game, give it their time and money, but believe it should be fundamentally changed and don’t want their kids playing.
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I would almost fall into this category. I've been a season ticket holder for close to 20 years, but I won't put my kids in hockey. Off the top of my head I can think of 4 other couples I know that share that sentiment. Perhaps if I'd had my kids 10 years earlier things would be different, but with all we've learned over the past decade it's a hard thing to justify for us.
Further cementing our feet in the sand is the fact that my wife teaches junior high, and the concussions she sees in some of her students each year are quite bad.
As for the overall answer, there probably isn't one. Realistically hockey probably shouldn't have hitting, but what does that do to the fanbase? It's not as if the NHL can stand to lose a percentage of their fans – there are probably individual video games in e-sport leagues that draw more viewership.
Our best example of hockey without hitting remains the Olympics, but those are all-star teams playing for a huge outcome. I'm not sure a non-hitting game between the Coyotes and Blue Jackets on a Tuesday evening would be too similar.
Hoping for equipment changes is a legitimate option, but a lot of the problem is still the speed. There's really no helmet that will make going from 35km/h to a dead stop safe. Even as Everlast pointed out, when you see concussions coming from heading a soccer ball, this problem is going to be
hell to solve.