Hockey Alberta eliminates body checking in Pee Wee

[GGG]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Well this brings back my point then. If there shows to be an increase in injuries in Bantam that is a very bad thing IMO. Because I think the injuries we see in Bantam are more severe than those in PeeWee purely based on the size and speed of the kids and the differences between them.

Read the study, Injuries are defined as causing a player to miss more than seven consecutive days of practice or games. So the level of injury is being taken into account.

Also it showed a 33% reduction in injuries in Bantam compared to a 375% increase in injuries in peewee. So net harm is significantly reduced based on available research.

Also the paper atributes part of the reduction it to a survivor affect that kids who get injured in Peewee quit so they aren't around to be injured in bantam.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Well this brings back my point then. If there shows to be an increase in injuries in Bantam that is a very bad thing IMO. Because I think the injuries we see in Bantam are more severe than those in PeeWee purely based on the size and speed of the kids and the differences between them.

That's actually wrong. The total injury risk was the same. The increase was only seen on injuries requiring more than 7 days to heal and was not substantial (IRR 0.67 CI 0.49-0.99). Catastrophic spinal and brain injuries for these peewee kids are almost 4 times higher than high school and college American football!

Again sacrificing these peewee kids for what does not appear to benefit anyone is foolhardy.

[Northendzone]

part of me was chuckling a bit at what the hockey moms had to say - and based on my small sample size it seems that most of them are for keeping hitting in the game. i just laughed thinking it is unlikely any of these moms has ever been looking for the puck in thier skates and then get rocked.........

[crazy_eoj]

Has anyone seen any long term data on incidences of players coming from the Quebec system as they integrate into the larger hockey communities at Midget or Junior age?

IE: As a high level Midget/Junior player from Ontario vs one from Quebec are you better equipped to deal with the hitting, does it equal out over the years, or how long does it take? I know there is a general perception that players from Quebec are not as physical as other Canadian players, could this play into that?

[showtime]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

That's actually wrong. The total injury risk was the same. The increase was only seen on injuries requiring more than 7 days to heal and was not substantial (IRR 0.67 CI 0.49-0.99). Catastrophic spinal and brain injuries for these peewee kids are almost 4 times higher than high school and college American football!

Again sacrificing these peewee kids for what does not appear to benefit anyone is foolhardy.

Do any of these studies say which level of hockey they were playing? Div 1,2,3 and so on? I would imagine their is significantly more injuries in divs 4-8 then 1-3? I think they should have given the head shot rule a little more time to see if it changed anything. As were only just now seeing the crop of players it affected.

Also with Quebec no checking, we played their this winter, and the games were definitely a lot chipper. Also talking to the refs there they call the headshot rule extremely different then here, if at all. We definitely saw 10x more head shots in our games there then here. Not saying its relevant just seems weird thinking they banned body checking but are slack on head shots which youd think would go hand in hand.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

That's actually wrong. The total injury risk was the same. The increase was only seen on injuries requiring more than 7 days to heal and was not substantial (IRR 0.67 CI 0.49-0.99). Catastrophic spinal and brain injuries for these peewee kids are almost 4 times higher than high school and college American football!

Again sacrificing these peewee kids for what does not appear to benefit anyone is foolhardy.

Are you comparing pee-wee hockey to high school and college football?

[valo403]

Originally Posted by GGG

Read the study, Injuries are defined as causing a player to miss more than seven consecutive days of practice or games. So the level of injury is being taken into account.

Also it showed a 33% reduction in injuries in Bantam compared to a 375% increase in injuries in peewee. So net harm is significantly reduced based on available research.

Also the paper atributes part of the reduction it to a survivor affect that kids who get injured in Peewee quit so they aren't around to be injured in bantam.

Unless they go further than what you have there they really don't. A broken collarbone puts you out for over 7 days. So does a sprained ankle. So does a concussion. Only one of those 3 is likely to have long term impacts. If we're going to lean so heavily on this study I'd like to see it actually demonstrate a reduction in serious injuries, not injuries that are highly likely to heal to 100% in a matter of a month or two.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by showtime

Do any of these studies say which level of hockey they were playing? Div 1,2,3 and so on? I would imagine their is significantly more injuries in divs 4-8 then 1-3? I think they should have given the head shot rule a little more time to see if it changed anything. As were only just now seeing the crop of players it affected.

.

My experience, worst injuries are with the high end teams Division 1 & 2.

Broken bones, concussions etc..

Kids are allot faster.

With this rule a kid could go from Div 1 Peewee to AA / AAA Bantam never experiencing hitting.... yikes

[Coach]

Originally Posted by flambers

My experience, worst injuries are with the high end teams Division 1 & 2.

Broken bones, concussions etc..

Kids are allot faster.

With this rule a kid could go from Div 1 Peewee to AA / AAA Bantam never experiencing hitting.... yikes

Yes this. 1000x this.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

Are you comparing pee-wee hockey to high school and college football?

I'm giving perspective

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by MattyC

For the record, I would love to play n a full contact men's league.

You probably aren't good enough. There's the Alberta Senior Mens Hockey Leagues (Chinook). AAA/AA/A. Many who are, choose not to -- still have to work in the morning, despite the possibility of a stipend too.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

You probably aren't good enough. There's the Alberta Senior Mens Hockey Leagues (Chinook). AAA/AA/A. Many who are, choose not to -- still have to work in the morning, despite the possibility of a stipend too.

I know there's leagues with contact. I have my reason for not playing. Not good enough and the threat of being hurt are definitely not included.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by MattyC

For the record, I would love to play n a full contact men's league.

Originally Posted by MattyC

I know there's leagues with contact. I have my reason for not playing. Not good enough and the threat of being hurt are definitely not included.

[Coach]

Yes and I would also love to leave for Hawaii tomorrow. Doesn't mean I can.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by flambers

With this rule a kid could go from Div 1 Peewee to AA / AAA Bantam never experiencing hitting.... yikes

Whoa, that's a scary thought.

[Jason14h]

Why can't we just have a hitting and non-hitting league, and let parents vote with their wallets where the kids will be playing?

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Why can't we just have a hitting and non-hitting league, and let parents vote with their wallets where the kids will be playing?

This would work in the cities, and I understand these already exist, but in rural communitties, where it can be difficult to put a team together, due to numbers, I think this would make things even more difficult. As for the AAA/AA very few first year players, like 1-2/ team make AAA Bantam, slightly more make AA (7ish) now due to this maybe none make it, no problems for me here.

What I haven't read here, or heard too much about is the fact that Dr's have said tht the 11/12 brain is very suseptible to concussions and takes longer to recover from cuncussions due to it being the prime development ages and very active. I don't think you can argue with science and the studies that have been done. Now if it were up to Dr's Im sure there would be no hitting/ contact in hockey at all, and that is were hockey is headed like it or not.

As for the parents... have you seen some of these "Mom's"? yes we all have. They can't sit and keep their mouths shut for 2 minutes, without yelling at the kids to "hittem" or "gettem". These are the last people whoes opinions should be valued, who cares that they pay ($$$) for it or not.

Some have suggested only having contact at AAA/AA levels and this is what I support, starting at Bantam. These are the kids with the biggest chance of playing hockey beyond the minor system, and need to be conditioned as such. ALso, at these levels going for the "big hit" is not the wisest move and two on ones often lead to goals, contact is more to seperate body from puck and rubbing out as opposed to steam rolling an undersized puck carrier.

But like I said earlier, non contact hockey is essentially where the whole sport is headed, even in the NHL where even now, just about any big hit earns a suspension. Body checking was not put in the game to destroy opposing players, but as a means to deffend, and it has gone way beyond that.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Yes and I would also love to leave for Hawaii tomorrow. Doesn't mean I can.

LOL. What linear logic.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by MattyC

I know there's leagues with contact. I have my reason for not playing. Not good enough and the threat of being hurt are definitely not included.

So do you care to share with us why you are not playing sr. Mens hockey?


I admit that even in my adult prime I was likely no where good enough to play, but I could not wrap my head around playing sr. Mens hockey for a stipend/free sticks etc. I like to show up for work in the morning with all my teeth in my mouth.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Why can't we just have a hitting and non-hitting league, and let parents vote with their wallets where the kids will be playing?

As mentioned previously, this is offered in Calgary, and has been for several years.