How The COVID-19 Pandemic Could Affect How Hockey Is Played, Permanently
Keaghan Keddy
Toolbox Journalism
November 23, 2020
The End of Hitting in Hockey
Nine months after the stoppage of all major sporting leagues in Canada, the CHL is slowly returning to play. As the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has already started, the Western and Ontario Hockey Leagues await their start dates in December and January, respectively. The COVID-19 cases grow with no sign of slowing down all across Canada, which plays a large role in the return to play of those two leagues. Therefore, one shocking change has been announced for the OHL by Minister of Sport Lisa MacLeod. “…limited contact, so it would only be incidental contact, not checking…” The reason for this, in Ontario alone, 14,000 new confirmed cases were announced on November 15. With the added stress of travel and close contact the OHL teams present, a decision was made to limit the body contact within the league to help prevent the spread of the dangerous and contagious virus. Julian Vander Voet of the Saint John Sea Dogs voices his opinion on the decision made by MacLeod.
“For example, myself, I’ve based my whole existence in this game off being a physical presence, and being a good defensive player, which is part of the physical game of hockey…a lot of us have worked our entire lives to play these roles, and do these things, and when you take that away, that’s a lot of players you’re leaving without jobs almost. For me, I don’t see hockey without the physical part of it because its just been part of the game since I was twelve years old.”
Another reason why hitting will potentially be taken out is because of those twelve-year-old’s, and their injuries they sustain while playing hockey. Before the CHL, there ae minor leagues across Canada that allow hitting because it is an integral part of the sport and prepares the players for the next level of play. Yet every year, severe injuries are being caused by checks to the back of the head, and when players are in a vulnerable state against the boards.
A two-year study was conducted by the University of Calgary on hitting in bantam leagues, which are players aged 13-14. The focus is on leagues in Alberta and British Columbia with 1000 players. The study found that in leagues that didn’t allow hitting, there were 60% fewer injuries, and of that 60%, 50% were concussion related injuries. A scary thought to parents with kids who have concussions at such a young age. When the hitting reduces, or even halts, players like Julian are at risk of getting backlisted by the hockey world.
“(Hockey) still has that entertainment value of the danger, and that is part of the game , and I think it is a bit late for players like myself to change that when we’re 19, 20 years old, when that’s how we’ve been playing our whole life…”
A study by Dr. Stephen McGregor in conjunction with USA Hockey shows that on average there are 17.5 impacts per game per player, with 72% of those impacts involving another player. The astounding fact is that those collisions last only 0.098 seconds. Per game, that is 1.23 seconds for one player. The article by SPORSTNET.ca has the quote that reads
“Even though bodychecking, per McGregor’s findings, can be ruled low-risk, in terms of spread, other parts of the game – crowded benches and busy locker rooms, for example, have been among issues of much contemplation across all indoor sports, and will likely continue to be.”
Perhaps it is not the checks at all. It could be the locker room, the bench, or even the penalty box that creates problems with the spreading of the virus. Although, one thing is certain, there are changes that have been implemented, and changes to come with a hockey world conflicted with COVID-19. This has been Keaghan Keddy for STU Journalism.
