No Hitting-Pee Wee Hockey

[fishinhogdaddy]

I find it interesting and somewhat shocking that the Hockey Canada has now gone to no hitting for the younger players. As a coach and referee of over 35 years I believe the change in culture at the NHL level and the lack of RESPECT the players of all ages have for their fellow players as well as the complete body armor these players wear is setting the younger ones up for a bad fall. One can plainly see that with the way they make equipment now that is supposed to protect the player wearing it, pads are not for protecting the player, rather they are used as weapons to hurt others. I'm all for protection as far as equipment goes. But, the youngsters have a sense of being "indestructible" as the hard layers of various pads they are wearing seem to provide a false sense of confidence and security.

 

Coaching; where a player is supposed to be taught the proper way to play the game, has fallen by the wayside in the instruction of protecting oneself and respecting others. It's just a game! And not a game "to win at all costs". Back in the day, if you turned your back while going into the corner without "having your head on a swivel" to protect YOURSELF from those who would lick their chops at pasteing you to the boards, that was your problem. Now, little thought or instruction is relayed to these players, starting at a young age that the various hard layers of body armor will not protect you from a broken neck if you are not aware of others approaching. Especially from behind.

 

If players were coached and versed properly, at an early age to have RESPECT on the ice, I believe the game would be better for it. Good passes, shots and teamplay are what the game is all about. In my mind anyway.

Just my rant, but that's it.

FHD

[matt1984]

I feel bad for the kids that will be starting pee-wee next season with no hitting. When they reach bantam they will be playing against some kids that will potentially be in their 4th year of hitting. I bet the injuries seen then will be worse than what they are seeing now in Pee-Wee.

[monger]

Great post FHD. Couldn't agree more. Hockey is a great game, it shouldn't be about looking for opportunities to hurt someone else or to "win anyway you can". It seems so many positives available from the game are being lost to a culture that wants to exalt self. If you have to win by cheating or by "taking out" the other teams stars, how much real value is there in the victory? The lack of respect you speak of is spreading across the land like a plague. Hitting is part of the game, its too bad the "intent to injure" part is growing so common.

[fishinhogdaddy]

What I have done if the opposing team had a "star" player, I would instruct my best skater to "stick with him and to go where he goes". This almost always results in the "star player" getting pissed because he has no room and has never been "glued" to someone else and gets frustrated and takes penalties. No need to "run him" especially while we are on numerous power-plays as a result of frustration.

Coaching.....sometimes the easiest way is to let the other team help you out a bit.

FHD

[bhurt]

If you ask me I think this is a awsome idea at that age the players should be working on skills such as puck handling, skating, shooting etc... I belive that hitting should be allowed at a older age as the players are more mature. Are we teaching our kids a game of skill or are we teaching them a game on hard hitting goons? Now I am not saying every player out there is a goon but you diffently see alot of them out in minor hockey.

 

Now we talk about equipement and that it is there to protect you, other then wearing a full suit of armour there will always be injuries, that is why skills and fundelementals should be taught first before anything else, A skilled player will skate circles around a hard hitting goon any day, but if your taught to hit first then what happens to the skills down the road?

 

As for the coaching anyone who has ever coached or ref ( I coached minor football for 13 years) knows that finding quaility coaches is probably one of the hardest things, as from my experince there are coaches out there that are not there for the players but for their own ego's and will do whatever it takes to wins. Also finding quaility coaches is a hard thing cause of the *hit and abuse parents give to either coaches or refs, this is the main reason I got out of coaching football, most coaches do not get paied for what they do and they do it for either the love of the game or in my case wanting to impart the knoweldge I have to the younger generation.

 

All in all this is about the safty of the younger kids and nothing else, to try and say anything else is just stupid.

[ÜberFly]

The other point is at pee wee, the kids aren't equal as far as size! Some kids have started their growth spirt, others haven't yet... So they are not playing (hitting) on a level playing field (rink).

 

Just my thoughts.

 

P

[bhurt]

Peter,

 

I tend to disagree, some of the smallest players I have ever coached are some of the best hitters as they have to have skill inorder to hit where on the flip size the bigger players think that they can run over people. I will always take a small skilled hitter over a big unskilled player.

 

At the end of the day it comes down to who is more skilled and technical fundelmentals.

 

Skilled hitters are very important in football (not to sure in hockey) because if you hit wrong in football you can seriously injure yourself (And I am speaking from experince as a player I still get headaches from the concussions I took as a player). I like to think it is the same for hockey but I do not know.

[ÜberFly]

Brad, I remember when I played Pee Wee (albeit not at the highest level) back in the '80s kids were still developing their (basic) skills and it was totally awkward so adding hitting to the mix was WAYYYYYY too much for them to comprehend when the basics were more then enough... Bantum is a much more appropriate level to intagrate hitting IMHO.

[Dangler]

I was against the PeeWee checking ban since it was first proposed in Calgary. I have since changed my mind.My son is now playing Midget and I have coached his teams for the last 5 years. It is my opinion that 11 - 14 year old boys have no clue what they are doing when they are on the ice. I don't believe that any amount of education at home, in practice or during games will eliminate the risk or even reduce it dramatically. I have seen too many kids so intent on hitting they ignore the game completely. Most of these kids never learn how to play the game and quit when they get to Midget.

 

My biggest concern is the split that is appearing between Rec hockey and Community hockey. Rec hockey is siphoning players from their community associations; their enrollment is growing and community hockey is decreasing. The main benefit of Community hockey is that players can play with others of the same ability level. This may still be true at Div 1, 2, and 3 but is destroying the less skilled divisions.

[Vagabond]

 

 

 

The other point is at pee wee, the kids aren't equal as far as size! Some kids have started their growth spirt, others haven't yet... So they are not playing (hitting) on a level playing field (rink).

 

Just my thoughts.

 

P

I think the size difference from one extreme(tiny kids) to the other(huge kids)might be more significant in Bantam?At the peewee level,you get the odd kid that is quite big,but I think they are more close to being "near" the same size?In Bantam though,you'll get kids that havent yet hit their growth spurt being thrown to the wolves so to speak with essentially grown young men in some cases,and the extreme between smallest to biggest kid on the ice can be substantial.I think the hitting should be kept in peewee,at least at the elite levels?Maybe not in house leagues or "B' level where they havent even mastered the fundamentals and some can barely skkate let alone hit,but at the "A",2A,3A etc....I'd rather see them learn how to protect themselves against 100lb peers at that age then throwing a 90lb kid onto the ice with 160lb,14years young men in Bantam and have them get clobbered?

Tough call as to when is the "right time"....but they gotta learn sometime?

[mapleleafman3]

No hitting Peewee hockey. Why not just make hitting illegal at every age. Maybe the coaches need to coach not just be a dad of a player on the team. Teach these kids at a young age to properly check and take a check. The older the kids get the bigger they are and the changes of injury are greater becasue they don't know how to check. It's a no brainer keep checking at Peewee.