The head of Hockey Northwestern Ontario says unlike Don Cherry, he’s in complete agreement about a ruling that bans body checking at the Pee Wee level.
Trevor Hosanna, HNO’s general manager, said the Hockey Canada dictate will allow 11- and 12-year-olds to focus on what’s really important at that age.
“They’ll have more time to develop their core skills before learning the skill of body checking,” Hosanna said Tuesday.
“Body contact is still there. Checking is a four-step progression and body checking is the last step in that progression ... That final advanced skill will happen at an older age when the kids are a little more mature.”
Hosanna added there’s no need for younger children to have to deal with checking, especially at an age where growth spurts can happen seemingly overnight.
At the recent Pee Wee AAA All-Ontario Championship held in Thunder Bay, there was a 6-foot-6 player up against a multitude of players standing less than five feet tall.
And, he added, there’s no evidence it slows development at an older age, as representatives in Saskatchewan claimed, the only regional branch to vote against the change.
“Saskatchewan’s thought was that if you start (checking) younger, learn it right away when you start to play the game, then you’ll develop those skills the whole way through,” Hosanna said.
A study between Alberta, where checking began in Pee Wee, and Quebec, where players had to wait until Bantam to level an opponent, showed no marked difference in the types of injuries players were suffering as a result of being hit.
“When the players in Alberta got to Bantam, the injury rates were the same as the players in Quebec. So there was no protective effect by starting checking in Pee Wee. So that was heavily factored in Hockey Canada’s decision.”
Cherry, a Hockey Night in Canada first-intermission staple, known for his Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em videos and his love of old-fashioned, hard-nosed Canadian-style hockey, spoke out loudly this week after the decision was handed down.
To no one’s surprise, the Kingston, Ont., native and former Boston Bruins coach was vehemently against the ruling.
“(Hockey Canada has) good intentions, but the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. You’re going to be sorry. You watch and see, you will be sorry,” Cherry told the nation Saturday night from his Coach’s Corner pulpit.
The decision could have an impact locally, where the Pee Wee Kings play against bantam competition.
Hosanna said the bantam league will have to decide whether to ban checking in games involving the Kings. The other option would be for the Kings to stop playing against older opponents.
Thunder Bay Television attempted to contact the Kings organization several times on Monday, but was unsuccessful.
