Four Sask. players named to Canada world junior hockey championship team
16h ago
Berkly Catton, Brayden Yager, Caden Price and Tanner Howe were all named.
Once again, change is hard in Saskatchewan.
And once again, it’s the hockey world that has to adjust. A few years ago, pee wee hockey removed bodychecking. Reaction was largely in the negative. Many believed with players not ready to check in bantam it would lead to more injuries and players would be missing a key element to the game.
Numbers show that’s not the case.
Now, Hockey Regina and Saskatoon Minor Hockey are removing bodychecking from bantam B and midget B.
Once again, the reaction is largely negative. “Bubble-wrapping kids,” “snowflakes,” you know, the typical buzz words used by those who think kids getting concussions, broken collarbones and other injuries is some sort of coming of age.
The hockey associations believe it will keep players in the game longer, lower injuries, even lower fan misbehaviour and other factors.
In fact there are so many positives for making the change, I’d ask those against the change this: Why is bodychecking more important than keeping kids active, in a team environment and in a far more healthy environment?
Fact is, it isn’t more important.