Update: Poll, Comments Reveal Thoughts on Jablonski Injury and Body Checking in High School Boys Hockey

Update Monday: 

As of Monday morning, a clear majority of Roseville Patch readers taking our poll said that body-checking should not be allowed in high school boys hockey.

Of 88 votes cast (the poll is not scientific), 29 percent said that body-checking should be allowed while 65 percent said that body-checking should not be allowed. Four percent of those voting so far said they were undecided.

What do you think? Cast your vote and join the discussion telling us in the comments what you are thinking and why.

The debate continues on the latest news that a St. Croix Lutheran girls hockey player was injured Friday night after she was body-checked.

Friday: The severe injury suffered by hockey player Jack Jablonski has the Minnesota hockey community taking a closer look at the role of body-checking in the sport.

Jablonski, a 16-year-old sophomore, was checked from behind and into the boards during a junior varsity game on Dec. 30 against Wayzata. The hit left Jablonski paralyzed. He had surgery on Wednesday at the Hennepin County Medical Center, and though family members said it was a "success," the prognosis is that Jablonski .

The news of Jablonski's injury has shaken the Twin Cities hockey community including Jeff Pauletti, head coach of the Roseville High School boys hockey team.

"I feel horrible for Jack Jablonski and his family and the kids from Wayzata," Pauletti said, adding the Jablonski incident is "life-altering" for many people. "It couldn't be any worse."

On Tuesday, the Minnesota State High School League sent a memo to all hockey coaches, referees and league officials, reiterating the dangers of checking from behind, which is illegal.

“For nearly a decade the MSHSL has identified the reduction and removal of checking from behind as a major point of emphasis for coaches, officials and hockey players,” the memo read in part. “High school coaches, officials and student-athletes all have an essential and continuing role in helping to remove this type of contact from games and practices.”

Coaches were also encouraged to remind their players daily to not check from behind. In Minnesota high school hockey, checking from behind draws either a 10-minute penalty or a game disqualification, depending on the severity of the hit. The Wayzata player who checked Jablonski on Friday was disqualified from that game.

General body-checking, however, is legal in Minnesota boys high school hockey. Craig Perry, the associate director of boys hockey for the MSHSL, said checking and contact rules are reviewed on an annual basis, first by the state Coaches Advisory Committee, then by the National Federation of High Schools. State coaches are meeting for this purpose next week, with the national federation meeting in the spring.

Minnesota girls high school hockey already bans checking entirely, and there has been some movement away from checking in the USA Hockey youth ranks. The USA Hockey governing board has bumped the legal checking age from 12-and-under (Pee Wee) to 14-and-under (Bantam).

Until now, Pauletti said he didn't favor any rule changes for body checking at the high school level.  But given recent online training regarding concussions and now the Jablonski incident, Pauletti said that steps to toughen penalties for body checking might be in order.

Pauletti noted that he discussed the Jablonski incident with his hockey team earlier this week. "You have to get the kids thinking about the situation a little bit more," he said. "No one ever wants to see what happened to Jack happen again."