[Poll] Hockey Player's Paralysis Puts Focus on Rules: Should They be Tougher?

Will from behind help prevent hockey injuries on the ice?

After two high school players in Minnesota recently suffered severe hockey injuries, the Minnesota State High School Hockey League got the OK from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFSH) to assess automatic five-minute major penalties for checking from behind, boarding and contact to the head, effective earlier this month. The Minnesota Hockey Association, which governs youth and amateur hockey, adopted the same changes effective Jan. 25.

School-based hockey programs in New York State follow the rules as laid out by NFSH, which plans to discuss the issue in March, and most youth and amateur hockey programs, like the , follow guidelines set by USA Hockey, which has no immediate plans to change the rules, according to officials.

to read more about the rule changes.

Both organizations give referees some discretion in whether to assess a minor (two-minute), major (five-minute) or ten-minute misconduct penalty for illegal checking. Last year, USA raised the age when youth players can begin checking—a defensive move designed to separate the player from the puck—from 11 to 13.

For some players, those rules are sufficient.

"I think the rules are fine—how you conduct yourself is really up to the player," said Frazier Bostwick, captain of the ice hockey team. "Coach [Alex] Smith is a great coach, he teaches us smart hockey, and playing within the system, by the rules."

Bostwick said he experienced tough hits—some legal, some not—but said it's a risk he and other players take on the ice. "We think about it, but it doesn’t intimidate us. If you play timidly, you have a greater chance of getting hurt." —so you have to learn the proper way to take hits, too."

Focus on skill development

Smith, who has 30 years of experience on the ice as a coach and player, six of them as John Jay's head coach, said he places emphasis on developing skills, including proper checking.

"For many kids they think the object is the check—but we talk about what happens after, when you separate the man from the puck. We talk about danger zones, how you never want to hit a man facing the boards—and the referees eject kids who do it," he said.

The district has also done a lot to protect players, he said, by purchasing the most protective helmets and mouthguards. And though he couldn't recall any serious injuries in recent years, he said he still holds his breath when a player takes a hit.

Not surprisingly, parents of hockey players interviewed for this story said they would support stronger penalties for checking from behind and boarding.

"I think the penalties could be longer and tracking repeat offenders would help players realize the seriousness of a hit from behind—I sometimes think they don't get the severity of what could happen," said Patti Petrillo, mother of a John Jay hockey player.

Players at varying stages of maturity and skill level makes it more complex, she said—some players are more responsible than others. "It's the hotheads you have to watch out for," she said.

Petrillo said the John Jay players were lucky to have Smith as a coach, because he teaches "smart hockey, not physical hockey—players are always passing, looking around to see what the next best play is."

Fans, role models

Alese Morowitz, another John Jay hockey mom, agreed with Petrillo that this district seemed to play a particularly respectful and safe-as-hockey-can-be game, but problems arise when they play kids from other regions.

"The team here is mature and not out for a fight," she said. "But when we go to other areas, I worry—there are much more aggressive teams in other parts of the state."

Another factor out of the players' control but in the hands of the fans is the reaction to hitting and checking on the ice, and to calls made by referees against infractions—both of which many parents said makes it hard for kids to play responsibly.

"We take our kids to see an NHL game and there is so much fighting during the game, and so much cheering around it," said Morowitz, who bought a hockey "guardian angel" and put it in her son's bag. "It’s hard to drill the message to kids and watch the sport as a family with the hit is so glorified. I’m constantly addressing this with my son."

Petrillo also said that she has been at many games in the Brewster Ice Arena where the kids yell everytime there's a hard hit on the ice—"the violence is almost encouraged—maybe by spirited people who don't know the game, but it's there," she said.

Rich LePrine, principal and hockey dad, said he's observed raucous fans cheering on hits, but noted that it tended to be less-skilled players doing the hard hitting just to get a rise out of the fans.

"There are clean checks that get control of the puck, and that's what players are out there to do," said LePrine, who played hockey since he was a boy and coached the game for six years. "So the focus should be on developing your abilities which you can do better when you are not worrying about being checked from behind."

Paul LaSpina, hockey coach and member of the board of directors of the Bedford Bears said he would support tougher rules as a deterrent to dangerous play, but education of players was also key.

"Accidents happen—just this week I saw a player injured who will now be out of school for a week and out of hockey for the season," he said. "It wasn't an illegal hit that caused it, but we can teach how to take hits as well as how to deliver them. And the message needs to be about good sportsmanship."

Minnesotans are leading the way on the that front. Thousands of playes across the state and across the country have signed "Jack's Pledge," in which players promise to play responsibly, among other things, to "play to win by following the rules," "take the body to take the puck," and not hit to hurt, board, cross-check or check from behind. 

Players, parents and fans can all sign Jack's pledge, said Chris Hickok, father to a player on Jablonski's team and brother to Anne Hanley, a Katonah resident and local hockey mom.

He said that almost immediately after Jablonski's injury, a grassroots organization formed to encourage players to follow the rules and play safe, smart and skillfully. The parent-driven group encouraged hockey authorities to develop harsher penalites for checking from behind, which Hickok said he saw "nearly every single game."

What's your take on the rules? Take our poll below.