Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “, brought to you by Hal Wright Chevrolet-Cadillac-GMC-Buick on the Sunset Strip in Owen Sound.
The Hockey Canada decision to ban body checking at the Peewee level came down last week and, as expected, was met with both applause and ridicule.
Such is hockey. No way on an issue like this in a sport like hockey will you get a unified response.
You can make a case either way on the pros and cons of this initiative, and I’ll be interested to see the ramifications going forward.
Will it improve the game ? Will it wreck it, as we know it ?
Again, the answer in both cases is ” yes ” ………and ” no “.
The star player who never deals with getting hit until age 13 will get belted in Bantam and will have no background to prepare him for it.
Or the star player will be allowed to enhance his skill level, minus body checking, potentially staying in the game longer. Or maybe he’ll bail at age 13, which I understand is the case now.
I’d like to tell you this is a great initiative, but I can’t. I’d like to tell you this is a misguided move, but I can’t do that either.
Only time and the implementation of this decree will answer the question and even then, I’ll bet you the findings are mixed or inconclusive
I’m Fred Wallace