Stay Classy

We're back into the hockey hullabaloo. Who am I kidding, with Nothing But Net hockey camp over the holidays, we never got out of the hockey hullabaloo. Unfortunately, I start the new year with a heavy hockey heart.

A Minnesota high school hockey player, Jack Jablonski, is giving up the sport he loves. And not by choice. As the result of a hit into the boards, Jack won't play hockey again. My heart goes out to him and his family. Like pretty much every hockey parent, I fear the same thing happening to my kid. I can't imagine the heartbreak the Jablonski's are feeling and the strength they will need moving forward.

The Trophy Mom has written about Jack's tragic situation and links to several other very good articles. She also has started a petition calling upon USA Hockey to strengthen its rules on hits from behind, making it an automatic major penalty and a game suspension.

Jack Blatherwick at Let's Play Hockey recommends eliminating all checking against the boards, with the caveat that if a player establishes proper body position first, they can ride an opponent into the boards. (Bottom line: no hits from behind.) He sees this as a way to cut back on the physical intimidation associated with the game and to increase players' reliance of true hockey skill.

When I read USA Hockey's rules on hits into the boards, they seem fairly reasonable, with the assumption that we're all playing nicely in the sandbox. And that's where the problem lies...we're not. Mr. Blatherwick contends that the incentive to win drives bad behavior, going so far as to say, "...and in hockey more than other sport, this means cheating and physical intimidation." This to me is a bit of an overreaction, but I do see what he's saying.

Even on the Kid's house mite hockey team I've seen parents get too...er...feisty. Mostly everyone's laid back and having fun but still, you have a few overzealous parents in every crowd, including the dad who once yelled, "Take the man, Jason!" Take the man? What man? Reminder: these are 7-8 year old boys and girls. How about "Nice pass!" Or "Awesome skating!"

When parents yell at coaches, their kids assume that's acceptable behavior. When coaches yell at officials, young players assume that's an appropriate part of the game. When a hard hit on a fellow child gets Dad to cheer and say, "Yeah! You nailed him! Way to go buddy!" that leads to future dangerous behavior.

Stay classy grown ups. It makes a difference.

Official rules changes are tough, though not impossible to achieve. What I find particularly frustrating is that we have a society that needs a rule book to achieve a basic level of civility in sports. USA Hockey has rules on sportsmanship. The Kid's hockey program, the Montgomery Youth Hockey Association, has rules on sportsmanship. Because apparently we need words on paper to get people to observe common-sense courtesy and cooperation.

Youth hockey players don't start out with angry attitudes and reckless play that paralyzes, literally, their friends. They learn that aggressiveness from adults. 

I'm very supportive of any discussion of rules changes that can make youth hockey more about hockey skill than unnecessary violence. And I applaud steps to improve player safety while protecting the integrity of the game. (It's a contact sport, I get that, but I'm a mom.) Luckily, we can take steps to decrease aggressive behavior on and off the ice, without new rules.

If you want to see more heartwrenching stories like Jack Jablonki's keep being an overzealous asshat. Or model sportsmanlike behavior for your youth athlete so everyone learns to stay classy.