Lack of physicality in the CHL this year

[sawchuk1971]

I've noticed watching some CHL games during this weekend and saw a lack of body checks..

I'm wondering it has to do with delaying body checking at a later age.

This article, below, explained the debate of delaying body checking in later ages..

Is Delaying Body Contact in Youth Hockey a Safer Option? - Strength | Recovery | Performance

The debate over delaying body contact is likely to continue for some time, as both sides make valid points. Ultimately, it is up to individual leagues and organizations to determine what is best for their players.

rsfperformance.ca

Click to read more...

 

[North Cole]

It's an interesting conundrum that doesn't seem to have a right answer, as both sides offer valid arguments.

Young kids don't need to be out there taking runs at each other, but if the CHL level truly is seeing reduced physicality then there probably is merit to idea players are going to have higher potential for injury at the upper levels as adults.

This could be the beginning of seeing even more reduced physicality at the NHL level over the next 30 years as these generations matriculate. I'd actually be less worried about players being injured due to not knowing how to take a hit though. There's always going to be guys floating across the tracks with their head down, maybe you'd see a few more if they grow up not ever getting hit by a train; however, on balance, I'd actually be more worried about injuries due to players not knowing how to throw hits. Guys making the NHL and feeling like they have this new found power of being able to skate fast and hit, but not having years practicing approach angles, board gaps, not jumping into hits, not using elbows, etc.

I don't mind seeing big clean hits but as I get older I find myself feeling a lot more cringe than excitement when someone is in a heap on the ice with drool coming out of their mouth. Clean or not. I don't think less hitting is a bad thing, especially as technology and training increases speeds, but I bet there will be a bit of an ugly transition period where untrained hitters run all over the place. Given where we are with a sham DOPS, I don't feel like the league is well equipped to handle this.

 

[Sanderson]

I've noticed watching some CHL games during this weekend and saw a lack of body checks..

I'm wondering it has to do with delaying body checking at a later age.

This article, below, explained the debate of delaying body checking in later ages..

Is Delaying Body Contact in Youth Hockey a Safer Option? - Strength | Recovery | Performance

The debate over delaying body contact is likely to continue for some time, as both sides make valid points. Ultimately, it is up to individual leagues and organizations to determine what is best for their players.

rsfperformance.ca

Not sure how that could possibly be connected, seeing how moving the age limit happened too short a time ago to influence the current stock of CHL-players.

Or maybe that's just the article getting its numbers mixed up, as it talks about the age for having body contact having been moved to U13 in the 90s, and then that U11 was barred from checking in 2019, which doesn't make any sense really, as the former would already have barred U11 players from contact for about 30 years.

 

[hockeykid87]

I'm out West and watch a lot of WHL games. I can't say I've noticed a reduction in body checking.