Why isn't checking allowed in women's hockey?

[sandysan]

Because women and girls don't want it. It's actually very simple. In all my years of serving on youth boards, I can say without hesitation that at no time has any girl or parent of girl come to me and say "I wish the girls would start checking". Never. Not once.

then when it gets dropped from the olympics and there are even fewer opportunities for women to play, I guess that's their bed.

 

[CorwiN]

Hockey is designed to be a contact sport, regardless of sex. Those women who state there's more skill involved with no contact are simply playing the politically correct card. There's absolutely no legit reason to keep it out of the game.

Well, it's probably in the best personal interests of most female hockey players to be anti-checking. A lot of them would probably be overtaken within a short amount of time by girls who were taught to have checking in the game from a younger age.

It's just self-preservation. They're at the top, and they don't want anything to change that.

 

[kasps]

Canada and the Americans would devastate European teams, it would end Women's hockey at the international level. There is also a art to hitting , it would also be clumsy and dangerous as well. Could you imagine Canada playing the much smaller swiss with hitting. Their would be at least 5 swiss players carted off. Worry about getting 6 strong women teams that can play with Canada and the Americans first .

 

[MuckOG]

then when it gets dropped from the olympics and there are even fewer opportunities for women to play, I guess that's their bed.

The lack of checking is not why it would get dropped.

 

[sandysan]

The lack of checking is not why it would get dropped.

no the lack of parity is what will, and as has been pointed out before if you could get less talented teams to buy into a more team oriented game with physicality then I think the disparity between the haves (usa and canada) and the have nots ( currently everyone else) does decrease. will teams continue to get blown out ? Sure. will every game be a blowout or will we see some teams that are clearly not as talented hang around for a while ?

Having the women's game defined by one matchup ( usa-canada) and everything else looks like the globetrotters vs the washington generals is not going to increase the appeal of the women's game.

I'm not saying that checking will bring in more eyes by itself, but it is a short term way to quickly attempt to make a more level playing field. how long can women's hockey be some iteration of canada/us/someone else ? If the idea is that we go through another 10 olympics hoping someone gets good enought to slide into position three, my guess is that the olympics treats hockey like baseball and how they tried to treat wrestling and simply passes.

 

[Classicnamesup]

Well the Swiss were allowed to hit and the Canadians weren't and it kept the team tight.

Maybe they should look at that to tighten up the games and alleviate NA dominance

 

[Classicnamesup]

Well the Swiss were allowed to hit and the Canadians weren't and it kept the gametight.

Maybe they should look at that to tighten up the games and alleviate NA dominance

Oops

 

[Hoople]

Its just one of those things that will always separate men from women in athletic competition because of significant physical differences.

Look at the difference in the length between bases in softball and baseball.

With regard to hockey, its not the lack of hitting that separates the elite teams from the pushovers. Its money. North American teams have more funding and a base of college hockey to develop players.

Not so much in Europe.

I like the women's game. It is pure speed and skill. No problems if they do not change that. I can get the enjoyment of watching the hits (and fights in the NHL) and physicality when the men play.

 

[kasps]

The one hit canada did throw, knocked out a swiss player.

 

[DyerMaker66*]

Why didn't she just continue playing with the boys then? There's no rule that says girls have to switch over at 15...at least no rule in Minnesota that says as such.

There's not, but she made the switch because our association closed. Basically everyone dispersed to other arenas in Hamilton, and almost none of us were on the same teams.

I'm just pointing out one person's experiences: They made the switch from House league (which is "non-contact") to women's and enjoyed the roughness of the men's more than the women's. She didn't feel challenged.

 

[Mayor Bee]

[deleted]

 

[CorwiN]

This is exactly the same argument that was used by the other participants in the 1990 Women's Championship to permit checking. Instead, they were annihilated.

Link from Wikipedia

So you're saying that the massively inferior European squads were annihilated by the massively superior North American teams in an event with checking?

And this is somehow different from every single other event, and has some kind of relevance to what North American girls could do if they were allowed to play with checking from a young age?

Yeah, absolutely not relevant in the slightest.

Edit: Further, the TSN article claims that there's a debate as to whether checking actually happened in that tournament, and the only source the Wikipedia article gives in favor of that happening is a "Complete Idiot's Guide to Canadian Sports History and Trivia."

I don't claim to be an expert on women's hockey, and I know TSN has its problems, but it's certainly a better source than a wikipedia article citing a trivia book.

 

[Bionda]

I mean the men's tournament isn't filled with devastating checks but its got enough physicality but why isn't it aloud at all in women's hockey. As an outsider it just seems ridiculous

I have no idea. There's no body-checking in Women's lacrosse (or pads). However, tackling is allowed in Women's rugby. Seems like a chauvinist way of thinking--> women are frail and small, they should play like 'proper' ladies etc..

Or is the no-checking policy reinforced by the disparity in size between the NA teams and the rest of the field.

It don't make no sense!

 

[PlietscherDassel]

Its just one of those things that will always separate men from women in athletic competition because of significant physical differences.

Thats actually what some (female) players from team Germany said in an interview a couple of days ago.
Some of them even play on male teams in Germany, mostly the goaltenders, but one of the girls not playing in goal that competes against men said that she prefers to play with hits but but its not for everyone and she thinks that because of physical differences it wouldn't be a good idea to change the rules regarding hits in women's hockey.
Not my opinion just passing on what some female hockey players answered to that question.

Off topic: The above mentioned goalies mentioned that for them it is easier to play against men because their hard shots are not as unpredictable as those soft shots from women.

 

[kasps]

Thats actually what some (female) players from team Germany said in an interview a couple of days ago.
Some of them even play on male teams in Germany, mostly the goaltenders, but one of the girls not playing in goal that competes against men said that she prefers to play with hits but but its not for everyone and she thinks that because of physical differences it wouldn't be a good idea to change the rules regarding hits in women's hockey.
Not my opinion just passing on what some female hockey players answered to that question.

Off topic: The above mentioned goalies mentioned that for them it is easier to play against men because their hard shots are not as unpredictable as those soft shots from women.

I,m going to guess she hasn't seen shea Weber shoot the puck !

 

[DyerMaker66*]

I've always wondered why there hasn't been a woman goaltender stay in the NHL.

 

[Jacob]

I find it hard to believe that the biggest, strongest Canadian female hitting the smallest Swiss or Japanese player is any different than Chara vs. the 13th forward on Slovenia or Latvia.

That's why there are referees and rules, to protect the athletes. And if you're that physically dominant then there's the matter of having some respect for your opponent.

 

[nystromshairstylist]

The lack of checking is not why it would get dropped.

This is one of the less thoughtful threads I've seen here. Do people want to see women getting carted off with broken collar bones and concussions each game? A 5-5 135 lb girl might have a tough attitude, but her bone/muscle structure is nowhere as dense as a man's, and they can be injured so much more easily - even by getting hit by another woman her own size. Why someone believed this question needed to be asked is hard to understand

 

[Oxim Oresi]

I don't think checking is a particularly central part of ice hockey. The question can also be asked the other way around. Why is it allowed in the men's tournament?

 

[nystromshairstylist]

Having the women's game defined by one matchup ( usa-canada) and everything else looks like the globetrotters vs the washington generals is not going to increase the appeal of the women's game.

I'm not saying that checking will bring in more eyes by itself, but it is a short term way to quickly attempt to make a more level playing field. how long can women's hockey be some iteration of canada/us/someone else ? If the idea is that we go through another 10 olympics hoping someone gets good enought to slide into position three, my guess is that the olympics treats hockey like baseball and how they tried to treat wrestling and simply passes.

Can people do a bit of research before posting? I realize that this is not the Harvard / Princeton debate forum, but really?

Canada won the first 6 out of 7 gold medals, the USSR won 7 out of 9 from 1956 forward; did these decade-long runs stop the sport from being played in the Olympics?

Eventually, other countries will catch up, and in a decade or so there might be a lot of griping about how Japan or some other current weak power is owning the Olympics...

 

[kasps]

I've always wondered why there hasn't been a woman goaltender stay in the NHL.

Not good enough , plain and simple. Canada plays against 16 year old boys and get lit up. the jump to the NHL from there is impossible.

 

[Luc Gretzky]

Ummm... Isn't part of it because of, well... Boobs?

It's a sensitive body part that would need to be protected differently than mens chests if women were allowed to check. While maybe not exactly a perfect comparison, guys wear a cup for a reason. As others have said, there is a bone density difference on average between men and women that would need to be factored in.

Flame away and call me a chauvinistic sexist for noting biological differences in men and women.

 

[kasps]

Can people do a bit of research before posting? I realize that this is not the Harvard / Princeton debate forum, but really?

Canada won the first 6 out of 7 gold medals, the USSR won 7 out of 9 from 1956 forward; did these decade-long runs stop the sport from being played in the Olympics?

Eventually, other countries will catch up, and in a decade or so there might be a lot of griping about how Japan or some other current weak power is owning the Olympics...

You forget the Russians were not winning those championships against the best. The NHL was not involved and the Russians were beating up on second rate teams. The Women's has the absolute best from every nation and it's been one sided. hopefully Finland ,Sweden and the swiss can close the gap .

 

[Hoople]

I find it hard to believe that the biggest, strongest Canadian female hitting the smallest Swiss or Japanese player is any different than Chara vs. the 13th forward on Slovenia or Latvia.

That's why there are referees and rules, to protect the athletes. And if you're that physically dominant then there's the matter of having some respect for your opponent.

It appears that in the current Olympics that relying on the refs to take control of games would be asking too much. They have let a lot go in both the women's and men's games.

We will see hitting when the US plays Canada for the Gold.

 

[sandysan]

Can people do a bit of research before posting? I realize that this is not the Harvard / Princeton debate forum, but really?

Canada won the first 6 out of 7 gold medals, the USSR won 7 out of 9 from 1956 forward; did these decade-long runs stop the sport from being played in the Olympics?

Eventually, other countries will catch up, and in a decade or so there might be a lot of griping about how Japan or some other current weak power is owning the Olympics...

The men had a place to play professionally in the 4 year interim. the women don't. if they did, my guess is that it would largely be populated by american and canadian women which would further the disparity at the international level.

if the olympics let the globetrotters play the washington generals for 40 years, would you watch ?