Time To Reduce Body-Checking From The Game

from Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post, Authors of a new article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggest a commitment to reducing aggressive body contact in hockey — such as adopting rules to limit bodychecking — would lead to a reduction in injuries on the ice. The lead author, Dr. Michael Cusimano, from the Division of Neurosurgery and the Injury Prevention Research Office, St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto, offers an analogy. “If we had a pill, and we said we could cut down the number of concussions, or the number of instances of this brain sickness or this arm sickness called a fracture — if we could cut that down by tenfold, if you were a parent, you would want to get that for your kid,” he said. “So we know, right now, with these rule changes, that we could do that. But the culture is such that we’re not doing it, so there are kids getting hurt needlessly, when we know what we need to do to diminish [the risk].” The art...