Divided youth hockey community has to do better job teaching — and protecting — its players
Checking an opponent from behind, whether intentional or accidental, is illegal at all levels of boys' and men's ice hockey. In the youngest age groups where all checking is prohibited, players wear little "Stop" signs on the backs of their jerseys to reinforce the point. And at the checking levels, players who crunch a defenseless opponent in the back can be penalized and ejected from games…medical director Dr. Michael Stuart — an orthopedic surgeon based at the Mayo Clinic whose son Mark plays for the Winnipeg Jets — said kids that young aren't mentally equipped to stickhandle and simultaneously protect themselves from a body check.
MinnPost, by Pat Borzi, 1/10/2012
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