Free Moron by Todd Millar

to remember, especially at the Atom and Peewee level, it’s just a game, and it’s about children developing skills, talents, and relationships. If we can remember that, our kids will win after every game, regardless of the tally of “wins” and “losses.”

Chapter Five
    THE RULES
    T he rules of minor hockey have evolved over time. Hockey Canada has been very conscientious of continually improving the game from a participant level as well as from a spectator level with respect to speed and excitement. For example, it used to be that the game was much more of a clutch-and-grab game – where people would grab onto you while you were skating by them. That started to be called “hooking” and was outlawed. Years ago, a stop sign was placed on the back of every minor hockey player’s jersey, and rule emphasis was placed on not hitting players from behind.
    Recently, Hockey Canada has started to make several changes with regard to safety. One of those changes is that they have put in place a head contact rule. Previous to this rule change, players would receive a two-minute minor penalty, and a ten-minute misconduct penalty. At face value, that sounds significant – and it was. The real problem was that on-ice officials weren’t necessarily calling the penalty, because of how such an infraction could influence one player by taking him out of the game for ten minutes. What ended up happening is that, as a result, the hit-to-the-head call was not being called as often as it should have been. Two years ago, any direct contact to the helmet (or head) instead became a four-minute minor penalty, and accidental contact to the head was a two-minute minor penalty. If there was an injury as a result, the official could increase that to a major penalty. That rule has had more success than any single change in the last decade. The head is not in play. Great job, Hockey Canada!
    Everything is in place to have a tremendously successful organization, and for children to have a fantastic and safe experience inside of minor hockey. But, at the end of the day, people have to follow and abide by the policies for the rules to function.
    Ultimately, minor hockey is not about the rules – it’s about the kids having fun, learning life and leadership skills, and learning to exercise and socialize. But without proper rules and enforcement of those rules, the kids won’t have a safe environment to have fun within.
    One example of a situation (where rules are necessary in order to keep the “fun” in hockey for kids) is in the regulation of so-called “elite” category. The idea behind this age category is to assemble Peewee, Bantam, and Midget athletes who are presumably the “best.” These children would arguably have the greatest chance to advance to amateur JR, post-secondary school careers, or even professional status.
    An old practice in this category used to be to have a recruitment plan where you could invite certain excellent young players to a team and “stack the team.” Certain coaches would geographically move elite young athletes to their area. They would go and “recruit” young children to play for their particular community center so that they would have the best team. As a result of this practice, hockey Boards have had to develop rules that tell you when you can and cannot play in a particular community. Remember, this is minor hockey, and no Stanley Cup is on the line here. This is all just about children playing a game. But many adults take this way too seriously, to the detriment of their children.
    I had many parents come in to me and ask if their child could move to a particular team, but that was simply not our policy. But, come hell or high water, those parents are going to find a way to move their child from one community to another. In several cases, people have even gone and purchased another house and claimed it to be their primary residence, so that their son could register for a certain hockey team.