Right, might as well lock your kid in a padded room so nothing can ever happen to them. In my opinion, over protection of kids is child abuse as well. Life is for living, not cowering in a corner afraid of everything.

Hockey is in decline because of the cost, nothing more, nothing less. I should know, I estimate I spent about 50k in the 12 years my son played. Parents just can't afford it right now and coaches get too crazy with the travel. To say it has anything to do with the hitting sounds like it comes from an overbearing mom who is afraid little Timmy doesn't have the sack to compete. $800 sounds a lot better for bills than for a pair of skates, and $200 a stick when they break 4 or 5 a year starts to add up.

I didn't recommend it but I let my son play high school football because he wanted to even with the warning about injuries that could plague him the rest of his life.

I enthusiastically second the opinion that this guy is an idiot. I can only begin to imagine what he thinks of tree houses, bicycles, mini bikes, go karts, roller coasters, swimming in the ocean, climbing on anything, dog pile, king of the hill, running. . . basically anything fun for a kid. Everything has risk. What an a**hole.

Concussions across all sports are still being studied and no one knows the true long term impacts yet. Some studies are showing that kids can potentially suffer more concussions during sports than their adult counterparts. It's counterintuitive but, even though they don't get hit so hard by their opponents as adults do, their weaker neck muscles don't support their head as well (similar reaction as a bobble-head). VA Tech has done studies using youth football helmets equiped with multiple impact sensors that provide the supporting data. I'm sure they aren't they only university doing so.

Child abuse? Far from it! I have coached hockey for several years and my son has played for over fifteen years! The name of the game is teamwork, not headhunting! Hockey players have most protective equipment than any other sport. Dr. Kaplan, if you want to have a field day for your next child abuse report, go after video gaming industry! Now that's abuse!

I am not sure about the stats since it can be twisted in any which way you want. However, to compare climbing a tree or riding a bike to contact sport is lame. A closer comparison could be if and when you let your kid to slam his head against the tree for sport. This "wuss" argument is far worse, you are presuming that kids that play other sports are not as tough or tougher.

Look to make the sport safer without making it uninteresting. "Wuss" kids may in fact be more independent than a vegetable later in their life.

What next - no bicycles because your delicate little china pieces could fall off - or worse - get their new jeans caught in the chain?? Give me a break you spineless piece of fecal matter...You're all that is wrong with raising kids today. These sports are great for kids - the $$ cost of playing them isn't. Still, kids today could be doing much worse...and many of them are.

I'd love to play against this doofus on the ice and plant him into the glass for being such a big pussah.

As a youth coach, player, and on ice official, for anyone to suggest youth hockey is any more dangerous than any other contact sport is ridiculous at best. Kids get hurt in soccer from collisions. Kids get hurt in football. Kids get hurt in baseball. Kids get hurt at practically anything you want to throw out there.

Arthur, you're an idiot.

I think the real point here is that kids have been playing youth hockey for years. The human race has survived.

This reminds me of that story saying kids were going to die from salmonella because the refrigerators where they kept their lunch at school weren't cold enough. Kids have been doing that forever, everyone's still alive.

This author brings up a good point and is not an idiot. Just because you disagree doesn't make him an idiot. In my town it now seems like everyone is getting a concussion, but there is risk of concussions in any contact sport. It doesn't seem like people are just getting concussions from hockey and football. I've seen concussions from pole vaulting, field hockey, and baseball.

J in Ohio, I agree 100%, I have had 2 sons who played since they were 5, yes the cost was high, but the experience and discipline they learned was worth it. Now in college, one still plays and serious injuries or concussions, none.

Typically a "can't see the forest for the trees" opinion from someone who chooses to only consider one aspect of the problem. My son participated in youth hockey from beginner to prep high school hockey. These kids are protected from head to toe like no other sport. Most of the injuries that I saw were due to ill fitting or substandard equipment purchases by parents trying to save some money in an admittedly expensive youth sport. I have seen knee caps split because the parent tried to get another year out of way too small knee/shin pads or concussions caused by taking the foam out of a helmet because they didnt want to buy a larger one for the season.

When played as a teamwork sport, it is a fantastic experience for the youths. It is when the coaches turn to encouraging aggression when skills are below par is when injuries increase. Parents yelling encouragement for their kid to slam or hurt the opponent is common. My son participated in youth hockey without any injury except for a sprain or bruise occasionally. His only major sport injury was a concussion caused by a baseball thrown at his head in a little league game.

I contend that youth hockey players experience fewer and less sever injuries than those playing soccer, basketball, la cross and football.

I

I'm definitely against over protecting children against every bump and bruise out there. Heck, mine takes karate and is currently competing in a tournament as I type this. It builds character, teaches them team building, keeps them in shape and helps toughen them up for what is awaiting them in adulthood.

However, when you're talking about multiple concussions, this is where the brain is involved. If I got my biology correct, that's kind of an important organ. We're not talking bumps, bruises and the occasional bloody nose here.

I'm not saying that I would never let my kid play hockey but in a league where the coaches wants to turn the rink into a war zone, there is a line in the sand between sport a "win at all cost" mentality.

Even back in the prehistoric days when I was coming up and playing sports and PR wasn't even discovered yet, we still had rules of sportsman-like conduct we were expected to follow.

Another martial arts mom here weighing in and I agree with Carolyn G. My boys are now adults and have no headaches or other negative symptoms. If anything their academic performance was improved due to the self discipline and physical activity. The major consideration is that you not just dump your kid off and hope the coach / instructor is doing what you want.

If we do not let and even encourage our kids to play sports what do they do? Video games. Tell me how some fat pimple faced kid (resulting from eating junk food and sitting all day) is emotionally better off. Then add the fact video games stimulate the mind but do nothing for the body. Inevitably kids are better behaved and more focused when they run off their excess energy instead of building up stress hormones fighting pretend monster / soldiers while glued to a video game screen. In addition, I think the cause and effect lessons learned in contact sports are far more useful that the consequenceless violence of video games.

Yup, looks to me like the kids are playing the game like the adults. They, too, get into fights and injure each other.

@mycorner :

A closer comparison could be if and when you let your kid to slam his head against the tree for sport.

I couldn't agree with you more - I grew up in a hockey state, from 1-12th grade I had more concussions from downhill skiing (once directly into a tree) than any of the boys playing hockey - some even went pro. I was a great skier but small, an idiot who couldn't handle the ice and was going to fast smashed into me and skied over my head (concussion #2)....(hitting the tree was because I was busy talking to my friend and not looking where I was going).

I also worked at the local ice rink, I never had to call an ambulance for the pee wee's or anyone 18 and under, it was the 35 year old guys that played every Sunday - for them I kept an ambulance on standby (not joking) - not for concussions but breaking teeth, blood on ice stuff etc.... and they all lived to brag about it. I think any team sport is good for a child and I do think that the coaches care for the welfare of the children.

The person who wrote this article is named "Art."

Enough said.

Hockey is dangerous? But heading a soccer ball isn't? More high school cheerleaders are injured every year than any sport they cheer for!

Being an ER/ICU Registered Nurse for 34 years, and having my son play hockey from aged 3 to 22, I am well aware of what the author is trying to say. I LOVE Hockey, and Football, and Rugby, and my son played them all. We were lucky he never suffered a concussion, that we knew of, but he did suffer a broken shoulder, and a few broken arms. The sport is pure art and joy. However like all wonderful things, there are way too many a__-hole parents and coaches who, living vicariously through their children, have the kids play too rough, and there isn't any way to stop them. My son's broken shoulder was a pure 'assination attempt' by a goon-of-a-kid, who was sent out purely to hurt him, and you know what the kid got? A 10-Minute Game Misconduct. Oh, and this was after he already had broken another of my son's teammates collar bone! My son just had surgery on this shoulder last January to clean out scar tissue that has still bothered him to this day. Is that worth 10 Minutes? The emphasis of the game, especially when they are young, needs to be on the skills, not on hitting. I think that full-on-scale Checking shouldn't be allowed until the kids are all of a more similar size, like High School age. When they are younger, there is too much in differences of musculo-skeletal development, and this is from a parent who's son was 6-feet tall in the 7th grade. But, one of his best friends, who didn't grow until he was in the 10th grade, loved hockey and was really good @ it, quit in the 7th grade, because he remained small. I think that all of the dirty tricks that are taught & played, should be punished w/ susensions, and if a team has too many, the coach should be suspended also. There should be a way of tracking those kids who hurt others purposefully, like the kid who broke my son's shoulder (a good friend, who son played on the other team told me that this kid was known to "break about one arm a game"). Aside from the severity of concussions, there are other injuries that will carry on for a lifetime with those injured, like knee, ankle, shoulders, back inuries. The serious checking and fighting should not be allowed until they are more stronger and older. Oh, and in the NHL, like the stupid attack on Zetterberg by Shane Weber? I think Weber should have been thrown out for the rest of that series of playoff. It was purposeful, that was obvious, and uncalled for. The science is showing that repeated, even small hits to the head, can cause progressive brain damage, to adults (though small children and women who have similar-sized brains in a smaller bony frame of the head, are more prone to the severity of hitting their heads). Please, all you sport-loving adults, don't 'loose your heads', and keep the focus on keeping our athletes healthy and fit, keep the focus on the positive aspects of sports, like teamwork, cameraderie, friendship, achieving goals, and leave the Assination and Goon-like play out of the sports. Truth is, at the youth levels, 99.8% of those kids are never going pro, or even to play @ college. Let's keep it real!

Yesterday a 12 year old boy was killed when warming up for a baseball game in Oswego Illinois. He was warming up standing near where two other boys were warming up throwing the baseball back and forth. The ball hit him in the neck.

Let's ban baseball!(sarcasm) Tragedies happen. As do injuries.

Was it your twelve year old son? ....... Didn't think so ..... Everyone has opinions don't they? The author is trying to make the point its all fun and games untill someone loses a life, not trying to get people to show thier butts just like Devil's Son did ...... BTW I did lose my son after 12 years of Ice Hockey, not to a concusion, but to a car accident. Did concussions have any thing to do with it, I'll never know there was'nt a autopsy because of the head injuries he sustained.

This guy is not an idiot. Your brain is it... you can loose a finger, a hand, and even a leg and still be you. You damage the brain significantly, and you may end up not being you. I played contact sports from 8 years old and suffered several injuries... if its a matter of bruises and bones, well, not so bad. But when you are talking about the brain, that is something different.

Please think about this. What are the coaches motivated by? Nice things... right? Winning games, teaching some skills, instilling some values... right? Now, what are these doctors motivated by? Increasing health and saving lives... Please don't be so quick dismiss them. I'm not sure why people don't think they have your kid's best interest at heart.

Good point Bob, let's not forget the NCAA was formed at the beginning of the last century to curb deaths on collegiate football fields. That's right, deaths!

Cogito, I think at this point coaches are motivated by the NFL and NBA. Public schools may pay the coach's checks, but they're really working for the pros. Somehow our schools have become recruiting and training centers for a private entertainment industry that is exempt from anti-trust legislation. Professional sports are the closest thing to socialism we have in this country. Essentially every student in the country is recruited.

We had coaches come to our 8th grade class to solicit boys to join the football team before we even set foot in high school. We were not solicited to join any other extra-curricular activity except football.

There are a lot of other things a child can do to learn these virtues. There is always Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts. Jigsaw Puzzles are a great way to teach patience and doing it as a group can teach many more attributes. Fishing also teaches us many things and I haven't meet to many kids that don't like to fish, it seems the fish are not the only thing that gets hooked. Don't forget target practice, which can be done with all sorts of materials even foam darts. If you really want to teach them values in life buy them a piece of land so they have something to call their own. Land can be purchased for as little as a $1 + doc fees. The youngest land owner in my family is 4. What ever you do to teach them, have fun. Enjoy your kids before they turn into the monsters that want to destroy you. Show them how to enjoy life without putting a price on it they may not be able to afford.

His argument is debunked with one word. Money...

My only question... how do you "loose" a finger?

Didn't we all read an article recently on head gear for crawling kids? This pampered generation of 'special' and 'gifted' kids is in for a rude awakening when real ole LIFE slaps them in the face. death is everywhere...ooooooohhhh....lets run and hide.

"... leave parental ethics to parents you arrogant prick."

There's a Kodak moment.

'...and this is from a parent who's son was 6-feet tall in the 7th grade."

The game is always 'fair' for that family.

RE-GODDAMN-DICULOUS. Teach the kids how to hit properly when they're just learning the contact aspect of hockey, that's literally all it takes. Methinks this guy has never laced 'em up.

cheetah your an iddiot because they never said it was always fair, quite the opposite as a matter of fact.

But you must be one of those who believes everyone is a winner if you dont keep score.

What they should do is play international rules in youth hockey. Under international rules, checking is not allowed. This makes the game about skating, passing, and shooting skills - which is what it should be about to start with. Pro hockey has become far too much about pounding people into the boards and trying to take out the opposing team's top players. Hockey needs to go back to being about skill and not about brute force with teams having enforcers whose only skill is their ability to slam someone into the boards with great force. Every team has those players who are marginal skater and piss poor passers and shooters who are only on the team because of their size and ability to deliver hard hits. This is not what hockey should be about.

The physical aspect of hockey is important at higher levels. There is no need to shelter kids from it, the important thing is to teach them respect for the game and their opponents at a young age as well as teaching them to the right way to give and take a hit when they are older.

I am ashamed to hear such name calling from parents, it is no wonder some children are playing to win no matter what the injury to an opponent! In reading his article, Dr. Caplan is merely giving something for parents to think about! Hockey injuries are not only about concussions--read about the serious youth hockey player injuries in MN this past season; Jack Jablonski, Jenna Privette, and Dan Leinemann. We need to see changes in the rules and penalties to bring theses games back to good sportsmanship!

I love hockey. I grew up watching "Hockey Night in Canada", played recreational (non-checking)hockey as an adult (poorly), my son played for a couple of years and I helped coach youth hockey for a couple of years. I can see both sides of this issue. Checking is not allowed in the youngest age groups (incidentally, few things in life are more entertaining than watching a bunch of 4 year-olds play organized hockey). The age at which checking is allowed should probably be raised. Coaches and parents need to emphasize that the purpose of a check to to take the opponent off the puck, and not to intimidate or injure. Better, more effective equipment, especially helmets, need to be developed. The ice is hard, and falling and smacking your head on it is at least as likely to cause a concussion as a hard check into the boards.

Professional hockey also has to change, since this is the standard to which young hockey players aspire to and emulate. As one who grew up when the NHL was composed of 6 teams, I believe professional hockey took a turn for the worse when it expanded into markets where there was no history of recreational hockey as a winter sport. What do people in Phoenix and Florida know about hockey? Fans showed up wanting to see fights, leading to the birth of goon hockey, which was tolerated by the league for monetary reasons. If you doubt this, listen to the crowd roar the next time a fight breaks out. When I was a kid professional players didn't even wear helmets, and although I haven't done the research to prove it, my impression is that there were fewer serious injuries back then, although fewer teeth were in evidence. I've heard of present-day team management threatening to fire any player who wears a face-protecting cage such as those required in college hockey. They claim that it is because with a cage the fans can't see the players' faces but the reality is that a cage makes the hockey fight obsolete.

Hockey is a great sport, exciting to watch and fun to play. Let's all work to get it back to being about skill and sportsmanship. When was the last time you saw a bench-clearing brawl in a professional hockey game? They use to be commonplace, but the penalties became so severe for coming off the bench that they disappeared. Similarly, rule changes could drastically reduce the number of hockey concussions at all levels of the sport if we, as fans of the game, demand it.

The whole concussion thing is a little out of hand. Having one or even two concussions playing sports throughout your lifetime isn't the problem, it's getting repeated concussions, like having more then one in a season, or having four, five, six throughout your lifetime is getting dangerous. But think about boxing, and how often those guys get hit in the head, you can't even compare that to Hockey or Football. I think parents should let there kids play sports but if they get to many injuries then the parent needs to explain to the kid what the risks going forward and that you might pull him from sports.

Hockey is in decline because it not HOCKEY anymore it's a boxing match.

Penalize the players for dropping their gloves and sluggin' it out, as they would be penalized in ANY OTHER SPORT, and Hockey MAY begin to see a revival.

Hockey fans are INSANE!

I think they would cheer if starving children were thrown into the ring with some raw meat and lions..........

Speaking of idiots, there are a lot of them on here. Let me start with a little education.

First, a helmet, at best is only marginally helpful in preventing concussions. Concussions are caused by the brain slamming into the wall of the skull. All a helmet does is attempt to slow down the deceleration or accelaration caused by the hit. It is this acelaration and deceleration that causes the brain to strike the wall of the skull and even the best helmet is only marginally affective at doing so. In my career in law enforcement I drug a couple of dead bodies out of cars that had minimal obvious injuries. They died from massive brain trauma even though there were few or no signs of injury. Dale Earnhardt is a shining example of this.

Second, I would bet many of the coaches on here are in fact part of the problem. Every time I see a coach talking about wussifying a sport I see a bad coach, period. A real coach stresses all the good aspects of the sport without calling someone looking to reduce injuries a wuss.

Third, how does the extremely rare incident of a child being killed in baseball annul the very real danger of hockey or football? Hint, it doesn't except in the mind of those unable to think rationally. Baseball is much, much safer than hockey or football, period. BTW, the kid struck in the neck by the ball died a few years back not just yesterday. It was tragic.

Fourth, hockey is out of control when it comes to violence. We have junior league hockey in our city that has a controlled fight every half. You know it is controlled because the officials stand back and let them go at it for about 10 seconds before they try to break it up. It is ridiculous. Only a neanderthal would think that is a sport. That is why hockey is declining since the decline started before the economic crash. My wife is a northerner who raved about hockey as a kid and regals our son with tales of afternoons spent prepping the pond rink for pick up games. She loves to tell how she played before the boys got too big to play with and of her brothers exploits as a local hockey star. We used to take our girls to professional games in Europe. However, when she went to the junior hockey game here as a mother she was shocked and has since swore it off as a sport as it is currently promoted in the USA and Canada.

Our son is a soccer player and as parents we have spent thousands hauling almost all over the country to play club soccer. He is being recruited to play soccer at the college level but probably won't since of the few schools offering his chosen career field very few offer male soccer (gotta love Title IX). In short, we are not anti sport or even anti hockey or football. We are, however, anti the many nuts coaching the sports here in the US and advocating for things to remain as they are....

"...there are enough responsible adults along with helicopter parents around to police things.

Yes, every now and then they attack a coach or ref, berate a child or brawl on the field. And why are violent sports mandatory in public school? They certainly don't inspire students to create or discover something significant,,, like electricity.

Violent sports are not mandatory in public schools. I don't know where you got that idea. I went to public schools all through my education, and I've never played a sport that could be qualified as "violent." The mandatory PE classes consisted of softball, badmitton (sp?), track, golf, calisthenics, that kind of thing. We never played a contact sport in a mandatory class because that would be begging for a lawsuit. Heck, kids aren't even allowed to play dodgeball at recess of their own volition. Those who want to play any remotely "violent" sport have to sign all kinds of waivers and get physicals. I can't imagine a school in this country forcing a child into violent contact sports.

I had football in P.E. all four years of high school. We had wrestling all four years as well. Nothing like mat burns and nausea to start the school day. I was top of my weight class for the first two years so I had to wrestle every day. I hated it but I'd win. Then I started cutting class junior year and am glad I did.

Four years of mandatory P.E. yet I couldn't get my hands on some clay until senior year. Not much of a high school education for a sculptor.

@RevSpinnaker

Your school must have been in the minority. I've never heard of a school forcing kids to play contact sports during P.E. and I think any school who does do that is in the wrong.

However, I don't think kids should be stopped from playing contact sports if they so choose. I wouldn't trade anything for my experiences playing high school football and basketball.

Sorry Rev - but here is the deal - this is not a mandatory sport it is a voluntary activity - and to pick out incidents that happen not regularly but rarely is silly. If you want to talk child abuse - let's do it - because for for the record I have been in social work my entire adult life - I have worked with a really abused children and adult who were abused as children. Anytime you want to compare a sample of 1000 people from the general public and 1000 hockey parents on the dimension of abuse and violence be my guest.

I hear what you're saying, Patrick. I played sports all my life and have endured many injuries. I even played hockey for a few years and took a puck to unpadded areas. As a matter of fact, talking about it now makes me want to dig out my sticks again. I still have many of the scars from these sports but I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't imagine how the children of these helicopter parents are going to manage as adults when mommy is no longer there to shelter them from every little thing. They'll be scared of their own shadows.

However, even back before helicopter parents, before mandatory helmets, pads, the watering down of many sports, the "every kid is a winner" mentality, and PR, there were always a code of conduct you needed to follow on the field, if you didn't, you were warming the benches.

I think that's the main element missing from today's sports and this is what's ultimately killing it.

The problem is not hockey itself or with adults who play hockey. And Dr. Kaplan admitted readily to being a hockey fan. This was not an attack on hockey.

But kids are a much different consideration than adults. Kids' bodies and brains are still developing. Until around age 26 for men and 24 for women, there is a lot of development going on. A concussion in an adult has a chance of healing a great deal because of the brain's ability to "re-wire" itself. A concussion in a 9-year-old could easily stop developmental processes in such a way that the brain could not compensate. There would be no re-wiring because the brain was not fully wired in the first place.

In addition, kid's bodies are still developing and are very much more vulnerable to injuries, especially broken bones and damage to cartilege and tendons than an adult.

I used to coach Little League baseball. And I came to believe that a very significant number of parents want their kids in sports as a surrogate for their own youthful non-participation of failures in sports. I have watched parents spank kids for fielding errors. I watched one time in a T-Ball game where the kid hit the ball but ran to third base instead of first. His mother took his batting helmet and beat the crap out of him for the error. I had any number of parents threaten, cajole, and try to convince me that their kid should be played for full games knowing that it would mean that another kid would not get to play.

The kids love sports -- but anyone who has ever coached kids knows that "winning" takes a distant seat in terms of what kids enjoy. They enjoy learning new skills. They enjoy the comraderie. They love the activity and being outdoors. They enjoy the structure. But mostly they wish their parents would never go to a game. And the concept of competitiveness simply eludes kids younger than about 13-14 years old.

I believe that kids should have the opportunity to play sports if they so desire. But the kid should sincerely want to play the sport, not just to please the parents. And there should be lots of non-competitive opportunities that can develop skills without so much risk of permanent injury. I see too many parents still who were dismal failures at sports in their youth, so they drag the sulking kids to games that they hate.

"A concussion in a 9-year-old could easily stop developmental processes" explains the GOP.

Hockey if taught and played by the rules is as safe as any contact sport. One reason we have a obese youth population is they don't play sports. Kids learn from example, Youth Hockey is not played the same as Pro Hockey when you keep the parents out of the game.

@chris..... "... but anyone who has ever coached kids knows that winning takes a distant seat in terms of what kids enjoy." I call B.S. It has been my experience that although no official score is recorded the majority of kids keep score themselves anyway. The only reason it seems some kids don't care about winning is because "winning" has been removed as the reason to play the game. If the goal isn't to win then why bother having leagues and playing games? Just throw a bunch of balls out and let the kids play catch and/or bat at will. I suppose you coach in leagues where every one bats each inning, there are no outs, the score is not kept and at the end of the season everyone gets the same trophy. While that might make the less talented kids, and their parents, happy it ruins the sport for everyone else. But in today's PC world anything that might cause a child to realize they are not perfect is taboo. What we are ending up with are entire generations of people with false self esteem and over inflated ego's who are unable to deal with or even acknowlege failure as adults. Nor do they accept responsibility for their failures. It is always someone elses fault.

I have 4 kids that have played competitive sports through there childhood, 3 played soccer and 1 plays ice hockey. We have had and seen far more serious injuries on the soccer field than in the rink. USA Hockey is working diligently to increase awareness and create a safer game while still teaching all aspects of the game. To suggest that it is child abuse is ridiculous and embarrassing...I refuse to wrap my child in bubble-wrap and stick him in front of a video game where he can simulate a real life experience! Get the facts...

I would also add that in some ways, the additional safety is actually detrimental. There was a recent report related to kids and NFL, particularly that because padding is so much better than it used to be, kids are taught to use their head for impact, rather than their shoulder. What you end up with are kids that rely heavy on their padding, rather than their own common sense.
Personally, I think they should have less or even no padding. The sport should be a way for kids to learn their limits, not to make them human wrecking machines.

Hate to interrupt, but I just needed to say something. My Daughter played hockey in elementary school. She went on to major in opera, got married and has a beautiful daughter. So please don't use the "tutu" bit when boys aren't beating each other up on the ice. Oh and YES my son did play hockey from the age of 5 through 16 - They were taught to play clean and had a great time.

Boys (and girls) can be taught how to play, just as easily as they can be to to bully and abuse. They learn from the adults around them.

Yeah, seriously. I played street hockey all through my childhood with the neighborhood boys. Our parents didn't supervise us much because we were in a very safe development where we could be sure that our other neighbors were keeping an eye on us. There was a lot of shoving and shin whacking. We'd all come home with bruises on our legs. The only reason we stopped is because we grew up and got busy with other things like high school and moving away. My mom still has our old beat up sticks in her garage.

And guess what? I'm a girl.

Larz, I agree with the belief that there is too much alarmism regarding injuries in hockey, but the "tutu" remarks (Don Cherry much?) doesn't contribute anything of value to the discussion. This isn't an either-or, "alley hockey-or-ballet" dichotomy; this is about teaching proper techniques and policing for clearly unneeded head-hits in the sport. Note in DGW's post above that the bruises were to the shins, not the head; the problem isn't solved buy taking away contact, it's in taking away hits to the head. Or do you believe (like so many other idiots out there that think physical hockey involves head-hunting and stickwork) that the head is a legitimate target for checks?...

Nice blanket statement, larz. There are 2 girls on my son's hockey team who are among the toughest players in the league. I am thrilled they are on OUR team! Hockey is a sport for everyone. That said, in my son's league there is a NO checking rule. And that rule is definitely enforced. I believe that is the case for at least up to 12 years old, if not older (my son is 7). I also thought that the no checking rule was pretty widespread in North America. It seems to be so in my state, which covers a very large area. Could be wrong on that though.

Guess what people. I come from a hockey playing family and my brother almost lost an eye to the game. His cheek was broken by a stick and if they hadn't done surgery his eye would have fallen thru his cheek.. So- I know and support the no-head check rule. Never said I didn't in my post!

More power to girls who play- but the article was geared towards boys and the NHL (right or wrong) is only for MEN.

My point was ANY SPORT- INCLUDING BALLET CAN BE DANGEROUS. Like I said "let them learn a skill and good sportsmanship with it" So go pick on someone else..

It's the same in hockey. There are distinct techniques involved in delivering the various types of checks--shoulder check, hip check, take-out checks--that were beings taught long ago. I wouldn't be surprised to find that injuries went up as players got away from proper technique and just started using shoulders and elbows as battering rams and bayonets...

And as far as football, apparently no one teaches proper tackling techniques like you have been, because at all levels we simply see helmeted and padded morons acting on the belief that f you only hit hard enough, the opponent will go down. Which, ironically, results in more than a few ESPN moments when the opponent doesn't...

Exactly Cat, Concussions are up because no one not even most NHLers were ever taught how to throw a hip check. Today's players ram each other in head on collisions. Arms, elbows and sticks come up in self defense. Today's huge hard plastic shoulder pads have a lot to do with it. Seen a set of elbow pads lately? You could drive a railroad spike with them. In football the face mask has made using you head as a weapon safer for the spear. Some facemasks are almost a solid shield now with very small openings. Football players are taught to just drill the opponent not to hit and wrap up when they tackle. Look at the cr@p the Saints were pulling.

This is just media fodder. If you're a dad, you want to see your kid play hockey and football. I played organized football and baseball as a kid, all the way to college.

Any sport, has contact to it..you just gotta get in there, and if you wanna play, you gotta take your chances. Most parents nowadays are wussies (if you want the real word, substitute the w with a p)..

If your kid wants to play, let him play...something could happen, but then again, something couldnt.

And by the way NEA Exec..we didnt call it "Tackle Cattle" we called it "Smear the Queer"..same game I think.

seriously?!? He only has one fact in this article 700 out of 9000...because it sounds way worse than 7.8%. Which by the way is fewer than the percentage of licensed 16yr olds who get into car accidents.

The reason I used this age group is because it's the same age group as contact hockey...I'm not aware of any leagues that allow 8yr olds to go out and bash each other into the boards. Contact hockey starts in the teen years...but I'm sure that you knew that before tossing out your holier than thou in utero witticism.

Aterrimus I played contect hockey when i was 9 years old youth hockey for the town i lived in. but at that age we did not have the power to do much harm never had or new about concussion's only thing that got hurt was my feeling's when we did not win

Then you either played a half-century ago, or your league wasn't sanctioned, f_m...

Not shure what you ment about sanction but it was a youth hockey league my mother would help at the bingo every weak went to canada twice at about 3 years in played neighbouring town's teems so i believe you mite be a little misinformed and no it was only about 30 years ago close to a half century but not quite.But this was in a time when a kid could be a kid

oops...I meant more serious not my serious...

Biff, why the sheol does everything have to be a liberal/conservative thing for you? There are plenty of liberals like me who think Kaplan and others like him are way off the mark on this issue (mostly because they don't know anything about the structure/rules of the established, sanctioned leagues), but since you're determined to paint all of us with the same broad brush...

Ross - you are just another scam artist. If you knew how to make 19K a month you wouldn't be telling us. Crawl back under your rock.

Concur...why does MSNBC cover this? The Korean rocket launch wasnt enough? Trayvon Martin case getting old?

What else?

DB, this isn't a conservative/liberal thing--believe it or not, there are a few things left in life that don't fall out on ideological lines! To wit: Kaplan clearly has no idea about youth hockey, because, as others here have stated, checking isn't allowed in either USA Hockey or Hockey Canada-sanctioned play until at least age 15. As for the socially-left thing--you do remember the old aphorism about what happens when you assume, don't you? Because I'm pretty socially-left myself and agree that Kaplan is way off the mark on this one...

There is no need for hard-shell shoulder pads or--especially--elbow pads, because this just makes protective equipment into battering rams. I understand the point others make about going helmetless, but I still believe--maybe foolishly--that we can change the culture in the sport (and football too) that sees the head as a legitimate target for hits, which in itself would reduce the number of concussions. And as for the instigator rule--well, you also know what they say about good intentions and roads to Hell...

I grew up on the left wing, both politically and the position I played through college -- was on a D3 National Championship team. Both of my daughters skate as well. Dr. Kaplan simply provides a very narrow, very incomplete view of the picture, and for the MSNBC editors to call it child abuse in the headline is preposterous. I still think of myself as a hockey player -- all the lessons and values I learned still apply to my life: hard work, team work, preparation, performance, unselfishness, overcoming adversity celebrating victory.

People from any side of the political equation can appreciate that.