Taking it to Extreme – Minor Hockey Coach Told Kid To Slash?
Allegedly, a minor hockey coach in Newfoundland allegedly told one of his players to slash another player. No, this is not Minor Pro hockey or even Junior Hockey. This is 8 year olds.
Read about it at CBC.CA by clicking here
The fact is that this is not the first time and it will not be the last. I remember one parent yelling at his son to hit another kid. This was in Mini-Mite. I have seen this continue throughout the age groups. The fact that a coach may have been responsible is reprehensible. Unfortunately, parents think that these jerks are good coaches, because they are teaching kids to be tough.
The rules allow for lots of ways to get out your frustration in hockey, but illegally using your stick or hitting from behind being taught by coaches is something that needs to get out of the game. There are all sorts of illegal things that kids will do on their own. Let’s run coaches that teach illegal techniques out of our associations and bring the spirit of the game back to youth hockey.
USA Hockey and Hockey Canada have gone a long way by enforcing all of the rules the same way up and down the ranks from Mite to Midget. This has discouraged stickwork and allowed teams that teach the right way to play the game to succeed at all levels and these thugs can go do something else.