I have to echo the comments of Dave Hendrickson on checking in youth
hockey.  It's clearly a case of being okay for some age groups and
groupings of kids (i.e. those who are closer in size and age) than
others, and it shouldn't be banned across the board.  I will admit
that I'm not as familiar with youth hockey as Dave and perhaps John,
but the exhibition between the Jr Terriers and Jr Eagles last night
was very entertaining AND clean.  BTW, the final was 0-0.  Both
goalies were superb; each team probably should have had a couple of goals.
 
At first, we were amazed at the amount of checking that there was.
The impression I got was that wearing the pads made the kids feel
invincible and want to hit everything in their path.  But it was
quickly obvious that these kids were GOOD.  I don't see the need to
ignore checking just to teach these kids skills, when they already had
the skills necessary to play well at that level.
 
Contrary to what some may have thought, I didn't see any goonery at
all.  There were more cheap shots in the USA-BC game and fewer clean
hits than in the five-minute exhibition put on by the kids.  Think
about how many times you've seen kids in college just go after
opponents and commit some kind of cheap shot.  It didn't happen in the
exhibition.  When a kid was hit, he just got up and skated off to
wherever he was supposed to be, and I didn't see any revenge tactics
or anything being used.  Sticks and elbows weren't high either.
 
I mentioned the skill level, and maybe the talk about the hitting made
it seem like that's all that happened.  Anybody else who was there, as
well as Tony, Adam & Heather, can vouch for the fact that there was a
lot of talent out on the ice.  But you know what was nice - it seemed
like these kids hadn't developed egos yet, or at least not to the
extent of high school or college players.  When a kid should have
passed, he did.  Several 2-on-1's were executed better than Team USA
executed theirs.  The kids could stickhandle well, pass well, and they
played their positions very well instead of just being all over the
ice.  The last part really impressed me.
 
The crowd LOVED it, and I think it's because this is the way hockey
is supposed to be.  Hitting is a part of the game.  Not when starting
out, but when you've attained the skill level these kids obviously
have, it's time to learn the other aspects of the game.  And just like
hitting in football isn't goonery, clean hitting in hockey is part of
the game.
 
Finally, Tony mentioned that Heather and I suggested that the kids
play the final two 20-min periods, and USA & BC come out to play the
other intermission. :-)  I know the kids wouldn't have lasted that
long, but the action really was so exciting that I'd have preferred to
see that.  I'm tempted to go down and see some youth games if I get a
chance.  Dave, send me a Jr Chiefs schedule!
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Mike Machnik           [log in to unmask]          [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                  *HMN* 11/13/93