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! --- Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMN* 11/13/93