Bodychecking Experience Doesn’t Lower Risk for Hockey Injuries

More experience with bodychecking does not protect young ice hockey players against injury such as concussion, new data indicate.

In a prospective cohort study of more than 900 young hockey players, the rates of all injury were almost three times as high among athletes with three or more years of experience of bodychecking, compared with players with two or fewer years of experience.

“There are some in the hockey community that believe gaining bodychecking experience earlier will protect players from injuries, including concussions, when they play in older age categories where bodychecking is allowed,” study author Paul Eliason, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre at the University of Calgary, Canada, told Medscape Medical News.

“Because of policy changes that have restricted bodychecking nationally among under-13 leagues, as well as in certain non-elite older age categories, it’s important to evaluate these policy decisions to ensure that no unintended injury consequences have occurred from these policy changes,” he said.

The study was published online June 20 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

No Decreased Risks

Eliason and colleagues analyzed data from a prospective cohort of players who played ice hockey in leagues that permitted bodychecking between the 2015-2016 and 2017-2018 seasons in three regions of Alberta, Canada. They invited all hockey associations for the age group that were affiliated with Hockey Calgary, Airdrie Minor Hockey Association, and Hockey Edmonton to participate.

The researchers included teams if the associations could identify a manager or designated team member to report weekly participation and injuries. All players from eligible teams could participate if they had written informed consent and had no previous injury or illness that prevented full participation in ice hockey at the beginning of the season.

Hockey players, parents, coaches, and association administrators contributed to collecting weekly exposure data, identification of suspected concussions, and injury follow-up information. The injury surveillance methodology included a preseason baseline questionnaire, a weekly exposure sheet, and an injury report form.

Bodychecking experience included time spent playing in leagues for the older age…