The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The SJHL and the three other Western Canadian Junior 'A' Hockey Leagues and the provincial sport governing bodies have come together in unprecedented cooperation in an effort to continue reducing violence and bullying in the sport. While Hockey Canada has instituted what is called a "One-Fight rule", whereby players participating in fisticuffs are automatically ejected; the four Western Junior 'A' Hockey Leagues are being permitted to conduct a pilot project that allows them to maintain the rule where players are not ejected after their first fighting major. Former SJHL President Wayne Kartusch says eliminating bullying and violence in the game is something that has been ongoing since his terms in office and has been met with a great deal of success. "The so called 'two fight rule' is something that has shown positive results. Prior to the introduction of this rule, players who fought were ejected after one fight. Not ejecting players has cut down on the stick work, and in some leagues, has continued to greatly reduce the amount of fighting. It has definitely shown itself to be a good thing." Hard data further backs up Kartusch's assertion. While fighting majors in the SJHL have stayed close to constant over the last three years, slashing penalties have been cut nearly in half. High sticking calls are also down, but interestingly, so too are serious infractions like boarding and checking from behind. In fact, the SJHL had 15 checking from behind majors called in 2006-07; and just 8 in 2008-09. Multiple fights are starting to go by the way of the dinosaur with just five called over the course of 400 games in 2008-09 and only 3 in 2009-10. This means, there is less than a 1-percent chance of having a multiple fight in an SJHL game. Bullying in Junior 'A' hockey is described as being repeated aggressive behaviour in order to harm another person, physically or mentally. Violence is determined to be an act of aggression outside the playing rules that involves the intention to hurt or emerge superior to others. A recent survey conducted by the Saskatchewan Hockey Association and the SJHL amongst stakeholders indicates a 85% approval rating for maintaining the 'two-fight rule'. It's also important to note that while a proactive bullying/violence prevention program is now in place having been recently developed, Western Junior 'A' Leagues and respective branches (SHA) have been addressing this issue for many years. The Western Junior 'A' Supplement builds on progressive regulations undertaken over the past decade to reduce this behaviour in Junior 'A' hockey. "We have been actively addressing this issue on a day to day basis in the SJHL." states President Laury Ryan. "The actions of Hockey Canada and the blanket adoption of Playing Rule 6.7 Ð Fighting Majors Resulting in Ejection from Novice to Junior hockey - did not make sense to us and would take us back 10 years in terms of the way we manage violence and bullying. The four league Presidents and Commissioners collectively put together a package that would aggressively address these issues, be acceptable to Hockey Canada's objectives and fit Junior A hockey to ensure that we are the leagues of choice for young athletes and their parents." The two year project is to compare data from the four Western Junior 'A' Leagues using the Western Junior 'A' Supplement and a control group playing under the so-called 'one fight rule'. See 'Behav...' on pg. Continued from pg. The study will track violent behaviour such as stick penalties, checking from behind, hits to the head, and others to determine if player ejection after a fighting major has a positive or negative effect on curbing violence in the Junior 'A' game. "Simply put, fighting for the sake of fighting is no longer acceptable and will come with a significant sanctions." states Ryan. The Supplement will increase team, coach, and player accountability with the tracking of repeat offenders, increased suspensions, and significant financial penalties. One such example is goaltender interference. Two goaltender interference penalties in the same game by the same team will be subject to further discipline. It contains an all in effort to eradicate blows to the head, dangerous hits, and checking from behind. Staged fights are also targeted. A fight is considered to be staged when two players drop the mitts immediately following a face-off. Players participating in such acts will be subject to suspension and teams will be hit particularly hard in the wallet, putting the onus on the coach to control the bench at all times. Junior A Hockey in the west is a gate driven entertainment industry with significant financial impact on the areas they operate in. Junior 'A' hockey is not minor hockey in that it is a 30-million dollar industry (MJHL, SJHL, AJHL, and BCHL) that is not funded by its participants. The four western leagues have a combined 56-teams, contribute $285,000 in branch fees, $820,000 in officiating development fees, and provide full-time employment to 178 families. Further, the estimated economic impact is in excess of 100-million dollars. From an SJHL perspective, the actions taken by the league have had much success on curbing violence and bullying and it's hoped a further tightening of the rules will only make it a better game for the athletes and the fans. The top two penalty minute accumulators in the playoffs each had just one fight the entire playoffs. The third most penalized player in the playoffs averaged just less than one minor a game (37-minutes in 19-games). If anything, it shows that as games become more important, there is less fighting and stick work. The Western Junior 'A' Supplement is in effect beginning with the 2010-11 season.
