Enforcement of the new head-contact rule implemented this season from Hockey Canada on down seems to be being implemented to different degrees.
Darryl Shimbashi sits in a unique position as far as that perspective goes in he is on the south zone referee council executive. Dustin Gartner is the referee chief locally and Jody Ginther is vice chairman of the south zone referee council, and so there are many eyes of influence here locally for the larger stage of minor hockey across the province.
“We see what happens in the south zone and the whole province a little bit. The one thing I’ve noticed and I hear this from a lot of teams from the province, especially the “AA” teams and the Central Alberta Hockey League is they come down and tell us there is a lot of difference of what is called down here. We are probably a lot more tight,” said Shimbashi. “We call it a lot more of what is expected from Hockey Canada than other places. I’ve heard that from coaches, I’ve heard that from parents. We’re lucky here in that we have a good group of referees that are mentoring our officials and keeping an eye on things.”
Part of that may be from how much more concentrated officiating is in the south zone compared to the rest of the province. The long-time referee says there are approximately 400 officials in the zone, compared to the central zone having over 1,000.
“That makes a difference with how much you can watch and see what’s going on. We go from the Crowsnest Pass over to Medicine Hat and as far north as Brooks and Vulcan. Fort Macleod is part of it,” said Shimbashi. “They are a lot more spread out than we are. We have a pretty small area to look after so we have a pretty good grasp of what’s going on.”
But even with the south’s calling close to the vest with the head contact rule, Shimbashi noted there has still been the collateral damage of concussions afflicting players locally.
“We do have kids even in our association who have not played this year because they have concussions. One of our players got hit and he’s dropped right out,” said Shimbashi. “Those are the things we are trying to prevent and we are trying to educate people on. Unfortunately there are still a few people out there that think we are ruining hockey by doing what we are doing, but it’s for the safety of the kids. We teach our officials if you are going to err, you are going to err on the side of safety.”
Concussion problems continue to pop up in hockey as it has been dominated in news in the NHL as many marquee players have succumbed to the injury. Many theories abound about how they have become more prevalent in recent years from more advanced equipment, to bigger and stronger players to rule changes with another common theory abounding.
“I think there is more awareness. You have a star player like Sidney Crosby who has been out for how long? That brings more attention and we are more aware of it. Have concussions always been there? I think they have,” said Shimbashi. “I was talking with Joe Orban not too long ago and he said it’s great about awareness because he was never taught about concussions when he was coaching. When he was in his prime coaching he asked himself ‘how many times did I put kids back on the ice who probably had concussions?’ that we would never do now. Availability of information now is more well spread.”
Fans in the stands may not always like what some view as the flow of the game turning into a police state with the constant whistles, but Shimbashi noted there are bigger things at stake.
“It is all about prevention. Can we prevent someone from getting seriously hurt and affecting them for the rest of their lives. It’s only a game,” said Shimbashi. “Most people don’t make a living playing hockey or whatever. It’s to go out there and have fun and enjoy the game. For someone who gets injured and they can’t think straight, I don’t think that’s going to be very fun for them to enjoy hockey for the rest of their lives.”
Along with enforcing head contact infractions more closely to try and combat concussion injuries, Shimbashi added coaching trends need to change just as the officiating has. With the added whistle blowing, tactics can change where perhaps more practice time is devoted to special teams with the power play and penalty kill, but addressing proper body contact can be addressed as well.
“As teachers and coaches, we have to teach kids how to hit properly and how to take a hit properly. I don’t think that has been emphasized over the years enough,” said Shimbashi. “In football we spend a lot of time teaching kids how to hit because that is the name of the game. In hockey, it’s not as much. It’s good that Hockey Alberta does have a checking clinic where someone on the team has to be certified be it the head coach or whatever for each team.”