Many people have been talking about taking hitting and fighting out of hockey in the last few years because of the rise in career ending injuries, but the cause is from the fact that hockey players having been getting faster stronger and more skilled. Although people do get severe injuries and some take it too far it’s the risk that they face every time they step on the ice. Hitting starts at the age of 11 which I think is an appropriate age to start hitting. Taking Hitting and fighting out of hockey would change the game forever.
Hitting is one of the main components of the game and makes the game what it is today. A lot of people think that since girl’s hockey has no hitting and fighting we could do the same but I don’t believe girl’s hockey is real hockey because it has no hitting. Contact started out as the defensive player being able to physically separate the player, but hockey got faster and people got stronger so hitting is much more of a threat to other players. Hitting in Minor hockey is also a huge concern but I think it should still start at 11 years old because if you start at around 14 or 15 kids are already a lot bigger and if you start hitting at 11 kids will be prepared and know how to take and receive a hit but if you started at 14 you would have a lot more injuries because no one would know how to take hits.
