Using a smaller ice rink for younger hockey players, has been recommended for more than 35 years, and now Hockey Canada is going to mandate it for the 2017-2018 season.
New policy mandates cross-ice and half-ice hockey for Initiation-aged players. LEARN MORE: https://t.co/SQFo66JmBs pic.twitter.com/P1dX3aJA1Z
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) March 27, 2017
Hockey players between the ages of four and seven, will begin using half the ice, as opposed to the full rink.
Technical Director with the Moncton Minor Hockey Association Stacy Patterson says because it gives the kids a much smaller playing area. It gives them a better opportunity to learn the game, “Statistics are talking about five times more passes in a small area than on a full ice. Two times more change of direction and six times more shots per player on net, and that are what we are trying to accomplish.”
Patterson says this has been a long time coming. When compared to other sports, he says every other one, for the most part, has modified the game or playing area to the size of the player, except for hockey.
He also points out, some of the younger players in Moncton minor hockey have already expereinced practicing on half ice, but there was no consistency with tournaments. Some were played on the smaller surfaces, while other times, games were played on a full rink..
