MCHA's leadership often hears concerns from players and captains about physical play - this may allegations of full-on body-checking, or general chippiness during games. Many times those concerns are valid and appropriate discipline is assessed for the offending player(s). But more frequently than you may think, when we dig into the plays in question we find that the physical play was perfectly legal (although as we will discuss here, that doesn't mean it was appropriate), but that a misunderstanding of what is and is not legal led to escalation and retaliation.
The purpose of this resource is to ensure we all understand what is allowed, what is not allowed, and to help guide how we treat each other with a mission-focus during a game that is inherently physical.
What is allowed?
Let's be clear on this: adult recreational hockey leagues in USA Hockey are non-checking. This includes the Stars Premier Adult Hockey League in which MCHA teams play, as well as other area adult recreation leagues such as the SSHL, the Allen adult league and the NyTex adult league.
Non-checking does not, however, mean the game is non-contact. Hockey is still a physical sport and we should all expect there to be physical play, as stated by USA Hockey:
"Non-check hockey does not mean no contact and the Body Contact Category game can be very physical. Officials are expected to have a thorough understanding of “competitive contact” principles and properly enforce these rules at all levels of play.”
So how do we distinguish the legal "competitive contact" from illegal body checking? We can start with the definition of competitive contact from USA Hockey. Coaches and officials are trained on this but a typical adult league player (especially one who learned the game as an adult) may never have seen these definitions before so please make sure all of your players are aware!
“Competitive contact is body contact that occurs between two or more skaters who are in the vicinity of the puck and who are in the normal process of playing the puck. Physical contact is likely to occur between the players and is allowed provided the primary focus of the players is to gain possession of the puck. Examples of competitive contact include:
- Angling: Defensive skill used to direct/control the puck carrier to an area that closes the gap and creates an opening that is too small. Angling occurs when a defending player takes away space and forces the attacking puck carrier into a smaller area.
- Physical Engagement: Players who are in pursuit of the puck are allowed to reasonably lean into each other provided possession of the puck remains the sole objective. This may occur as players are racing for the puck or when battling for a loose puck in along the boards or in front of the goal.
- Collisions: Occur when players are allowed to maintain their established position on the ice. Collisions are likely to occur when opposing players are racing for the puck from different directions and arrive at the same time.
Now let’s look at where USA Hockey says it crosses the line into body checking:
“A body check represents intentional physical contact, from the front, diagonally from the front or straight from the side, by a skater to an opponent who is in control of the puck. Legitimate body checking must be done only with the trunk of the body (hips and shoulders) and must be above the opponent’s knees and at or below the opponent’s shoulders. The use of the hands, forearm, stick or elbow in delivering a body check is unacceptable and not within the guidelines of a legal body check. “
Here's a handy table with some key examples of what is allowed and what is not in a non-checking league:
| Acceptable Competitive Contact | Unacceptable Contact/Checking |
|---|
| A skater is entitled to the ice he occupies so long as he maintains his skating speed and body position between an opponent and the loose puck. | A skater may not make intentional physical contact with an opponent with no effort to legally play the puck. |
| A skater is entitled to stand his ground and is not required to move if an opponent wishes to skate through that area of the ice. | A skater may not use overt hip, shoulder or forearm contact with the opponent to physically force them off the puck. |
| A skater may block an opponent so long as he is in front of the opponent and moving in the same direction. | A skater may not physically impede the progress of the opponent with hips, shoulders or torso without establishing competitive contact and making no attempt to gain possession of the puck. |
| A skater can use his body position to force an opponent to take a less direct route to the puck, so long as he does not use a hand or arm to hold or block the opponent. | A skater may not drive an opponent excessively into the boards with no intent to gain possession of the puck (boarding). |
As noted by USA Hockey: even without body checking, hockey can be very physical. Players are allowed to use body position, strength, and balance to gain a competitive advantage and to engage physically as long as the primary focus is to gain possession of the puck and as long as their opponent is not in a vulnerable position.
Recognize the Difference
This video has some good examples where you can see the difference between competitive contact and body checking (this is not a USA Hockey video but the rules are sufficiently similar so it is still a good reference).
We must all be able to recognize the difference between competitive contact and body checking in our own games. If we deliver contact, it must be legal competitive contact. If we are on the receiving end of competitive contact, get up and get back in the play. Mistaking it for body checking can lead to retaliation and escalation without any real justification. Here’s a common situation you might have seen in a game:
- A winger has the puck and is coming down the side of the ice.
- The defender is cutting off the middle with their stick and leaving only a small gap between themselves and the boards.
- The winger decides to try and push through the gap.
- The defender stands their ground, attempting to play the puck off of the winger's stick and a collision ensues, and the winger falls, hitting the ice hard.
- The winger gets up and yells and slashes at the defender for body checking them and yells at the official for the no-call. They end up going to the box with a double minor for slashing and unsportsmanlike conduct.
In this play, the defender what was well within their rights to stand their ground; they are entitled to their ice and under no obligation to yield to the winger. The winger failed to recognize that they are in fact the one who initiated the contact while the defender made a legal play, and so the situation escalated needlessly.
Just because we CAN do it doesn’t mean we SHOULD
Competitive contact is focused on balance, strength, and positioning – but now let’s also think about another aspect: discernment. We clearly recognize that physical play is a core part of hockey, but we also need to keep the core mission of our organization in mind when we decide what kind of game we’re going to play.
MCHA exists to share the love of Christ through the camaraderie that is built during a good hockey experience; MCHA teams playing in the Stars Premier Adult Hockey League have players from all walks of life, with highly varied hockey experience, and ranging in age from 21 through 65+. Not everyone learned how to take contact safely, and older players may generally be more vulnerable or in a weaker position to safely handle contact. In other words: even if a physical play is legal, that doesn’t make it the right thing to do.
So how do we know whether we should or shouldn't use competitive contact? We can start by asking ourselves: do I have a disparate advantage over my opponent in balance and strength? Could this competitive contact fully overwhelm them? Is my opponent in a vulnerable position (in which the contact could have an disproportionate impact or result in an injury)?
If we answer “Yes” to any of these, then we should think twice about initiating contact at all, and if we do then it should be scaled appropriately. This doesn’t mean we’re trying to push for a non-contact game – hockey is a contact sport after all. But we must use the right amount of physicality as the situation warrants and as appropriate for the skill-level division in which we are playing. E.g., it is natural to expect a higher level of competitive contact in a B division than in a D division, but if we are delivering a B-level of contact in that D division, it will lead to discord.
We have other tools at our disposal: speed, positioning, stick handling, passing, etc. Consider the alternative ways that the the situation above with the winger coming down the side of the ice could have played out:
- The defender recognizes that standing their ground would cause an unsafe collision so they pivot and skate forward alongside the winger and use their speed and positioning to guide the winger into the boards and halt the advance without a sudden collision.
- The winger decides not to initiate contact by driving through the tiny gap and instead chips the puck off the boards through the gap and uses their speed to move around the defender on the inside, picking the puck back up behind them.
There are multiple alternatives and you can probably think of more than these two. Both options still accomplish the respective players' hockey goals but do so with a more discerning approach to competitive contact.
The call to action
Now, it’s not like we can stop mid-game and ask ourselves these kinds of questions in the moment. It takes practice and persistence to train a mindset of discernment around contact so that take the right action instinctively (just like any other skill on the ice). Here’s the call to action for all MCHA players and captains:
- Do not body check. Ever. This should be a given.
- When using competitive contact, be intentional about using appropriate levels of intensity at doing so the appropriate times. Always keep your hands and stick down.
- Take time to reflect on some of your recent plays that involved intense competitive contact. Could you have handled it with lower intensity or by making a different hockey play?
- Take time to reflect on whether you have received competitive contact that you mistook for body checking, and whether/how you reacted. Were you giving your opponent the Most Generous Interpretation in that moment?
Above all – keep MCHA’s mission in mind and use the discernment God gave you and make choices during gameplay that will build community and foster an environment where we can open someone’s heart to Christ.
“We exist to share the love of Christ through camaraderie and a great hockey experience.”
Additional resources:
https://www.usahockeyrulebook.com/page/show/1084648-rule-604-body-checking
https://www.usahockeyrulebook.com/page/show/1015119-standard-of-play-and-rule-emphasis-body-checking
https://www.usahockey.com/news_article/show/1048048#:~:text=Competitive%20contact%20is%20body%20contact,gain%20possession%20of%20the%20puck.
