Saskatoon Minor Hockey Association worries mask-wearing could lead to injuries
Fall in Saskatchewan means gearing up for the winter hockey season as tryouts and camps get underway and many are asking questions about the practicality of masking rules in city rinks.
The five Saskatoon City run rinks such as ACT, Lions and Cosmo Civic Centre require masks to be worn at all times, even while on the ice. The privately run rinks like Harold Latrace, Shroh and Jemini don’t and that’s concerning for the head of The Saskatoon Minor Hockey Association (SMHA).
“We’d like the city to give Saskatoon minor hockey an exemption with respect to kids wearing masks on the ice. We’re fully supportive of parents, coaches, players wearing masks in the rinks,” Kelly Boes told CTV News.
On Monday, Boes went before a city committee to ask that players, coaches and referees be permitted to remove their masks during play.
Boes tells us that in his research of hockey associations across the country, he’s learned that Saskatoon is one of the only cities in Canada with this mask rule.
“I would think they’re all following the same science and I would think that if there’s a real problem with not wearing a mask while playing hockey, they would not be doing it this way,” he said.
University of Saskatchewan researchers recently completed a study about the effects of masks on hockey performance.
“We concluded that even during high-intensity exercise skating with full equipment, wearing a facemask didn’t affect their performance,” Phil Chilibeck, U of S Professor of Kinesiology and Researcher told CTV News.
Chilibeck does admit that the study didn’t involve gameplay situations, but rather the athletes were skating individually at high intensity to adhere to COVID-19 distancing rules.
“We didn’t have any skills where kids were receiving pucks or playing in a game.”
It’s the physicality of hockey and the safety of players that the SMHA is most concerned with.
“An extra split second or second could mean the difference between seeing a guy coming to hit you or not and we don’t want to see any injuries come out of wearing a mask that wouldn’t have been there otherwise,” Boes said.
He’s not only concerned with leagues that are full-contact, Boes says even in non-contact levels players can slam into the boards at high speeds if their peripheral vision is obscured or blind spots exist.
“There’s lots of bumping that goes on whether it’s inadvertent or in purpose, there’s boards around the rink so if anyone ends up having a fall or gets bumped by accident, it’s relatively hard on the head to hit the boards,” Boes said.
The other important element of hockey according to Boes which will be affected by wearing masks on the ice is the verbal communication between players and goalies as well as for the referees.
The city is expected to review the minor hockey exemption next Monday.
Do you have a story idea or news tip? Email us.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.