Hockey Mauricie forces players looking for non-contact into bodychecking league

Most of the 16-20 year olds discussed in this space when we mention school boils down to the CHL vs. NCAA.

For five players in Quebec's Mauricie region, they have already made their choice: University.

The five are all cégep and university students who want to play hockey in a league that will accommodate a university student’s schedule, one that will prevent most major injuries, and one that will be close to home, in their case the team in Cap-de-la-Madeleine.

School is more important than hockey, but they still don’t want to quit playing the sport they love.

According to a story in La Presse, Hockey Mauricie, the local hockey association, has deemed them “too good” to play in the highest league without body checking, Junior A, and insist they play in a higher league, Junior AA, where they can better use their hockey skills.

However, Junior AA has body checking, and a more intense practice and game schedule. They are literally too good for their own good.

It’s a rule that’s unique to the region, though similar rules have been in place elsewhere. If a player has played D1 college hockey in Quebec, or Junior AAA or QMJHL, they are ineligible to play in a single letter league.

The association maintains that allowing players to drop that far down in their league placement will create an imbalance in the leagues and puts the other players at a disadvantage.

Hockey Quebec is fine with the rule, as their director Yvan Dallaire stated: “Every year, there’s a coach who tries to recruit players to a team.

“My son plays Junior B in another region,” Dallaire continued. “One year, there were three players from Junior AAA in the league. The first three games their teams won by a score differential of 10, 12 and 15 goals. In junior, what happens when there’s a 10-goal difference? Boys start [fighting].”

So the five players have been given an ultimatum. Play Junior AA, with checking, or not at all.

At least one player, Gabriel Perron, said that playing in a league with checking is a no-go for him, as he has suffered concussions in the past.

Dallaire has even admitted that having body checking in the Junior AA circuit, one that most players will not move on to pro hockey, is a head-scratcher. The league is not a feeder league to Junior AAA or the QMJHL, and acts independently from those leagues.

There are rules put in place this year in Junior AA leagues in Montreal, Richelieu and Laval that prohibit checking in certain zones of the ice: behind the net and in the center of the ice. It’s a pilot project that may see implementation elsewhere.

Too late for Perron though, who wants to continue to play, and he will, but he wants to be able to play in a convenient league for his university schedule. He will be forced to play, along with his four friends, in Junior AA at least for the time being.

Hockey Quebec is right when they say coaches try to craft teams out of these rules. Find or create a loophole and some coach or director will try and drive a truck right through it, all in the name of winning. It’s not hard to see how they could exploit this, either.

It happens several times a year, and I can bet that several coaches across Canada are trying to do that right now with provincial team and league tryouts just around the corner, but not every case is like that. If players can prove that their hockey schedule or university schedule overlaps too much, maybe a provision can be made.

These are five university students who want to continue to play the game they’ve loved since they were kids. It’s hard to look a player in the eye and tell him he can’t play where he wants.