Checking From Behind Changes Lives

January 8, 2012 | NEH

The hockey community has rallied around Jack "Jabby" Jablonski, the Minnesota high school hockey player who last week suffered a devastating spinal cord injury after being checked from behind. (Read his story at http://www.mnhockeyhub.com/news_article/show/127079)

His injury – two fractured vertebrae in his lower neck that have left him unable to move his legs and with only slight movement in his hands and fingers – occurred when he made a dash for the puck near the end boards with two opponents in hot pursuit. They rammed Jabby hard from behind, smashing him into the boards, and he collapsed motionless to the ice.

This is not the first time a hit from behind resulted in catastrophic injury. But it should be the last. While hockey is a full-contact sport and minor injuries are par for the course, destruction of this magnitude should not occur or be accepted. All players, coaches, officials and administrators have a responsibility to ensure that checking from behind does not happen. It has no place in our sport.

At RB Hockey we believe hockey should be life-altering… but in a good way. It is a sport that builds confidence, character, and respect for opponents. But we feel strongly that player safety is paramount, more important even than a winning record. I ask that all coaches at RB Hockey and elsewhere regularly address the matter of checking from behind with your players, and for responsible refs to enforce such hits.

Checking from behind and other hits to a player in a vulnerable position is not the way we believe hockey should be played.

Rob Barletta, Owner, RB Hockey