Kilrea unsure about an OHL without bodychecking
The Killer is having a hard time stomaching the idea of the Ontario Hockey League without hitting.
During his 29 years behind the bench of the Ottawa 67’s, Brian Kilrea coached his teams to “win the battles,” but, if the provincial government has its way, that won’t be the case for Ontario Hockey League clubs this season. Lisa MacLeod, Ontario’s minister of sport, confirmed Friday that, if the OHL was determined to return to play as of Feb. 4, it would so with a ban on bodychecking because of the risk of the spread of COVID-19.
“Our public-health officials have been clear. Prolonged or deliberate contact while playing sports is not permitted. We will continue to work with (the OHL) on a safe return to play,” MacLeod, a Nepean MPP, tweeted Friday night.
On Saturday night, though, Premier Doug Ford said in a tweet that the government would work with the OHL on “a safe return to play plan, which will need to be approved by health experts. To date no decisions have been made. I would like to see the OHL return as normal as possible with body checking.”
Kilrea, the former 67’s GM and coach was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 2003, is having a hard time understanding why this stance has been taken. Yes, it’s better than the alternative, but he can’t begin to imagine what the game will look like without players finishing their checks.
“Well, over the years, I think I had a couple of teams that played that way,” the 86-year-old Kilrea cracked Saturday afternoon.
All jokes aside, Kilrea wonders how OHL general managers, coaches and players would make this work? You can’t just tell a player who’s been trained to play the game physically to stop finishing checks, especially in the defensive zone. Kilrea believes OHL commissioner David Branch, who’s also the head of the Canadian Hockey League, is saying all the right things and “playing by the rules because right now he doesn’t have a choice.”
For now, Kilrea has more questions than answers.
“It’s going to be tough on the players, especially defencemen. The puck is in the corner and you’re racing for the puck … what do you do if the other guy’s ahead of you? Do you have to let him get the puck? It’s going to be very, very difficult,” Kilrea said. “Would it be more difficult if they didn’t play? I don’t know.”
If a player doesn’t make the right play physically, it usually results in a scoring chance for an opponent. Life will be pretty difficult for goalies, too.