By Moms for Jack’s Pledge

On Dec. 30, a check from behind caused Jack Jablonski to fly head first into the boards, resulting in a severe spinal cord injury of the Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School sophomore forward. Exactly one week after the Jablonski tragedy, girls’ high school player Jenna Privette was also seriously injured in a hockey game. Both lay in hospital beds at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC). As a result of these tragic incidents, the hockey community and hockey moms across the state are working to do their part to drive immediate changes to make hockey safer for children across Minnesota and the rest of the U.S.

The request from hockey moms – along with the Jablonski family – is simple: Let’s play by the rules as outlined in the USA Hockey rule book and enforce the strict interpretation of the rules as written, with referees calling penalties for boarding, checking from behind, head contact and charging – all infractions that can cause serious injury to players.

What was so eye-opening for us was cracking open the USA Hockey official rule book and understanding that the rules as outlined in the official rule book are not being enforced and that dangerous infractions like boarding are infrequently called.

What? That can’t be. The rules are the rules – how, when and why did this happen?

Many believe the shifts in recent years to a more physical game over the pure and beautiful sport as hockey is intended was driven by many factors. Referees, the enforcers of the rules, were somehow influenced to interpret the rules differently; players saw a window to “stretch the rules” more; coaches coached the physical style over skillful play; and parents and fans celebrated violent hits even more than goals.

The result: body checks are aimed at taking out players and causing harm versus playing the puck. It’s become a dangerous game for our kids. A game not played by the rules.

We can’t let that happen anymore.

Per the USA Hockey official rule book: The purpose of a body check is to separate the opponent from the puck. Any time a player delivers a check for the purpose of intimidating or punishing the opponent, and therefore causes the opponent to be driven excessively into the boards, a boarding penalty must be called. Boarding is defined as any player or goalkeeper who checks or pushes a defenseless opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to hit or impact the boards violently.

Who knew? Well, others did and now we hockey moms know too. These are our children, not NHL pros getting paid millions to knock each other around. They are not physically balanced college players who have reached maturity. They are kids – developing into their bodies ... their minds ... themselves.

It is our job as the adults overseeing this youth sport to ensure safety. We must rise up as a community to insist on change. It will take all of us – governing bodies, players, coaches, parents, fans and referees –to change the culture, to ensure safety and to shift this sport back to the skillful game it is intended to be.

“We aren’t asking to change the rules, just enforce them,” said our friend, Jack’s mom, Leslie Jablonski, at a press conference held Jan. 12, at HCMC with a group of individuals including her husband, Mike; 13-year-old son, Max, also a hockey player; Benilde-St. Margaret’s boys’ hockey head coach Ken Pauly; and hockey legend Lou Nanne – all calling for immediate changes in hockey to make it safe for our children that play the sport.

There is also strong support from governmental leaders including Governor Mark Dayton, Former Governor Tim Pawlenty and Senator Amy Klobuchar.

On Jan. 11, Minneapolis Storm, the youth association where Jack grew up playing hockey, launched Jack’s Pledge at jackspledge.com, a grassroots program aimed at aiding the shift to safer hockey – to play “Jack’s Way – by the rules, safe, smart and skillfully.”

In just 24 hours after the launch, more than 4,000 players, including about a dozen Minnesota youth associations and some outside the state, as well as college teams such as Minnesota Duluth and Nebraska-Omaha, have taken or are in the process of taking the pledge. Registration by hockey leaders (presidents of associations, head coaches) is helping jackspledge.com build a community of like-minded hockey influencers to continue the dialogue and to help drive change and make safer hockey stick.

The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) moved swiftly to react to these tragedies and put in place stiffer penalties for major, unsafe infractions, sending a strong message to players that dangerous play will not be tolerated. Beginning in games this week, penalties for three of the most dangerous infractions – checking from behind, boarding and head contact – will result in referees’ ability to call a five-minute major, putting the player’s team at greater risk of being scored on because it must play shorthanded for the duration. We hope that referees will call these as written in the rule book – always – and not let these infractions slide.

More is needed, by all of us.

If you are interested in driving the change for safer hockey and calling upon hockey associations across the state — and the nation — to take Jack’s Pledge, please register at jackspledge.com/communitysupport.  Checking the box “yes, I want to help” will indicate your willingness to join us in this important cause, and we’ll be in touch accordingly.