By Dan Marshall

Full cages introduced in junior hockey on Vancouver Island, but not Nanaimo

Aug 16, 2017 | 11:15 AM

NANAIMO — The issue of full cages in junior hockey was brought to the forefront this week, with the VIJHL’s Peninsula Panthers announcing all of their players would be required to wear the full shields this season.
 
Improved player safety is the reason behind the move, specifically the reduction of facial and dental injuries.
 
Peninsula will be the only Junior A or Junior B team in Western Canada to impose the full cage rule.
 
BC Hockey is the governing body for amateur hockey in the province, and while they support the move there will not be any regulations imposed at the junior level.
 
Minor hockey players do have to wear cages until they reach junior and players who advance to NCAA college hockey are obliged to wear full shields at that level too.
 
The Nanaimo Buccaneers, who also play in the VIJHL, will not be forcing their players to go to full cages.
 
Team owner Brenda Levesque says the Bucs aren’t against the idea, but she wants to see Hockey Canada give direction on the issue to all junior teams.
 
BCHL commissioner John Grisdale says moving to full face shields is not on the radar of that league for the team being.
 
The league, that includes the Junior A Nanaimo Clippers, has introduced a concussion protocol though.
 
Grisdale says HeadCheck Health has partnered with the BCHL to perform concussion tests. 
 
“All of our players coming and going from the league in 2017-18 will undergo a concussion baseline test,” said Grisdale.
 
The league will also administer post-injury and return-to-play testing as well.
 
Once hockey season begins in September the Peninsula Panthers will become a case study.
 
Whether it’s individual teams, leagues, BC Hockey, or Hockey Canada, the Panthers experiment will give the junior hockey world some answers on what it’s like to play with full shields.
 
Player safety is high on the list for all of those organizations, but a unified approach on how to achieve that will have to wait.
 
 
dan@nanaimonewsnow.com
 
On twitter: @danmarshall77