Analyzing the Relationship Between Aggression, Rule Violations, and Head Contact Events in Canadian Competitive Minor Bodychecking Hockey.

BACKGROUND Hockey is an immensely popular sport in Canada, especially among youth participants. Despite evidence on the rates and risk of head injuries, especially in bodychecking contexts, little research has explored how and why injury occurs in gameplay through video observational methods.

OBJECTIVE To understand whether head contact (HC) events occur in youth bodychecking hockey as a result of play execution according to the rules, or result from violent and/or aggressive play.

STUDY DESIGN Descriptive observational video analysis.

METHODS Verified head impact data from bodychecking minor hockey in Eastern Ontario at AA/AAA levels were used. In total, 249 verified head impacts were available for analysis across 48 under-15 (U15) and under-18 (U18) games. A comprehensive video analysis of head impacts was conducted to identify whether play was: (1) penalty vs no penalty; and (2) aggressive vs nonaggressive. Penalties were evaluated based on rule definition through video analysis, rather than the referee's call on the ice. Similarly, 4 contextual definitions for aggressive/nonaggressive gameplay behaviors were established for analysis.

RESULTS Amongst the highest levels in U15 and U18 bodychecking hockey, our results demonstrate that most HC events (~68%) were the outcome of nonaggressive play and within the rules of the sport (~67%).

CONCLUSION Key findings from this study identify that HC events are mainly a result of legal and nonaggressive hockey gameplay. While the rules do penalize aggressive play, these same rules do not prevent HC from occurring in bodychecking hockey.

RELEVANCE This study adds to existing knowledge by identifying contextual factors related to potential injury events (HC) through video analysis in youth bodychecking hockey. This explains why injuries may happen, and assists in shifting research efforts towards injury prevention rather than simply documenting rates.