Safety in Canadian Junior Ice Hockey: The Association Between Ice Surface Size and Injuries and Aggressive Penalties in the Ontario Hockey League

OBJECTIVETo investigate the associations between ice surface size and injuries and aggressive penalties in Canadian junior hockey. DESIGNInjury (all injuries and neurotraumas) and penalty data (aggressive and nonaggressive) were categorized into the ice surface size on which they occurredlarger than standard (LTS), standard (S), and smaller than standard (STS). PARTICIPANTSThere were 328 injury records and 538 penalty records collected for all 16 teams in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) during the 1993–94 season. The OHL is a junior A league comprised of amateur players aged ∼16–20 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREIn the absence of any evidence, the null hypotheses of no association between injuries and ice surface size and penalties and ice surface size were tested. RESULTSThe rates of injury per game were inversely related to ice surface sizes (95% confidence intervalsLTS, 0.33 ± 0.20; S0.58 ± 0.08; and STS, 0.76 ± 0.06). The associations for all of the paired comparisons of these rates with ice surface size were statistically significant (p < 0.01). Neurotraumas per game and aggressive penalty rates showed no significant relationship with ice surface size (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONSIt was concluded that ice surface size is a risk factor to consider in assessing overall injury rate. The larger the ice surface is, the lower is the rate of injury. It appears that the medical community was correct in suspecting ice surface size as a factor in creating a safer environment for ice hockey players. Penalty data do not appear to be important factors in relation to ice surface size.