Swedish Women’s Hockey League to OK body checking for 2022-23 season

The Swedish Women’s Hockey League will let overall body checking following period, although it stays banned by the Global Ice Hockey Federation for women’s online games.

The SDHL declared on Friday that it is implementing a pilot system for the 2022-23 period, allowing for sure sorts of hits, these kinds of as together the boards. 1 check out that remains prohibited is a “north-south” open-ice strike.

“We have tried to pursue the examining situation prior to at IIHF but have not been heard. It feels inspiring that we now make a determination for our possess league and not only pave the way for Swedish women’s hockey but for the whole women’s hockey planet,” claimed Gizela Ahlgren Bloom, the sports activities manager for the SDHL, in a assertion. “A large the vast majority of the gamers have also been good about testing this, so we assume this will switch out perfectly and that even much more persons will want to go to the arenas and check out definitely entertaining hockey.”

The SDHL said it created this determination with the Zero Eyesight challenge that has aimed to prevent concussions in Swedish hockey. In accordance to the league, the past 4 seasons have noticed an increase in bodily play and the incidence of concussions has essentially diminished by 75%. It cites better on-ice recognition and alterations to how gamers interact physically on the ice as elements.

“In recent seasons, we have introduced far more bodily enjoy with the ambition of being capable to open up for checking in SDHL,” claimed Ahlgren Bloom.

The IIHF has banned examining in women’s hockey considering the fact that all around 1992. Any player that delivers a check out to an opponent in a IIHF-sanctioned video game can be provided a minor, main or match penalty. There is entire body get in touch with permitted in pursuit of the puck, but players are prohibited from using the board to “make speak to with an opponent to remove her from the engage in, force her into the boards, or pin her together the boards. All of these steps show an absence of interest in attaining possession of the puck.”

Sweden countrywide staff head coach Ulf Lundberg informed SVT that permitting hitting in the SDHL will make for more durable players in intercontinental games. “Global online games are rough, and to be closer to the level of other nations around the world, we need to have to get a lot more toughness in the sport. I think we get far more creativeness in the game,” he explained.

David Bergman, head of officiating in the SDHL, explained that legalized checking will make it a lot easier for referees to officiate games.

The pilot system will also be applied in Damettan, Sweden’s second-tier women’s hockey league.