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First Posted: 5/30/2013 The willful blindness in hockey at all levels toward concussions has diminished. Hockey Canada, the governing body for minor hockey, has followed the lead of USA Hockey in barring bodychecking below age 13, down from 11. 
What happened to hockey&#8217;s greatest star, Sidney Crosby, a year lost to a head injury in which the game&#8217;s (and his own) willful blindness almost certainly put him at severe risk, opened the eyes of hockey people everywhere.
 This country&#8217;s children have been facing similar risks at early ages, and Hockey Canada had to confront a powerful strain in the country&#8217;s psyche to make the rule change; the attachment to bodychecking from an early age is part of what makes Canadian hockey what it is. 
Many Canadian hockey parents and coaches have argued for years that bodychecking at early ages is necessary to ensure that players can do it safely at older ages. 
True or not (Hockey Canada says it couldn&#8217;t find evidence for it), there may be a safer way to teach hitting than to make younger players pay the price for it in head injuries. When USA Hockey changed its rules for the 2011-12 season, it also created bodychecking-education programs that will be mandatory for all coaches, including those teaching players in the pre-checking ages.
Change has been a constant in Canada&#8217;s game, and the change in the bodychecking age sends the clearest message yet to coaches and parents that player safety is paramount in the game.
The Globe and Mail

<p style="text-align:center;">A safer future for hockey