PWHL players face uncertainty over body contact rules

Article content

While jersey colours on PWHL players have changed like leaves in autumn, one shade that remains the same is the section of the league’s rulebook that deals with body contact.

It’s still very much a grey area.

A committee that includes players is focused on finalizing a consistent definition of what constitutes a penalty when one player takes out another, as it stands fans can’t rightfully boo at referees for missing a call because they don’t know what’s allowed and what isn’t.

Article content

The same can be said for the women on the ice.

“I have no idea,” said Mannon McMahon, an impressive 23-year-old forward from Maple Grove, Minn., who the Charge selected in the fifth round of last June’s draft. “I feel like when I get into my first game it will be like being thrown into the fire and I’ll have to figure out my own boundaries.”
“It’s definitely a figuring out process. “

For rookies and veterans alike.

“I think it’s something we’re still trying to figure out,” forward Gabby Hughes said when asked what players are allowed to get away with when getting physical with an opponent. “Last year was the first year for everybody, and I think we were continuously trying to work out kinks. Each week we were getting ‘this should be called, this shouldn’t be called’’ … it’s continuously growing to see what they wanted us to be able to play physicality-wise, and what they didn’t want to let go. (The committee) is really advocating for clearer rules, and I think there will be, for fans and us.”

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play Video

The Charge will get a chance to see where things stand this week with two exhibition games — against the Boston Fleet on Thursday afternoon and the Montreal Victoire 24 hours later — during a mini-camp being held at Arena Denis Savard in the Verdun Auditorium, 15 minutes south of downtown Montreal.

Article content

Article content

Realizing a shortcoming from last season, Charge coach Carla MacLeod has harped on the importance of her players being more physical and harder to play against since the team gathered at TD Place last week to prepare for Year 2.

What instructions does she give them in terms of acceptable body play?

“That they have every chance to be physical,” said MacLeod. “Where you got to be a little bit careful is along the boards, when the numbers are showing. They called that really consistently last year for all the right reasons. Those are dangerous. The other side of that is making sure our players are ready for that contact, even if their numbers are showing. You’ve got to be sturdy. You got to be ready.

“So just getting them more comfortable that way, and just recognizing that you can always skate through a person’s hands, you can always kind of push at them face to face. They’re letting all that go. So just embracing the opportunities that you know are for sure green lights, and then the grey area will become more black and white as we get going in games, and refs start calling things, and the league keeps communicating on where we’re going with the physicality.”

Article content

But there’s no open ice hitting allowed …. right?

“Not yet,” said MacLeod, before adding, “We don’t know.

“There’s not supposed to be, but there’s still going to be open-ice contact. You’re just not going to see those big, big blow-ups. We know they’re going to call those. They called them last year, but there’s a lot of opportunity to still, we call it ‘disrupt’ the player in those moments. You don’t blow them up. You just disrupt their flow, so they’ve got to reroute them themselves. Those are the variables we’ve been working on.”

If MacLeod had problems with any calls from officials last season, the incidents were isolated and didn’t cause her to stand on the bench screaming or throw a pile of sticks on the ice.

In fact, she commends the job done by the folks wearing stripes.

“The refs were no different than us in Year 1, it was their first year too,” said MacLeod. “They’re coming in from different leagues, they’re flipping rulebooks and I think what we got out of our refs was really impressive. I have no doubt the league will continue to better define, especially the body-checking piece, because that’s the unique piece to us that we’re adapting to. And just with time, no different than me as a coach or them as a player, the refs are going to settle in too and get to know sort of where the boundaries are.

Article content

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play Video

“It’s a learning curve there, and we’ll continue to have good conversations with them to make sure that what they’re calling and seeing is what we’re communicating to our players, and it’s what we can practice. I think there’s a communication piece from us to the refs as well to make sure that we’re teaching the right way.”

Meanwhile, MacLeod is looking forward to the exhibition games in Montreal as much as the players.

“I think the exciting part is you get the right jerseys out there … our crew in one colour, and the other team in another,” she said “It’s an opportunity to actually see where we’re at. From our coaching staff’s perspective, it’s going to give us a line of sight to the variables we’ve been working on here at camp, to see how it flows in a game against a real opponent who’s trying to break you down. So I think it’s just going to really teach us a lot about ourselves. And that’s the most exciting part.”

Article content