Hockey groups across the country are looking for ways to manage runaway scores in a bid to keep the sport fun for kids.

The issue swelled for the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario after a team of eight-year-olds from Kitchener crushed a squad from Cambridge 41-0 last month.

The lopsided score was very unusual, but the group still is considering a variety of measures to prevent a similar situation, said executive director Tony Martindale.

Those measures could include new rules or guidelines, and revisiting how the teams are split up based on skill, he said.

B次元官网网址淥ur biggest thing here is that we donB次元官网网址檛 want to turn kids off of hockey,B次元官网网址� Martindale said. B次元官网网址漌e want hockey to be a life-long adventure for the kids.B次元官网网址�

The Kitchener-Cambridge game didnB次元官网网址檛 result in a barrage of complaints, he added, likely because the coaches found a way to keep it fun for the young athletes.

The winning team also implemented some rules to try and slow the pace when the score began to balloon, including requiring players to pass at least five times before shooting the puck.

Hockey Canada recommends that players under the age of nine play half-ice games and that no score is kept.

No one from Hockey Canada was made available to discuss the guidelines.

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Groups across the country use various rules for young players, with the Ontario Hockey Federation saying keeping score is optional for eight-year-old (novice) hockey. Hockey Alberta and BC Hockey do not keep score for teams made up of kids eight and under.

Young players should be learning skills like passing and how to be part of a team, not focusing on the score or who has how many goals, said Brad Lyon, spokesman for Hockey Alberta.

B次元官网网址淲e want to make sure that when those players are coming into their first or second year of hockey, that theyB次元官网网址檝e had fun, that theyB次元官网网址檙e coming off the ice smiling, that theyB次元官网网址檝e had the opportunity to learn and most of all, that they want to come back next week and next year and hopefully decades into the future,B次元官网网址� he said.

Hockey Alberta is also working on creating a standardized tiering system to better manage discrepancies in skill level and help teams determine what theyB次元官网网址檒l be up against in any given tournament.

B次元官网网址淢is-matches do happen. We know there can be those big scores. So weB次元官网网址檙e trying to reduce it,B次元官网网址� Lyon said.

Standardized tiering is also used in B.C., where most member associations donB次元官网网址檛 post more than a five-goal deficit on any scoreboard, BC Hockey CEO Barry Petrachenko said in a statement.

The group is also encouraging associations to redistribute players or teams if play is lopsided.

Martindale said his group is reviewing how and when teams are split into skill-based tiers.

Currently, the teams play a few games before the process starts. They will look at whether there is a way to do the tiering before the season begins, Martindale said.

The Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario does not currently have rules or guidelines around blowout scores, he said, and may consider putting some in place for the future.

But itB次元官网网址檚 unlikely any regulations would include a B次元官网网址渕ercy rule,B次元官网网址� where the game would end if one team were winning by a set margin. That could lead to valuable ice time going unused, Martindale said.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檇 rather see us throw the sticks in the middle and have the kids play,B次元官网网址� he said, referring to how teams are often picked in street hockey.

B次元官网网址淎t the end of the day, itB次元官网网址檚 about development and it should be about making friends and it should be about player experience.B次元官网网址�

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press

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