Canadian hockey league officially changes handshake line policy and fans are not happy

Make no mistake about it, the hockey world is changing for better or worse. In the past few years we’ve seen the NHL make strides to be more inclusive of women and minorities within the sport. Minor hockey associations are removing hurtful words like “Midget” from their vernacular. While it’s though to condemn these types of decisions, you can’t help but wonder what the future has for this sport. Hockey is traditionally a blue collar, take no prisoners sport. It’s rough, rude, dirty and that’s why we love it.

You can drop the gloves with your opponent, bash their brains in, but at the end of the day we all shake hands and leave it all on the ice. Right? Well… we used to. 

New Brunswick Hockey announced earlier today that it is changing its policy regarding post-game handshakes, mandating that teams conduct the sign of sportsmanship BEFORE a game, rather than after.

Check it out:

Excuse me? Doesn’t that diminish the entire point of the handshake line to begin with? 

The whole point is to set everything aside, take a deep breath and show respect for the sport and your opponent. You may hate your opponent, but without them there is no game. You can even HATE your opponent, but when the final buzzer goes that all ends. Win or lose, you shake hands and you hold your head high.

“With only two minutes left in the game, we have 107 suspensions issued this year,” Martin told CTV Atlantic. “Plus the incidents after the game, when the game is finished, we’ve got 25 suspensions this year.”

“We’re not the only level to do this. If you look at New Brunswick Central Midget Hockey League … they do the handshake before the game for the last 10 years,” said Martin. “If you look around the country … we know the Ontario Minor hockey is doing the handshake before the game also there.”

Maybe I’m just out of touch? I can't get on board with ANY of this. I understand that it will diminish altercations and suspensions, but can we not use those instances as an opportunity to teach our children about the virtues of sportsmanship?