Former NHL captain Bryce Salvador calls out youth hockey coach.

It seems as though a youth hockey coach has rubbed someone the wrong way, a story you've no doubt heard a thousand times before.

This time however the man who was irritated by the coach was not your typical hockey parent, but instead it was former National Hockey League captain Bryce Salvador. Salvador took to social media over the weekend to publish an impassioned rant in which he questioned what has happened to youth hockey culture.

From Salvador:

What is wrong with our youth hockey culture?

I just spent 10 mins on the ice holding the hand of a 12yr player I coach. He lay there motionless, crying that his back hurt, unable to move at all.

I ultimately called off the game as we waited until the ambulance came. (we were winning 4-1 with a 1min left in the semi-final game)

With the traumatic toll weighing on my 12-year players about the health of their teammate, I then decided we would forfeit the final game.

What happened next is unbelievable. The coach of the team that we were scheduled to play in the finals couldn't believe that we were not going to play the final game because I felt it was unethical to put 12yrs back on the ice again that day.

He insisted that we still have enough players to play... "...what, you are just going leave?"

YES! I need to see how the player is doing! Where is empathy anymore?

I will play a little devil's advocate here, although I agree wholeheartedly with the point being made by the former NHL captain here. The coach on the other team also has a group of kids to worry about, and I can certainly empathize with the disappointment those young men no doubt felt upon learning that they would not get to play in the championship game. I would like to believe his frustration came from a good place, but perhaps that's being too generous.

Salvador ended off his rant by imploring parents to put the health and safety of their children first, reminding them that they are not professional athletes. Again from Salvador:

Families in the hockey community, please, please...

Playing a game when the kids are only 12 & their mental-emotion health is not good IS DANGEROUS and RECKLESS. They are not professional hockey players.

I end this as I started, what is wrong with our youth hockey culture?

The good news from this is that it sounds like the young man who suffered the injury and was carted away in an ambulance is going to be ok. Salvador did not want to share any personal details regarding the young man or his medical condition, but did say that things were looking very positive for a full recovery.