Junior hockey vies to rid game of enforcers

by Rob Peters | March 31, 2008 at 12:45 pm

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Junior hockey rosters may be cut by two players next May to encourage teams to keep mostly skill players instead of enforcers.

Think it's a necessary measure to curb violence in the sport, or is it just a knee-jerk reaction to last week's Jonathan Roy incident?

CALGARY - A new plan to cut junior rosters could help reduce fighting and on-ice violence, says Canada's top hockey boss.

Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson said trimming teams from 23 to 21 players - a proposal expected to be adopted in May after the Memorial Cup - will pressure teams to focus on talent instead of keeping a player whose primary role is providing muscle.

"You're going to want to have as many skilled players dressed as you can," Nicholson said from his Calgary home.

The change was discussed in Toronto late last week in the wake of a national uproar over accusations hockey icon Patrick Roy sent his son Jonathan, a backup goaltender with the Quebec Remparts, to pummel the opposing netminder in a brawl late in the second period of a playoff game.

The senior Roy, coach and part-owner of the Remparts, was suspended by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for five games, while the younger Roy was suspended for seven.

The incident has re-ignited debate over fighting and violence in hockey. It has been replayed countless times on television, while versions of the fight on YouTube have attracted 1.5 million hits.