What have we done ?

1, Coaching Techniques
The best method of decreasing the risk of cervical spine injuries is to tell players that they should cushion their collision with the boards or goal posts with any part of the body other than the head. If head contact is unavoidable, then players should keep their heads up, so that the brunt of the collision is taken on the forehead or facemask.
HEADS UP, hands up, DON' T DUCK !

Checking from behind has been implicated in almost a third of these injuries in a Canadian study. Coaches should emphasize to their players the danger of severe injury when a player checks another player from behind.

Coaches should emphasize neck strengthening and flexibility exercises. These exercises are available in a brochure produced by the Canadian Hockey Association and Cooper.

Body checking is part of the game of ice hockey, but not the only part. Skating, shooting, passing, and puck handling are also part of the game. We sometimes forget that the purpose of body checking is to separate the player from the puck, NOT to separate the player from consciousness.

2, Playing Rule Changes
Checking from behind can result in a major penalty and a game misconduct.
NO CHECKING FROM BEHIND.
The goal lines have been moved out, from ten feet from the back boards to 12 to 15 feet from the back boards. This extra distance behind the goal net is thought to offer less opportunity for the player to make catastrophic contact with the boards.

3, Protective Equipment
There is no equipment that will help to decrease the risk of a cervical spine injury. Helmets may reduce concussions, but helmets will not decrease spinal injuries.
Neck laceration protectors will NOT protect the player from this type of injury. Football helmets do not protect football players from sustaining cervical spine injuries.

4, Awareness Program
Players, parents, coaches, referees, and administrators must be aware that catastrophic cervical spine injuries can occur, due to the collision of the players with the boards, other players, the ice, or the goal posts. All members of the hockey community should view the videotape "Checking From Behind" or "Smart Hockey with Mike Bossy" every year before the hockey season.

What can we do ?

Decreasing injuries - the process
recognize that an injury is a problem
analyze the cause of the injury
establish preventive measures
implement these measures

Decreasing injuries - the specifics
coaching techniques
playing rule changes
protective equipment
awareness program

ICE HOCKEY

Ice hockey is a contact sport that has been described as the fastest contact sport in the world, played on a slippery surface, with players moving about on sharp pieces of steel, carrying long sticks, attacking a small disk of rubber.

The object of ice hockey is somewhat different than the contact sports of boxing and football, but contact does occur... contact between players, contact with the players and the puck or stick, contact with the players and the goal posts, boards, and the ice surface. Injuries can and will occur.
However,

Neck injuries occur when a player's head makes contact with the boards, goal posts, or with another player with the neck slightly flexed (chin near chest). This flexion results in the neck vertebrae being lined up in a straight line, allowing the compressive force to be distributed along the cervical vertebrae. This force is called axial compression, and can result in the fracture or breaking of one of the cervical vertebrae. When the vertebra breaks, it can cause compression on the spinal cord, resulting in  paralysis below the level of the fracture. This is a burst fracture which occurs most often when the neck is in flexion.  A player does not have to be going at full speed for this injury to occur it can occur at walking speed . It is very uncommon for this injury to occur when the neck is hyper extended.

             1) NEUTRAL                                              2) FLEXION