Coping resources and strategies of Canadian ice-hockey players: An empirical National Hockey League career model

Sport psychology researchers have studied careers of Canadian ice hockey players in the National Hockey League (NHL) and devised an empirical NHL career model. The model was comprised of career stages, statuses, demands and barriers to career progression without any indication of coping. The intent in the present article is to feature coping resources and strategies utilized by players during each status and career stage within the empirical model. Five rookies, 5 veterans, and 13 retirees participated in conversational interviews and the data underwent a deductive thematic analysis. Prospects seeking to gain entry into the NHL set controllable expectations rather than playing to impress coaches and staff. Most prospects played in the minor leagues where they adjusted their expectations to accept roles that they were likely to have during an NHL call-up. The career stage of developing as an NHL player was about rookies producing immediately in their role while holding off internal competition for their roster spot. In the same stage, sophomores were in their second full NHL season and they studied their opponents to avoid the sophomore slump. The stage of reaching the NHL elite involved constant pressure for point production and winning playoff games. The final stage was about seasoned veterans maintaining NHL play involvement by preserving their physique despite being worn down from long careers in a contact sport. The authors will discuss the significance of the model for sport psychology researchers and practitioners, and NHL stakeholders.

Forearm Flexor Injuries Among Major League Baseball Players: Epidemiology, Performance, and Associated Injuries

Background: Despite evidence highlighting the importance of the forearm flexor muscles of elite baseball players, no studies have reported on the epidemiology of flexor strains and their associated outcomes. Purpose: To examine the incidence, associated injuries, and outcomes associated with forearm flexor injuries among major and minor league baseball players. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Injury data attributed to forearm flexor injuries among Major League Baseball (MLB) and minor league teams between 2010 and 2014 were obtained from the professional baseball Health and Injury Tracking System. This analysis included the number of players injured, seasonal timing of injury, days spent on the disabled list (DL), preinjury performance data, and subsequent injuries. Results: A total of 134 and 629 forearm flexor injuries occurred in MLB and the minor leagues, respectively. The mean player age was 28.6 and 22.8 years in the MLB and minor leagues, respectively. The mean time spent on the DL for MLB players was 117.0 days, as opposed to 93.9 days in the minor leagues ( P = .272). Interestingly, pitcher performance declined in all categories examined leading up to the season of injury, with significant differences in walks plus hits per inning pitched ( P = .04) and strike percentage ( P = .036). Of MLB players with a forearm injury, subsequent injuries included 50 (37.3%) shoulder, 48 (35.8%) elbow, and 24 (17.9%) forearm injuries. Among injured minor league players, subsequent injuries included 170 (27.0%) shoulder, 156 (24.8%) elbow, and 83 (13.2%) forearm injuries. These rates of subsequent injuries were significantly higher compared with the rates of injuries sustained among players without forearm injuries in both leagues ( P < .001). Finally, 26 (19.4%) MLB and 56 (8.9%) minor league players required an ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, rates that were significantly higher compared with players without a flexor strain ( P < .001). Conclusion: Flexor-pronator injuries are responsible for considerable time spent on the DL for elite players in MLB and the minor leagues. The most significant findings of this investigation illustrate that a flexor strain may be a significant risk factor for subsequent upper extremity injuries, including an ulnar collateral ligament tear.

‘If You Don’t Want to Get Hurt, Don’t Play Hockey’: The Uneasy Efforts of Hockey Injury Prevention in Canada

Ice hockey is known for its speed, skill and aggression. This paper uses an analyses of injuries in boys’ minor leagues and primary documents to examine competing discourses that surround participant safety which give meaning to broader hockey practices. We problematize a prevailing discourse that preserves the physicality of Canadian hockey and an emerging reverse discourse that prioritizes player safety. Theoretically informed by Foucault’s concepts of discourse, knowledge and power relations, we interpret the relationships between these two competing discursive streams which have created a public controversy, particularly concerning body checking, and intensified a polarizing national debate. Ultimately, we argue that these discourses impact the implementation of progressive injury prevention initiatives in minor hockey and youth sport.Le hockey sur glace est réputé pour être rapide, technique et violent. Cet article utilise une analyse des blessures et documents de ligues mineures masculines afin d’examiner les discours qui circulent à propos de la sécurité des participants et qui sont reliés aux pratiques plus générales du sport. Nous mettons en évidence un discours dominant qui préserve la physicalité du hockey canadien et un discours contraire émergeant qui priorise la sécurité des joueurs. En nous appuyant au niveau théorique sur les concepts foucaldiens de discours, savoir et relations de pouvoir, nous interprétons les relations entre ces deux courants discursifs en compétition qui ont créé une controverse publique, particulièrement en ce qui concerne les mises en échec, et intensifié un débat national polarisé. En bout de ligne, nous avançons que ces discours influencent l’implantation d’initiatives progressistes de prévention des blessures dans le hockey mineur et le sport pour les jeunes.