In one of the games I happened to be covering, there was what appeared to be a pretty ugly boarding play in one of the corners.  I cringed when I saw it and having just witnessed my son take a similar shot into the boards a season earlier, I was on edge.  From our view point,  the EMT was extremely slow in getting out on the ice and the coach was attending to the player for quite awhile.  Luckily, the player ended being fine.  The EMT ran him through concussion protocol near the bench and he returned to play later that same period.  But here’s where it gets messy.  I made some assumptions about what was happening and I was dead wrong. 

In a firestorm of social media posts and my subsequent “Random Hockey Thoughts,” I scorched the IHSHA for not providing medical coverage during the tournament.  Unfortunately, in all of my righteous fury, I failed to touch base and find out what was truly happening before I stood on the pulpit and delivered my judgment.  Had I chosen to gather more information, I would have been able to tell our readers that the established protocol is for the coach to take the ice first, attend to the player, and then call for the league provided EMT if necessary.  Looking back, this is exactly what happened and once they got the player back to the bench, the EMT was able to do a thorough evaluation before allowing the player to return to the ice.  This was all missed by yours truly as I was ranting and raving about the lack of medical coverage.

To the people and volunteers of the IHSHA that work hard to support high school hockey, you have my deepest apologies.  We’ve been in your shoes and we know how much time you put into the game and how thankless it can be. 

It’s easy to get caught up in the games.  Being fans ourselves, the emotion is infectious, whether it’s the cheering or the booing.  Couple this with the desire to make our Hoosier version of the game the very best it can be, and our passion is unbridled.  INHockey.net owes it to the Hoosier Hockey Faithful to make sure that passion remains directed at growing hockey in Indiana. 

Whether it’s through sharing information, bringing visibility to the various programs or just providing some (accurate) color commentary, INHockey.net is here to support the Hoosier hockey community. 

Right after we serve this two minute roughing penalty….            

We launched INHockey.net in October of 2016 and it’s been a wild ride so far.  We never expected to have almost three thousand visitors a month, much less during the off season, and especially not before we were a year old.  So, it’s pretty clear that Hoosiers are starving to know what's going on with the local hockey scene and we’re feeding that hunger with rankings, news, important dates, and a host of original content.  Bookmark us and make sure to stop by often so you can get your dose of Hoosier Hockey Action!