WHL CONCLUDES ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Press Release

The WHL concluded its Annual Meeting today in Vancouver, where one of the highlights of the meetings was a report on the WHL Concussion Management Safety Program indicating that concussions were down over 20% overall during the 2012-13 season compared to the 2011-12 season. The reduced number of concussions is largely a result of the WHL’s Seven Point Plan, a comprehensive education and prevention program designed to reduce contact to the head and concussions, introduced prior to the 2011-12 season.

“We are very encouraged by the research indicating concussions are down significantly compared to previous seasons,”  WHL Commissioner Ron Robison commented. “We believe the Seven Point Plan has been very effective in addressing player safety overall and reducing the number of concussions on a league wide basis.”

Other matters adopted by the WHL Board of Governors in preparation for the 2013-14 season, included the following:

The use of video replay in the offensive zone to review goal situations when a player may have scored as a result of a hand pass or high stick.

A new computer assisted scheduling system. This year, the WHL will release its pre-season schedule for the 2013-14 season on Tuesday, June 25,  while the regular season schedule will be released the following day on Wednesday, June 26.

Other agenda items at the WHL Annual Meeting included a review of the WHL officiating  program; new goaltending development initiatives; and the hosting of the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup.

(Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)