Things Were Getting So Wild In Newfoundland Post-Game Hockey Handshakes Just Got Banned

Hockey handshakes are one of the more iconic shows of sportsmanship, but are no more in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

According to the Associated Press, Hockey NL, the sport's governing body, announced the decision to ban post-game handshakes after a series of "issues" at youth hockey games.

You can probably surmise what those issues were. Sometimes the heat of battle spills over into the handshake line. The whole point of which is supposed to be a display of sportsmanship.

You'd think that this would be something coaches would police and not tolerate any shenanigans in the handshake line. That's what I thought, and that's what Alan Letang, the head coach of Team Canada at the World Junior Championship thinks too.

"It's disappointing,” Letang said. “There’s a respect and camaraderie in sports. You can go out and compete hard against someone, but at the end of the game it’s, ‘Great game, great job.’ Respect goes both ways. If I was coaching a team and stuff like that happened, you wouldn’t put up with it.”

Well put. Sweden's head coach Magnus Havelid echoed those sentiments.

“Tough to hear ... it’s sad,” he said. “It’s important for coaches of young players to say, ‘What happens when you play those 60 minutes, that’s one thing. But after, it’s finished.’”

Still, these issues must have been common enough that officials decided enough was enough and banned the practice.

However, they came up with a new, not-at-all-awkward alternative: pregame handshakes.

Now, the protocol will call for the visiting team to skate by the home team's bench for a quick handshake or fist bump before the puck drops.

The plan for after the game now is for officials to usher both teams off the ice.

Team USA and Team Canada are probably the biggest rivals in women's hockey but here are they shaking hands with no issues because they're adults. (Photo by Gary A. Vasquez/NHLI via Getty Images)

Lazy Problem Solving Is To Blame For Banning Handshakes

That's a real bummer. I get that they don't want all the nonsense, but this isn't the way to instill the values of sportsmanship in kids. It's just lazy adults who are sick of dealing with it.

Believe me, I understand that. However, all too often these days, this is how modern problem-solving works. They had issues during handshakes so they banned handshakes. That's how dumb lazy people solve problems.

Why not look a level or two deeper and figure out why these things are happening and address those? Well, because that would take time and effort. That's because the underlying issues that caused the handshake problem will continue to exist whether there are handshakes or not. People will still be mad at the officials or players. So, if and when those "issues" move from the handshake line to the locker room or parking lot, then what do you do? Do you ban those too?

It's just laziness, and that's a shame because it's the kids who pay the price for the laziness.

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