hockey injury by time in period

Being a hockey fan and a hockey player (just practice, never games) I do see that injuries occur more toward the end of a period...my guess (not a professional opinion) is because as you see the end of the period coming, you push yourself harder. You skate faster, you play more physically trying to make something happen before you run out of time. Anytime players are playing harder, injuries happen more frequently.

My take on it as a hockey mom is this - At the beginning of the game, the players are just playing without too much personality coming into it, but as the game goes on, they begin to have "issues" with other players - a shove here, a push there, hard boarding, unfair penalties etc., and it builds during the game. They are likely to get rougher the longer they play and the greater the likelihood of serious injury.

Maybe someone who has played the game will come along with a definitive answer for you.

My son plays and, my bro-in-law played in NHL for 15 years so here's my puck's worth...

The first few shifts per period are typically when the heaviest hits occur - players fired up, coaches railing at players during intermission to hit hard and often, carryover of hatred or revenge from previous shift/period/game, etc.

The line changes and shifts dictate hit rate not length of time on ice, 45 seconds is a long shift. A well balanced team with no line up impediments can appear to be as slick and fast at the end as at the outset.

Events dictate hits - A goal against; hits increase. A goal for; hits lessen. A dirty hit; more hits. Questioning an opponent's familial tree, retribution etc..

BTW my b-i-l played in third longest NHL game ever, lost 16 pounds by the end of game.

Does this help: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/114/6/e661

Can I also throw out there that the condition of the ice close to the end of the period could contribute to more injuries?

Just a thought, I'm not a pro, just a very big fan...

Michelle

With the right injury data, the statistical analysis is easy to make inferences about patterns.

hockey injuries

The injury itself would be an indication of when it happened chronologically in the game. As another poster mentioned, when the ice gets choppy towards the end of a period, a player can get his skate caught in a rut, leading to a leg injury. Concussions can happen at any time. It's just a case of the player being at the wrong place at the wrong time when he gets hit, or had his head down (see Lindros, Eric). That being said, you would probably be slightly less inclined to have this happen at the very beginning of a game. Very few serious injuries occur as a result of fighting, so the bad temper factor isn't that pronounced. Hope this helps.

Hey, thought-leadership, who is your brother in law?