No Checking in the OHL This Season

The Ontario Hockey League will move forward with a shortened 40-game season beginning on Feb. 4, but the games will be played under modified rules, which includes no bodychecking. Lisa MacLeod, Ontario’s minister of sport, announced the decision on Friday.

“Removing purposeful physical contact from the game was a necessary step to preventing the spread of COVID-19,” she told the Canadian Press.

MacLeod admitted that the decision was influenced by the number of COVID outbreaks in the QMJHL this fall.