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“It may be beneficial to keep people away from the boards or it may be harmful, only time will tell,” said Vickers.

She also said a player told her he didn’t like the line and felt he had to work harder to control the puck.

Photo by Jeff McIntosh / The Canadian Press

“If you put something unusual and different within the playing environment, that’s going to grab their attention and it’s also going to cause a difference in their behaviours,” said Vickers.

Kevin Kolbelka, executive director of Hockey Calgary, said he couldn’t comment on whether the look-up line would be beneficial, as he’s never seen a game or session where it’s been used, but did say Hockey Calgary has been taking measures to prevent injuries.

“Quite some time ago we mandated ‘stop’ signs on all jerseys,” said Kobelka in an email. The signs serve as a reminder for players to avoid checking each other from behind.

“We also continue to offer more non-body checking leagues. We have removed body checking in both bantam and midget from levels four and below, so basically about 50 per cent of our kids in the bantam and midget age groups play non-body-checking hockey.”

Vickers said more research would need to be done to determine whether using the look-up line would prevent injuries.

“There’s no other sport in the world that hits people against boards the way they do in ice hockey and it takes a toll, and so if something can be developed that shows it leads to a safer game, then I’m all for it.”

ajunker@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @JunkerAnna