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Injury Incidence Before and After the Introduction of Body Checking in Elite Women's Ice Hockey: A Six-Season
Amanda Lahti1,2, Emelie Stenman3,4, Anton Grundberg3,4
1Center for Primary Health Care Research, Department of Clinical Sciences, Clinical Research Centre, Lund University, Box 50332, 202 13, Malmö, Sweden. Amanda.lahti@med.lu.se.
Background:
In 2022, the Swedish Women's Elite Ice Hockey League (SDHL) became the first women's league to introduce bodychecking. Using insurance data, this study examined injury incidence before and after the implementation of this rule.
Method:
Since 2019, the SDHL has comprised 10 teams with 20-25 players on each. All players in SDHL have license insurance to take care of ice hockey injuries. All injuries that lead to contact with the insurance company are registered in a database. The insurance covers accidental injuries occurring during matches, organized team practices, hockey school sessions, and direct travel to and from these activities. Injury data from all seasons between 2019-2020 and 2024-2025 were analyzed. Injury rates (IR) per 1,000 player-game hours were calculated and compared across seasons and between pre-implementation (2019-2022) and post-implementation (2022-2025) periods.
Results:
A total of 120 injuries were recorded among 92 players. IR per 1,000 player-game hours increased from 6.6 (95% CI 3.8-10.7) in season 2021-2022 to 16.7 (11.6-23.2) in 2022-2023, with moderately elevated rates remaining in subsequent seasons. When grouped by period before and after body checking implementation, IR increased from 6.0 (4.4-8.1) pre-implementation to 11.0 (8.6-13.7) post-implementation (p < 0.05). The injury incidence was highest during the first season with body checking and declined in subsequent seasons compared with this initial post-implementation peak.
Conclusions:
The introduction of body checking in the SDHL was associated with a significant increase in injuries recorded through the insurance system, indicating that this rule change may lead to a higher injury burden. More research on this topic is needed if body checking is to be widely incorporated into women's ice hockey.
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