1) The purpose of a body check is to separate an opponent from the puck...
- Paul Stewart
I don't know that I completely agree with this. Playing college hockey myself, our coach always preached to "hit to hurt, but not to injure." The idea being that you want to make a player think twice before carrying that puck along the boards across the blue line, or to second guess trying to force those last few feet before the center line to dump the puck in. You always hear the color guys on TV saying how hits are going to "pay dividends" later in a game or a playoff series. You shouldn't try to be taking someone out of a game with a hit, but you should make it so he's a little sore waking up in the morning.
I completely agree that there are times that players go way too far in "finishing their check," and dole out hits that are completely reckless and unacceptable, but to say that the only time you should play the body is to separate an opponent from the puck is simply not true. There is a happy medium somewhere between the two.
