[Analysis of the behavior of the coach in relation to violence in minor league hockey].

The purpose of this study was to verify if, during games, the behavior of ice hockey coaches at the bantam level tends to incite players to use roughness and to infringe upon the rules of the game, as the Néron report (1977) states. The video recording of 27 games using a split-screen technique made it possible to view simultaneously the players in action as well as the coaches' behavior. Analysis of the videotapes revealed that the coaches (n = 11) at the bantam level often exhort their players to put more intensity in their physical contacts (legal body checking), but they more often encouraged them to control themselves and avoid penalties. In general, the coaches displayed very little behavior that encouraged violent actions from the players.