Hockey Quebec has long been at the forefront of cracking down on body checking among its younger players. Now, the organization is teaming up with scientists to make sure its safety efforts are paying off.

The plan calls for a team of researchers to document injuries among 14 and 15-year-old players in order to better understand the physical toll of the game. That missing data could go a long way to help balance safety efforts against desires to preserve the intensity on the ice, says neuropsychologist Dr. Dave Ellemberg of the Université de Montréal.

“We don’t even know, is it an injury every 10 games, an injury over two games, or 100 games?” he asked CTV News on Sunday.

Hockey Quebec has made sweeping changes to its rules in recent years, eliminating body checking at the peewee level for children aged 11 and 12 years before the rest of Canada. That ban is set to be extended to the lowest bantam CC level played by 13 and 15 year olds, and the lowest level of four midget divisions for children between 15 and 17 years old.

While body checking bans have proved controversial wherever they have been implemented across Canada, separate research has shown the practice has led to a significant decline in concussions.

University of Calgary kinesiology professor Carolyn Emery recently noted a 64 per cent decline in concussions, and a 50 per cent drop in overall injuries, since Hockey Canada voted in 2013 to do away with checking for 11 and 12-year-old players.

She says kids in the peewee age group are still able to learn skills that prepare them for body checking later on.

Dr. Ellemberg says his research is not aimed at softening the game, or scaring away young players and parents. He says he is simply interested in understanding how players get hurt, and how to advise Hockey Quebec on managing those risks.

“We know hockey is a contact sport, so injuries will occur,” he said. “If we understand what causes them, we will be better equipped … to adjust certain elements of the sport to make it safer.”

With a report from CTV’s Genevieve Beauchemin in Montreal and files from The Canadian Press