Air horns officially silenced at all QMJHL arenas under new policy

Even though P.E.I.'s biggest ice arena already had a policy in place, the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League has now made it official — the use of air horns is banned at games. 

QMJHL officials confirmed that they've told individual teams without bans already in place that the use of air horns is now prohibited. 

The move comes after public health officials across Canada, including in P.E.I., warned that the noisemakers had potential to cause hearing damage. 

"The information that's been coming out on the dangers and the effect of just how loud those things are… people are really starting to become conscious of that and want to make sure that they can go and enjoy something and not be irritated or bothered," said Jason MacLean, president of operations for the Charlottetown Islanders hockey team. 

"It's going to make the majority of the fan base happy. There will always be that minority that doesn't think it's necessary or needs to happen, but I think overall… it's a good thing."

Late last year, P.E.I.'s Chief Public Health Office raised concerns about the use of compressed air horns in ice arenas after receiving a written submission about the issue. 

The office sent a letter to Hockey P.E.I. in December that described the health risks associated with the use of the product. 

"Compressed air horns may produce a sound at 100 dB or higher," the letter read. "When an individual is exposed to long, repeated or close-proximity exposure to decibels higher than 70 dB, it can cause hearing loss."

Fines and ejections possible

Both the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown, where the Islanders play, and Summerside's Credit Union Place did put their own air horn bans in place, but the QMJHL itself hadn't officially instituted such a policy until recently. 

Raphael Doucet, the league's director of communications, told CBC News that teams in Moncton, Rimouski, Shawinigan and Rouyn-Noranda were told no air horns would be allowed in their arenas by the time playoffs started late last month. 

WATCH | Leave the air horns at home if you go to hockey rinks in P.E.I., top public health doctor advises:

Leave the air horns at home if you go to hockey rinks in P.E.I., top public health doctor advises

4 months ago

Duration 2:04

Air horns are already banned at the Island's two largest arenas, the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown and Credit Union Place in Summerside. Now the the province's Chief Public Health Officer has sent a letter to Hockey P.E.I. about their potential to cause hearing loss, suggesting smaller rinks ban them too.

He said the official move came after complaints from fans and broadcast teams that the noisemakers were too loud, and amid concerns about player safety. 

"We were just trying to listen to them, and in the end we thought that it was the right decision," Doucet said. 

"The most important part is player safety, because with all this noise when players were on the ice, sometimes they were not hearing the referee's whistle." 

The league said it will fine teams that don't enforce the policy, while security officials could remove fans caught using an air horn from the rink. 

MacLean said the Islanders had one minor issue with a fan from out-of-province who deployed an air horn at a game since the Eastlink Centre's ban was put in place, but their use hasn't been a major problem . 

"The level of nose from an air horn and the amount of air horns in a building can literally go from zero to 100. It's crazy the difference it can make," he said. 

"Maybe if you're on the home side that's used to it, it would maybe help get you going… and it definitely would be an irritant to an away team that's not used to it."