To reduce the number of injuries in hockey, should the NHL make it's players wear face cages or full sheilds?

Question

With all this talk about fighting and injuries, I'm surprised that no one looked into the issue of forcing ALL hockey players, from the NHL to ECHL, to wear face cages or full shields.

They're mandatory in college hockey, and it's no coincidence that the number of major facial and head injuries are lessoned in those ranks.

Some people are saying "it's the plastic in the shoulder pads that's doing all the damage". Some are saying the fighting needs to go (I wholeheartedly disagree). Some are saying there's a need for tougher rules in deciding the punishment for swinging your stick.

What about wearing full face cages or full shields?? One simple addition to the hockey player's safety equipment could make a DRAMATIC difference in the number of facial and head injuries.

Look at football...are those players "less of a man" for wearing helmets with face guards??

No...

and if you still want to fight...go ahead...but be prepared for some skinless knuckes...

Answer 1

let the players agents and doctors decide whats best to stop the injuries. right now its icing thats on the list. :)

Answer 2

The answer has nothing to do with Face shields or full visors. It has to do with the absolute lack of respect players have for each other these days. There are more stick related injuries now and more concussions now than there were in the days when players wore no helmets. In the old days you hit someone to knock them off the puck, not put them in the hospital. When someone went into the boards they were allowed to turn one way or the other before they were hit. Now it seems as if players get great pleasure out of planting someones face up against the glass. I really dont care what people think, but to me, the NHL was a much better league 30 years ago or more when it was 99% Canadian players. Now that it has become multi cultural there is no respect for anyone and all you see out there is backstabbing and cheap shots. And the worst thing about it is, in over 40 years of watching hockey this has to be the lamest group of on ice officials I have ever seen.

Answer 3

Actually if you watch a college hockey game vs. a nhl game you'll see why cages should not be necessary. When players wear cages, the amount of high sticks increases to a ridiculous amount, players go into corners with reckless abandonment and the overall quality of the game is diminished. Pucks are always going to deflect up and hit a player, thats the nature of the game, which is why some players choose (as i would) to wear a half-shield, but to institute a full cage would just destroy the tradition as well as the overall safety of the players

Answer 4

Wearing full face shields isnt the answer. The most obvious way to fix the problem would be to get rid of the instigator rule and let players defend themselves. Guys are taking runs at each others heads and sticks are up because if a guy administers a little justice after one of these incidents his team faces a bigger penalty than the guy with no regard for the other players. A perfect example was when TooToo took a cheap shot knowing full well the guy couldnt level him without getting a bigger penalty. Finally the league ended this guys dirty play for a while but because he can draw more penalties than he gets playing like that what is the motivation for him to stop (or any player...lets face it, there are a lot of guys doing this). A few years ago we didnt see anywhere near these type of injuries, if you ran someone you got your butt kicked! Time to quit pacifiying the whinny hockey haters and go back to traditional hockey....they arent gaining new fans using these stupid bettman tactics, rather they are losing some pure hockey fans. This isnt ice dancing, play hard...play tough...and play fair....screw the hockey haters, we dont want them sitting next to us at games anyways!!!!!!!!

Answer 5

Mark Messier Owen Nolan Jordan Staal Patrick Sharp Anze Kopitar Saku Koivu Daniel Allfredson Nik Antropov Marcel Goc Jeff Halpern Niklas Hagman John Madden Justin Williams

Answer 6

Honestly the number of facial injuries we see today are not JUST from lack of advanced facial protection. Its because of the fact rules designed to stop the personal attacks (such as high sticking, cross checking, boarding, checking from behind) are not really enforced. its not so much that we need tougher rules, they are there, but that the existing rules should be enforced. Admittedly this would make players safer, but there is still a down side. Quaterbacks don't have a full mask, because that would interfere with their throwing precision. same goes for Wide receivers. the full masks are usually worn by Offensive and Defensive lineman.

So is that what they are going to do, break it down to what position you are playing. a different mask or face guard for each position player? Helmets and mouth guards were enforced to keep them safer, it works but its not fail-safe. its not just skinned knuckles they have to watch out for, what would happen if the puck shattered or penetrated the protective shield. most of these things would probably be made of plastic. hardened plastic still brakes and sometimes shatters like broken glass. and if it were metal then there is a whole slew of mishaps that could happen. erosion from sweat and water, rusting of the metal, the metal being worn down because of flying pucks and sticks. then you have to find a way to protect them from being harmed by their protection.

I've watched football players break helmet shields. the things that can happen before they are taken from the field to replace them are painful at the very least.
and what about baseball, 100mph fast ball to the grill, just as bad as a 105mph slap shot, are they making these "helpful" suggestions for baseball as well?

would it make hockey players safer, possibly, would it be a good option weighed against the negatives that could possibly happen as well, may be not.

or is this just another "saving grace" from the Commissioner?

Answer 7

No. It will make the sticks come up more. If you don't have to worry about hitting a guy in the face you're a lot less careful about what you do with the stick.
Football players don't carry weapons. Hockey players do.

Answer 8

Hockey is their livelihood. Cages and visors reduce their visibility, thereby reducing their ability to play. If they consider the lack of safety an acceptable tradeoff, let them not where visors. These guys are big boys; they can decide for themselves.

Plus cages and visors will reduce fighting to the slapfest that it is in highschool.

"Look at football...are those players "less of a man" for wearing helmets with face guards??"
Yes. Ever hear of rugby?

Answer 9

How many injuries a year are caused by not wearing a face mask? Ive watched every wild game this season so far and you know how many Ive counted? Maybe 1 or 2. I play hockey and if you dont like wearing a facemask, you shouldnt have to. You know the risk you are taking. Stop being a pussy and go play some hockey. To answer your question, NO!

Answer 10

In a game where men get paid to play.... they should be allowed to make the decision themselves as to whether they wear face shields....cages or whatever....helmets should remain mandatory...if a player chooses not to wear a shield or a cage and gets injured as a result and it takes him out of the game permanently or temporarily he should forfeit the pay he would have recieved as part of his contract...insureance should also be forfeited....this will give them the choice but push them in the direction of making the wise choice...all levels of play up to the nhl it should be mandatory to wear shield or cage.

Answer 11

I can see them going to mandatory visors in the near future. The colleges have legal liabilities if a student gets hurt during a game. I have no doubt full cages would not be mandatory if this were not the case.