Mandatory Visors?

[Burninator 0]

I'm not sure what junior level you are speaking of, possibly the farm team for Calgary? However, ever minor hockey league, from juior c to the ncaa, to qmjhl requires players to wear at least visors, if a player is under 18, a full cage is required.

The Wings farm team in Grand Rapids, plays in the AHL, facial protection is not mandatory.

I was referring to our players that are called up from the farm team. Whether or not they have to wear a visor in junior doesn't really matter because they don't have to wear one in the NHL, but most of them choose to. That's all I was getting at.

[asmith18 3]

With all the eye injuries, it may be a good idea.

And our team doesn't have much luck with eye injuries: Malts, Stevie Y, Drapes, Homer, and so on.

It still annoys me, so many ppl still rag on Malts for the visor, he almost lost his sight years ago b/c he didn't have a visor. He's being smart for having one now.

[BringHomeTheCup! 0]

The bottom line is this, wearing a haffie is a choice players make. Mandating haffies, IMO, won't happen. Using the arguement that all these freak accidents would be prevented by wearing haffies is just silly. In reality, wearing a haffie protects your eyes, and that's about it. Haffies range in size from the sliver that Sid wears, to the windshield from an '89 Buick that Heatly wear. So if you mandate haffies, is there going to also be a size mandation? Both for too small and too big? Haffies are a great way to protect your eyes, but they also cause a lot of unnecessary injuries, that cannot be argued. Like I said before, in Yzerma's case, a haffie would have helped, but it Koivu's case, it just made it worse.

Before the NHL could mandate such facial protection, I think they would have to find a way to eliminate the Koivu type injuries. If anything would be mandated in the near future (10-15 years) it would be the full cage. There is no way that the NHLPA would approve haffies being mandated, and for that matter, full cages.

Wearing a haffie is a players choice. Someone said it before, it's a comfort level thing. If you aren't comfortable playing with it, then you won't play well with it. And you can same the same about not being comfortable playing without one.

As I have said before, the respect between players for each other just isn't there like it once was. Do you think Bobby Orr would have ever thought about getting his stick up around Gordie Howe's face? No, he wouldn't have. Why? First, he respected Howe as a player and as a person. Secondly, he knew if his stick got up too high, he would have to pay a price, and fight. That's the great thing about hockey, things can be settled on the ice. No other sport will let it's players take care of things the way hockey does. You can't possibly sit here, and tell me that you think McCarty fighting Lemieux wasn't necessary. The second time the two fought, it was Lemieux who needed to prove something.

Hockey is a great sport, the greatest of them all. It's slowly getting ruined by Bettman. The instigator rule is foolish. It does nothing for the game, except hurt it. The same way mandation of haffies would hurt the game: it would allow players to take more liberties without any real consequence.

[Crashnburnluder 385]

i personally believe that it should be a personal decision at the NHL level... I personally wear one after being hit in the eye with a hockey ball and almost going blind... and then catching a puck to the nose about a week ago... and looking like this

But I still believe that it should be personal choice.... I do think it is nice though to have the AHL with the mandatory rule... that way playes coming up from the minors to the show are used to wearing the visor and maybe decide to continue playing with it... and I blieve that trend will keep growing...

[BringHomeTheCup! 0]

i personally believe that it should be a personal decision at the NHL level... I personally wear one after being hit in the eye with a hockey ball and almost going blind... and then catching a puck to the nose about a week ago... and looking like this

But I still believe that it should be personal choice.... I do think it is nice though to have the AHL with the mandatory rule... that way playes coming up from the minors to the show are used to wearing the visor and maybe decide to continue playing with it... and I blieve that trend will keep growing...

OUCH!!! I play both roller and ice hockey. During roller hockey, unless it's a league game or a tourney, I don't even wear a helmet. When I play ice, regardless if it's a league game or just pickup, I wear a haffie.