Veterans Players Choosing to Wear visors/ Younger Players Going Withou

[wings1110 184]

I think they should wear them. With sticks and pucks flying around everywhere, even if you're careful, stuff is going to happen. All it takes is one fluke; look at the Leafs-Flyers game that was just on, where a strangely high number of guys got hit in the face with a stick. Does that usually happen at games? No. But if you're Chris Pronger, all it takes is to be on the right team, standing in the right place at the right time. Do you REALLY want to risk losing an eye because you don't want to get used to seeing through a visor? Come on.

I don't know if the NHL should make them mandatory or not, but I definitely think everybody should just grow a brain and wear one anyway.

that stick still would have hit him as it would have gone up and under it. i stopped getting facial cuts when i stopped wearing one. thats the main reason i hate them so much, they can cut u, and direct sticks that would have just gone right in front of your face, into you face, it the stick is going is an upward direction. Different guys like different things, i guess.

[toby91_ca 620]

that stick still would have hit him as it would have gone up and under it. i stopped getting facial cuts when i stopped wearing one. thats the main reason i hate them so much, they can cut u, and direct sticks that would have just gone right in front of your face, into you face, it the stick is going is an upward direction. Different guys like different things, i guess.

There is absolutely no way of knowing whether a guy would still have gotten hit in the eye even if he was wearing a visor.

[GongShow94 2]

There is absolutely no way of knowing whether a guy would still have gotten hit in the eye even if he was wearing a visor.

Most the time if you get hit good enough with a stick in your visor it will scratch it. Ive seen sticks slid off visors and hit the person in the mouth but you can replace teeth you cant replace a eye.

[Opie 308]

This would make me put one on!

Edited October 25, 2011 by Opie

[GongShow94 2]

This would make me put one on!

My stomach hurts everytime I see that pic..

[wings1110 184]

My linkabout a couple of the wings take on the visor.

[Guest 13GoWings40]

Doesn't sound surprising to me that the older guys are being cautious and the younger guys think they'll be ok.

I'm still ok with the players having the choice to wear a visor, but wouldn't lose sleep if the league made them mandatory. I think the league doesn't want to make visors mandatory, because seeing the players faces in full view is a good way to market the players.

I don't buy this at all. You can't see the face of any NFL player and they don't seem to have a hard time marketing their players. The same argument was used against helmets, that women liked to see the men's hair move as they skated and the like. I think, much like helmets, they should grandfather current players in and force new players to wear either a visor or a college-style face mask

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros 1,029]

Nate Thompson of the Lightning is wearing one now, as well. Not sure if it is temporarily or not.

[sean 19]

I don't mean this rhetorically: has anyone ever seen a puck hit a visor? I've watched a good amount of hockey over the years, but I can't ever remember being like, 'good thing he's wearing a visor'.

Are those visors designed to remain intact after being subjected to a 100 mph slapshot?

Edited October 26, 2011 by sean

[Uncle Danny 155]

I don't mean this rhetorically: has anyone ever seen a puck hit a visor? I've watched a good amount of hockey over the years, but I can't ever remember being like, 'good thing he's wearing a visor'.

Are those visors designed to remain intact after being subjected to a 100 mph slapshot?

I can't recall ever having witnessed that scenario, and I'd also love to hear about their construction. However, that's only one possible cause of facial damage. Sticks to the face are a far more likely and common occurrence than slapshots, and 99% of them you'd be hard pressed to notice when a visor stops the stick from inflicting potentially permanent damage.

EDIT: I'm likely in the minority here, but I'm not in favor of mandating visors for pros. They are, indeed, grown ass men, and can make their own decisions. That said, I'm strongly in favor of them wearing them and think anyone who doesn't is likely overestimating the size of their own testicles. You only get two eyes. It's ok to be frugal with them.

Edited October 26, 2011 by Uncle Danny

[Barrie 900]

I don't mean this rhetorically: has anyone ever seen a puck hit a visor? I've watched a good amount of hockey over the years, but I can't ever remember being like, 'good thing he's wearing a visor'.

Are those visors designed to remain intact after being subjected to a 100 mph slapshot?

Excellent comment, I've thought the same thing before. Even if the visor withstood a 100 mph shot, I'm sure the helmet could move forward/down and the visor's bottom edge could still cut right through the player's upper lip if the chin strap was a little loose. And who knows, if there was a hairline crack in the visor a player didn't know about, the thing could break.

Either a full or half cage on a helmet would be safer than a visor.

I don't buy this at all. You can't see the face of any NFL player and they don't seem to have a hard time marketing their players. The same argument was used against helmets, that women liked to see the men's hair move as they skated and the like. I think, much like helmets, they should grandfather current players in and force new players to wear either a visor or a college-style face mask

Actually other than Crosby, the NHL doesn't know how to market their players, with or without a visor.

I'm not against a full cage. Why just protect the players eyes, when you can protect their entire face?

[wings1110 184]

Excellent comment, I've thought the same thing before. Even if the visor withstood a 100 mph shot, I'm sure the helmet could move forward/down and the visor's bottom edge could still cut right through the player's upper lip if the chin strap was a little loose. And who knows, if there was a hairline crack in the visor a player didn't know about, the thing could break.

Either a full or half cage on a helmet would be safer than a visor.

Actually other than Crosby, the NHL doesn't know how to market their players, with or without a visor.

I'm not against a full cage. Why just protect the players eyes, when you can protect their entire face?

the NCAA is probably doing away with cages in the near future. going towards mandated half shield.

[WorkingOvertime 536]

Lidstrom speaks on the issue in this article. He believes that the players should have a choice.

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2011/10/red_wings_nicklas_lidstrom_see.html

[redwingmachine 189]

I wear a cage because only the pro’s look cool with facial scars and no teeth.

[Guest Shoreline]

I can't recall ever having witnessed that scenario, and I'd also love to hear about their construction. However, that's only one possible cause of facial damage. Sticks to the face are a far more likely and common occurrence than slapshots, and 99% of them you'd be hard pressed to notice when a visor stops the stick from inflicting potentially permanent damage.

EDIT: I'm likely in the minority here, but I'm not in favor of mandating visors for pros. They are, indeed, grown ass men, and can make their own decisions. That said, I'm strongly in favor of them wearing them and think anyone who doesn't is likely overestimating the size of their own testicles. You only get two eyes. It's ok to be frugal with them.

High sticks to the face are still a common occurrence with visors, and are, overall, not much protection for the eyes, and obviously no protection below them.

I also think this should be left up to the player and for insurance purposes (Gord knows there needs to be insurance for every-*******-thing) if they elect not to wear a visor they should not be eligible for benefits to be compensated through injury should they get injured in that fashion and electing not to wear PPE.

Truthfully the issue is a tough one if you can't take a stance on a single side. I understand from a player perspective visors and cages are limiting and can be really ******* irritating to wear. I understand from a business perspective that part of your financial investment into a player is their well-being and obviously you aren't getting much from your investment if the player gets KO'd by a somewhat preventable injury. I understand from a litigation perspective (unfortunately this bulls*** rears it's head too often) that businesses in the U.S. and Canada are required PPE where there are specific job-related hazards but the NHL is a business (like other professional leagues in North America) exempt and allowed to largely self-regulate as far as PPE goes.

Then, there's the issue of.. if NHL teams were so much about safety, why are they encouraging players to put themselves in a situation of being injured by throwing themselves in the path of an 80-110mph vulcanized semi-frozen rubber puck? Why are fights allowed? Why is so much physicality allowed? At some point one has to understand that, regardless of the "side" you wish to take, there are risks involved with playing hockey. The impression I got about visors followed a number of facial related injuries and media attention, just like the arena netting issue followed a death and a few injuries plus media attention. The issue relating to concussions, head shots, blind side hits, etc., all followed more media attention. If you notice, logical or not, hypocritical or not, the league often acts swiftly following media attention, and people are unfortunately far too susceptible to the grandiose nature of an issue the media tends to magnify. Understanding from at least 3 perspectives, I don't believe visors or cages are a necessity, and players should both elect which they want to use, and take responsibility in every aspect for the choice they made.

Edited October 26, 2011 by Shoreline

[Shawn Lutz 1]

I think players should still have the option to wear or not wear one. I don't wear a cage or a shield but I don't play for a living. I think as a professional and my livelihood was dependent upon my vision I'd probably wear a visor. I hated wearing a cage, I go more cuts to my chin from the cage hitting it that taking sticks or pucks to the face afterwards.

I do think that since helmets became mandatory (rightfully so I might add) that the sticks came up higher, visors added to more high sticks as well.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros 1,029]

This topic hits home with the Ian White injury.