By Katy Heath-Eves
Last week, I watched my two-year old cousin Nathan put on his bike helmet before going outside to help his dad bring in the firewood. It struck me that while most kids have ultimate respect for the protection of their noggins, that respect dwindles as they grow up.
Of course, the helmet didn’t stop Nathan from lobbing a small log at his dad’s kneecaps, which brought me to another conclusion – rough play is a part of human nature.
When lightening fast Toronto Maple Leaf’s defenceman Brian Berard was accidentally hit in the eye with the stick of Ottawa Senators’ Marian Hossa, he reminded every single amateur and professional hockey player of their vulnerability. Berard will likely not play professional hockey again.
Today, only 160 of approximately 700 NHL players wear visors, but it is no surprise visor sales have increased lately. Hockey legend Guy Lafleur, who wore a visor-less helmet early in his 560-goal NHL career before putting it aside, says the enforcement of more stringent rules is the answer to reducing injury. In particular, he says the leagues need to tighten their rules on high sticking. I disagree.
So what if the league tightens rules in high sticking? Put a puck on the ice and a hockey stick in your hands, and you suddenly want to use that stick in any way possible to get the puck in the net. At some point, the nature of competition erases consideration of rules.
Human nature and the spirit of rough play in hockey are two reasons I don’t think any tightening of safe-play rules in hockey will help reduce the number of injuries. What would hinder injury is a mandatory visor rule for all hockey players – aged five to 95 – which is supported by helmet manufacturers.
Why not create helmets that have visors molded in? Right now, visors and helmets can be bought separately and the visor can be easily removed with the twist of a couple of screws. If all new helmets were made with visors as a smooth transition of the helmet and players at all levels were required to wear one, then career-ending injuries to the face and eyes wouldn’t happen.
Joel Roussin, vice-president of visor manufacturer Leader Industries Ltd., is on the right track. He plans to donate $1,500 worth of equipment to minor hockey for each NHL player that starts using its visors. We know kids are easy to train. It seems adults are quickly getting into the safety spirit too. It’s just too bad it takes a tragedy like Berard’s to get everyone thinking.