Should pro hockey players be required to wear visors? (1 Viewer)

[Lew Crippen]

Jeff and Micheal, I spent a little time on the web (all apologies to the Habs and Jacques Plante—yet another big name) to see if I could figure out who was first. I’m not sure that I know for sure, but I did find in Hockey Hall of Famethis about Sawchuk. It says that he began to wear a mask in ’63 after being hit by a (big shock) Hull slapshot. So it looks as though Pante was the first by several years.

It does seem now that you mention it and that I’ve read the doc, that I do vaugley remember the story about Plante.

You are correct about the spelling of Gerry of course.

I’ll put on my number nine sweater to watch the finals no matter what teams are playing (just my own personal tradition). Not that I have a favorite or anything, but (as has already been mentioned) he never needed an enforcer on the ice to take care of a goon.

 

[Lew Crippen]

BTW Jeff, I’d never have guessed that you were old enough to have seen Cheevers and Hull play. Just goes to show how little we know about others on the forum.

 

[Dave_Brown]

I would think they would make a visor mandatory along the same lines as a baseball player wearing a helmet while on offense. At the plate a ball is moving at about the same speed as a puck on the ice. I would guess the damage potential are about the same. I guess the base runner could take his helmet off once he reaches first as what is the need beyond that point?

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Saw Bobby Orr score a hat trick against Chicago in '72, Lew. I was about to turn 7 at the time. One of my earliest memories is standing at attention in front of the old RCA B&W to watch the national anthem for the playoff games in '70. My dad would let me watch the anthem and 1/2 the first period and then it was off to bed. Day games were a blessing back then, but very, very rare. Remember a little about the cup in 72' but saw every game of the season and playoffs by the time Cheevers returned from the WHA, so most of my distinct memories of Hull were with Winnepeg. But I grew up in a hockey family (who didn't in Boston in the 70's) and much of the history was absorbed through them.

Edit: Just a coincidence, but a page just came over the air at my work for Bobby Sheehan. For those that do not know, he was one of the first americans from my area to play in the NHL (and WHA). He just happens to be from my hometown, Weymouth, MA and was my brother's idol growing up. I knew he worked here, but had never heard him paged.

 

[MarkHastings]

I think the difference is the fact that 99.9% of pucks to the head aren't intentional whereas a baseball to the head is more likely intentional.

Meaning, in hockey, if a guy gets hit in the face with a puck, there is a general sense of concern whereas if a guy gets hit in the head with a baseball, there's more of a chance of a gang lynch on the pitchers mound.

 

[LanceJ]

I have been checking around for a new shield for my own helmet (I bought my last basic ITech model in '97) and found this one.. From the looks of it, it would have less peripheral(sp?) distortion than my old basic ITech but then that one doesn't have much to start with. So to me anyway, the reasoning involving worsened vision w/shields is kind of weak. Though with that organically-shaped visor linked above I'm afraid it might give me a slightly bug-eyed insect look. And I'm not sure what it means when the site says the visor is not certified.

But as I read everyone's thoughts here the past couple of days, I am thinking that to maintain their competitive edge, the pros have to critique every aspect of their game--no matter how subtle--to make sure nothing is negatively affecting their performance. So, maybe to an amateur like me a visor's slight optical distortion is no big deal, while to a pro athlete playing at an extremely high peformance level that "slight" distortion turns into a major annoyance & detracts from their mental focus. One tiny mental slip and they could royally screw up.

And to be perfectly honest, I have to admit that when I've joined some casual/low speed "messing around" games at the rink, we weren't wearing any helmets and that sensation of skating with the wind blowing past my face and nothing on my head or in front of my face was a nice one.

LJ

 

[JamesMH]

They shouldn't have to wear visors, nor should they have to wear helmets, they should be free to decide.

 

[Grant B]

Gump Worsley is one of my favorite Goalies...happened to find this about him. Never knew he wore a mask, how weird!

It was in 1969 that Gump's fear of flying got the better of him. While he was in the minors, one of the planes he was on had its wing catch fire and the pilot had to make an emergency landing. With the newly expanded league in 1967, it meant more travel and Worsley was not prepared for it. So one day in Chicago's O'Hare airport he simply quit. Later that year, Minnesota's coach, Lou Nanne managed to convince Gump to come out of retirement, explaining that Minnesota was more central, and that the travel would not be as much of an issue. Gump signed with the North Stars for the next 4 seasons until his retirement at the end of the 1973-74 season. It is somewhat strange that throughout his career Gump never wore a mask, but put one on for the last 6 games of his career at the urging of his team mate Wren Blair

 

[Christ Reynolds]

wow, small world. my dad grew up in weymouth, and was best friends with bobby sheehan growing up. he was at our 4th of july party last year, VERY funny guy. sheehan, also known as 'the cat', was the first american (i believe) to have his name on the stanley cup. i always thought that my dad was telling tall tales when he said sheehan was the fastest skater ever, but i was watching a bruins game that fred and derek were announcing, and they were playing some team who had a very fast player, maybe fedorov. derek said "i've seen some pretty fast players, sergei fedorov, pavel bure (i dont remember the names he used), but not one of these guys could come close to skating as fast as bobby sheehan. he is the fastest skater that has ever played in the nhl". if the man on tv says it, it HAS to be true i just remember my dad telling me stories of him and bobby on the same weymouth high hockey team, and everyone wanted to try to hit bobby, because he was much faster and much better than everyone else, and he was only about 5'7 and 130 lbs. anyway, this doesnt really have much to do with the thread. small world though

looks like yzerman says he will wear a face shield in the future. i can see why some people wouldnt want to force players to wear shields, but i dont think it would be taht bad of an idea. i never liked the clear half or full shields, but i didnt mind the wire grid jofa shields like the college players wear. they never gave me any vision problems, you learn to focus on the ice and not the mask. i play roller hockey now, and i dont wear any mask with my helmet. my natural instinct is to protect my face first, so i dont feel it is that dangerous.

CJ

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Yeah, small world Christ. Your dad probably skated at the old Weymouth Arena, owned by "Big Ed" Dalton, a longtime family friend. That's where I first stepped on the ice when I was 4 years old (Big Ed used to yell at me to "pick up your feet"). Bobby Sheehan, Richie Dunn and Robbie Ftorek were legends around there and I grew up hearing stories about them. My brother went to the National Championship as a Bantam and played NEJHL Junior at age 15 for the Weymouth Conquistadors out of that old barn. I now live right across the street from where the Arena was, it burned down in 74' and is now a bunch of houses. Ahh, the memories.

 

[LanceJ]

Wow those are good stories guys.

There's already been a good selection of opinions concerning my original subject, so thanks. The tone of the thread is nice too so thanks everybody for that too--I've never started a discussion about hockey before so wasn't sure what would happen.

Who here saw the movie Slap Shot when it came out in theaters? What was your reaction to it? What were the pro's reactions like?

LJ

 

[Grant B]

I love minor league hockey.
For the price of one crappy NHL ticket you can take your family,park, eat dinner there and get drunk on cheap beer with a few dollars to boot
Mike Eruzione, captain of the US gold medal hockey team played in Toledo before winning. Average decent player and I had seasons tixs to every game he played there.It's pretty cool seeing stars when they are fairly humble....but strange things happen at those levels. Not all good but very entertaining.
On most levels it's pretty close...funny movie. I heard the coach of Toledo at the time walked out of it.
Not the best image movie

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Slap Shot was written by a woman from the Boston area who traveled with her brother (he played Ogie Oglethorpe in the movie) and his minor league team. Although the violence is a little over the top (not by much) the language and off ice scenarios are dead on accurate (which is probably why the coach from Toledo walked out )

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

The half shields create their own problems, such as trapping high sticks under them. I don't think it should be manditory, but with the number of sticks that get up high, certainly would be a smart option, as long as they didn't interfere with your playing.

 

[Micheal]

I agree! I've seen this happen... it's not too pretty.
Instead of one quick shot with the stick it ends up turning into a mixmaster on your face!

OUCH!

 

[Christ Reynolds]

and if anyone has seen bottle rocket, ogie plays the doctor you see in the first scene. if you have seen both movies, i dont think anyone would be able to identify him as the same guy unless you happened to notice it on imdb like i did. and slapshot is not only the best and most accurate hockey movie, but one of the best sports movies ever. recommended for anyone who has played on any sports team of some sort.

CJ