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NHL, NHLPA fail to see the point
I was in Toronto recently and watched a Maple Leafs team that looked good, but seemed to lack something -- someone who could lug the puck out of their end, skate through the neutral zone, keying the attack from the back line. I could not help but think of Bryan Berard , the young rushing defenseman felled by the inadvertent high stick of Ottawa's Marian Hossa a year ago. The Maple Leafs have yet to replace Berard's skill on the blue line and he most likely will never regain his vision. Let's face it -- losing a talented player pales in comparison to a guy losing his livelihood and the devastating permanency of losing an eye. As a player, though, you cannot compete and worry about the risk of injury. Mentally, you convince yourself that you are invulnerable. You never stop to consider the consequences. Nor should you. To worry about the possibility is to increase the likelihood of it becoming reality. Best to narrow your focus to the on-ice challenges. Control that which you are able. This used to include how a player carried his hockey stick. Now I know accidents happen, especially in a game played at such a rapid rate in a confined space. Hossa's stick to the face of Berard may in fact fall into that no-less-tragic category. Nevertheless, it does not minimize the consequences. Especially when the outcome was avoidable. Sticks carried higher have formed a developing trend over the past 20 years within the game of hockey. It has coincided with the introduction of protective face wear at every amateur level. Safeguarding players' eyes is mandatory at every level. Consequently, kids have grown up without having to learn respect for what damage a hockey stick can inflict. Nor have they played the game with an acute awareness of where other players carry their hockey sticks. With no exposure, eyes are safe from flagrant and flailing stick fouls. Problem is, there is no discerning between the two. Wheel around wildly with stick held high, clipping someone in the face, no matter. The stick clangs of the headgear and both the giver and receiver are desensitized to what may have otherwise been a serious injury. A two-minute high-sticking penalty, yes. More to the point -- still two eyes in tact. Get to the big leagues, though, and players cannot wait to discard the face-shield. Why? Peer-pressure. The mundane maintenance of constant wiping and cleaning. The truly ironic "clearer vision" answer is the most often uttered. Reasons or excuses? Guys who grew up and developed their hockey skills without wearing face-guards have a legitimate alibi in that they are comfortable and accustomed to playing the game without the benefit of fuller protection. No one entering the league can make that claim. Yet, upon becoming a professional, most players shelve the shield. Especially gritty players whose roughhouse tactics might mean having to drop the gloves. Going without eye protection is a badge of courage. The visor is a barrier behind which to hide. No self-respecting role player wants that label. If your game is to initiate physical checks, agitate and annoy the opposition, or enforce the on-ice vigilante code of conduct, you are expected to be open and available for full contact retribution. Not that anyone is looking to carve another player's eye out. But how do you settle the score with someone if he is wearing a shield? In Major Junior, the young toughs take their headgear off and then proceed bare-knuckle brawling. The rationalization at that level is that these prospects are demonstrating that they have what it takes to compete in the Big Time. At the NHL level, where fights are presented as spontaneous and necessary acts of self-policing, doffing one's chapeau before engaging in fisticuffs would certainly seem quaint, contrived and convoluted. Additionally, the league makes it nearly impossible for a player with a visor to drop his gloves. Rule 56 states, "if a player penalized as an instigator of an altercation is wearing a face shield, he shall be assessed an additional Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty." So, the NHL allows for fighting. They also provide for the wearing of face shields. Yet, even the rules make the two virtually mutually exclusive. No wonder young players feel pressure to forsake equipment they have taken for granted all their lives. The NHL's contradictory signals confuse eager players chasing their dream. They yield and throw away the shield as a symbol of willingness to do "whatever it takes" to make it in the league. Avoid any stigma. Don't risk a wrong impression. What type of player are you? We can tell by looking in your eyes. Hindsight begs that Bryan Berard had kept his face shield on when he signed as a professional. Foresight screams that the NHL and the NHLPA agree upon legislation for players entering the league. Eyesight is precious. Not to be lost on the ice. Never. Never again.
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