In light of the Manny Malhotra injury should eye protection be mandatory in the NHL?

[richiesloppy]

Grandfather them in just like they did with helmets. All amateur players use some type of face protection anyways it's not like you'd be asking them to change anything.

[Ghostsof1915]

So after seeing Marc Staal get a puck to the face. I still would like to see this mandatory and grandfather it in for players but all rookies need to wear eye protection.

In my reference to keeping your stick down obviously only applies to errant sticks, not flying pucks.

[La Mauviette75]

yes, i'd like to see it be grandfathered in. it's mandatory in the AHL, and it works fine there. it's a ridiculous macho thing. i understand that fighting is difficult with a face mask on, but you can always take your helmet off. it works fine in the AHL, which has more fighting than the NHL.

[Common sense]

Grandfather it in with the cutoff being anyone who has UFA status

[etsen3]

Part of me wants to say "it should be the players choice", but we already make them wear shoulder pads/helmets etc. So you're not really applying the principle anyways, you're just picking and choosing which pieces of equipment should be a personal choice and which shouldn't. If they do make them mandatory, grandfather it in. Current players don't have to but roomies do (they will already be used to it from junior).

[-AJ-]

I think that every player entering the league should be forced to wear a visor. Should've happened years ago, IMO.

[brewdog]

It's tough. You want players to be as safe as possible, but you also don't want to encourage additional hitting. In my beer league, some guys wear nothing but elbow pads under their jersey. They seem to get a lot of respect. I even find myself easing up when I collide with them on the boards. Other guys can barely fit their Colonial Marines uber-armor under their sweater, and they seem to get run at a lot more often. They're so bulky, they start to look like a non-human cyborg target that you want to disable.

I wear a full cage and I'm thankful I do. I took 4 deflected point shots off the face last year. They were hard enough to hurt my neck, so I can't imagine what kind of damage they would have done if I was wearing anything less than a full cage.

I also hooked a clearing shot off a guy's upper cheek once. He was a bloody mess and I felt horrible for it, but I think he would have been ok if he was wearing a visor.

At the NHL level, I think of the career-ending (most likely) incidents with Pronger and Malhotra. It makes me want to see it mandated for all new players. But I have to remind myself that those are two pretty freak incidents within a 2-3 year timeframe. Maybe the league just needs to increase the incentives. Maybe players should pay (if they don't already) increased insurance premiums if they choose to play without a visor.

[Spoosh]

I think it should be mandatory. I've thought it should be as long as they've been available.

[LeanBeef]

But for fighters, wearing a visor can be a risk for both players fighting; knuckles can get cut when throwing uppercuts and if the visor is punched it can cut their face (see Nolan vs Sestito). The only way I can see fighters let this rule go through is if there's a penalty when the other fighter doesn't take off his helmet.... But then again, in heated scrums there won't be much time to agree and remove helmets, and those talking about concussions will disagree with no helmets as well.

[Canuck or Die]

But for fighters, wearing a visor can be a risk for both players fighting; knuckles can get cut when throwing uppercuts and if the visor is punched it can cut their face (see Nolan vs Sestito). The only way I can see fighters let this rule go through is if there's a penalty when the other fighter doesn't take off his helmet.... But then again, in heated scrums there won't be much time to agree and remove helmets, and those talking about concussions will disagree with no helmets as well.

[LeanBeef]

If guys want to get in a fight, then they simply remove their helmets. Simple as that. If a guy gets in a scrum and just starts hitting a guy without giving him a chance to get ready, then it's his own damn falt if he cuts his hand on the other guy's visor.

[Apples]

Yes. Protect players and reduce any major injuries to the eye

[goal-ghost]

they're already wearing safety equipment that far surpasses the PPE you mentioned made mandatory by worksafe bc on construction sites. kind of a weird comparison.

anyways, i'll say let the players decide. it would change fighting in the game, that's for sure, which is something most players in the league do not want to see eradicated. most regular fighters don't wear visors and there is an additional 2 minute penalty tacked on to the instigator if the initiator is wearing one.