Bruins' Injuries Stir Up NHL's Facemask Debate (2024)

FAQs

Why do hockey players not have face masks? ›

This is based on two concepts: peripheral vision, and something called the “gladiator effect.” The concerns about peripheral vision come from the fact that full facemasks have a chin cup, which blocks a player's view toward their feet, and the puck.

Mike Grier is an African American right winger. Born in Detroit, Michigan, He became the first African American player born and trained in the United States to play in the NHL, after making his NHL debut during the 1996–97 season.

From the invention of the hockey mask, to the helmet and then the visor, the first two are now all mandatory in the NHL, however the visor still remains as a player's choice. In the end, it's the player that will have to live with the consequences.

Today, mouthguards are commonly used by hockey players of all ages and skill levels. Often they are a required piece of equipment, but when they are not most players still wear them. 90% of National Hockey League (NHL) players, for example, choose to use mouthguards even though the NHL doesn't mandate them.

When he was 10, Wayne Gretzky got hit in the mouth with a hockey stick, knocking out three front teeth. “Now,” his father, Walter, told him, “you're a hockey player.” Gretzky has become the greatest hockey player ever, but he never again had such a bloody accident on the ice.

The modern game of hockey emerged in England in the mid-18th century and is largely attributed to the growth of public schools, such as Eton. The first Hockey Association was formed in the UK in 1876 and drew up the first formal set of rules.

Dirk Graham had already made history with the Blackhawks in 1989, when he became the NHL's first black captain.

Hockey Player Statistics By Race

The most common ethnicity among hockey players is White, which makes up 78.0% of all hockey players. Comparatively, there are 7.2% of the Hispanic or Latino ethnicity and 6.8% of the Black or African American ethnicity.

“Tinted visor is just my style,” Ovechkin said in a Hockey News Q&A in December 2005. “I only wear it for that reason.” A year later, however, the mirrored visor was gone and Ovi wore the smoky visor that is featured in option 2.

Can NHL players warm up without a helmet? ›

As first reported by TSN's Chris Johnston, the NHL is making it mandatory for players who entered the NHL after the 2019-20 to wear helmets during warmups. This is a grandfather-type implementation, similar to the NHL visor rule. Any player who entered the league after 2013 must wear a visor.

NHL rule section 9.6: “A player on the ice whose helmet comes off during play shall be assessed a minor penalty if he does not exit the playing surface, or retrieve and replace his helmet properly on his head (with or without his chin strap fastened), within a reasonable period of time.

Since the players do not prefer wearing a caged helmet, there is seemingly no protection on their faces. Mouthguards can protect the front teeth to a certain extent, but they also fall short when saving the inner teeth. This is why hockey players lose their teeth.

“In fact, there was an almost-five times higher risk of eye injury to players without a face mask to a visor and there is no risk of eye injury to players wearing full facial protection, so if you look at injury risk to the eyes, hockey — despite pucks and elbows and sticks — is one of the safest sports on the planet, ...

Players may chew on their mouthguard because the fit isn't quite right, which makes it uncomfortable to wear properly. Some players find that chewing on their mouth guard helps to increase focus — similar to chewing on a stick of gum.

Duncan Keith lost seven teeth in all, three on the top and four on the bottom, when the puck came off Patrick Marleau's stick and hit him square in the mouth.

Let's revisit the story. Ovechkin lost his front tooth after taking a high stick in a game against the Atlanta Thrashers on October 5th, 2007. The AP reported: In Washington's 3-1 victory at Atlanta on Friday night, one of Ovechkin's top, middle teeth was broken when he took a stick to the face.

Each team keeps a full-time dentist on staff, often seated a few rows behind the bench and armed with a medieval toolkit of needles, forceps, sutures and curettes. Most NHL arenas have dental chairs somewhere near the locker rooms.

The last referee to not wear a helmet was Mick McGeough, who began wearing a helmet in the 2006–07 season and retired after the following season.

Barnett said that Gretzky would only go without a helmet to enhance his performance or comfort level, not for any marketing reasons. “His image and visibility is so well-known internationally, he could wear a garbage can and everyone would know what the person underneath looks like,” Barnett said.

What year did helmets become mandatory in the NHL? ›

Objective In 1979, the National Hockey League (NHL) announced that helmets would become mandatory for incoming players.

The name hockey—as the organized game came to be known—has been attributed to the French word hoquet (shepherd's stick). The term rink, referring to the designated area of play, was originally used in the game of curling in 18th-century Scotland.

In fact, it wasn't originally called hockey at all. The game of hockey has been said to be modeled after what was actually referred to as hurley, hurling, bandy, shinty or shinny – according to the SIHR.

2 The game commonly known as ice hockey is hereby recognized and declared to be the national winter sport of Canada and the game commonly known as lacrosse is hereby recognized and declared to be the national summer sport of Canada.

G. Goals. A goal is awarded to the last player on the scoring team to touch the puck prior to the puck entering the net. Note: Goals scored during a shootout do not count towards a player's goal total. A.

At most levels of play each team must designate one captain and a number of alternate captains (usually two or three) who speak to the officials when the captain is on the bench. Captains wear a "C" on their sweaters, while alternate captains wear an "A".

There's just one problem. NHL Rule 14D states that “[n]o playing Coach or playing Manager or goalkeeper shall be permitted to act as Captain or Alternate Captain.”

What's the percentage of players of color in the NFL? As of 2020, 57.5% of NFL players were Black, 0.4% Hispanic or Latinx, 0.1% Asian, 1.6% Pacific Islander, and 0.2% American Indian. What is the NFL's annual revenue? The NFL's total revenue for 2020 was $12.2 billion.

There Are 57 Russian Players in the NHL

In terms of percentages, Russian players account for 5.4% of all the currently active players in the NHL now. These currently active Russian NHL players have played 14,675 NHL games in their careers.

In addition to black and white players, other races and ethnicities represented in the NHL include players of Asian, Latino, and Middle Eastern descent.

What does yellow laces mean in hockey? ›

Yellow laces originally came into the NHL because many European players grew up wearing skates made by Graf. The German company used yellow by default for most of its skates. Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Jets.

In 1998, the league banned dark colored visors because medical personnel could not see a player's eyes once they attended to him on the field when an injury would occur, especially if the player was knocked out or concussed.

Ovechkin still wears a tinted visor, something he has worn over the course of his now 18-year NHL career, and he also sports yellow laces.

Beginning with the 1996-97 season, the NHL decreed that Nos. 0 and 00 could no longer be worn since they confused the League's digital database; today, only No. 1 through No. 98 are allowed, No.

The Stanley Cup playoff beard has been an NHL tradition since the early 1980s, when the shaggy New York Islanders won four straight championships. It represents the players' singular focus, as if even personal hygiene is sacrificed in pursuit of hockey's holy grail.

Some reporters suggested that enforcing uniform rules was the National Hockey League's attempt to reduce freak accidents where a player's body was cut by skate blade while others said the league was laying down rules for eventually selling advertising space that would display prominently on the entire jersey.

A Player who is making a play on the puck or who is in position to make an immediate play on the puck at the time his helmet comes off, shall be given a reasonable opportunity to complete the play before either exiting the ice or retrieving and replacing his helmet.

For that reason the NHL has a clear rule on what is legal when a mask pops off. According to Rule 9.6 (Helmets), "When a goalkeeper has lost his helmet and/or face mask and... the opposing team has control of the puck, play shall only be stopped if there is no immediate and impending scoring opportunity."

Rarely in his long NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings did Gordie Howe wear a helmet. It happened during the 1950-51 season and for a very good reason.

Basketball. Basketball has a very high rate of tooth injuries. According to research, it's actually the most dangerous sport for tooth injuries for both men and women. While it's technically not a contact sport like boxing, players are very close to each other and frequently elbow each other accidentally.

Why do hockey players tape their sticks? ›

Adding tape improves the contact between the blade and the puck. The taped surface of the blade makes it easier to control the puck and accurately shoot a pass across the expanse of the rink to a speeding teammate.

According to a study of intercollegiate athletes and dental injury, basketball is the highest ranked sport for dental injuries.

NHL goalies wear “cat-eye” masks with eye holes and other space designed for safety and maximum vision. Grubauer, who was cut below his left eye when a teammate's stick went through his mask during a morning skate in December, said it takes a lot of factors for a stick to get through.

Some of the best players today like Ryan Getzlaf, Zdeno Chara, Chris Pronger, Shea Weber and Johan Franzen play without visors, while others like Alex Ovechkin, Corey Perry and Drew Doughty wear visors.

Today, maybe only a dozen or so players remain without a visor. Each year since 2013, players without visors have retired or decided to start wearing one for their safety benefits.

First of all, mouthguards are often large and uncomfortable in the athletes' mouths, making it hard to talk and call plays. This can cause potential breakdowns in plays and a lot of miscommunication during games and practices. Secondly, mouthguards make it hard for athletes to breathe right.

The National Hockey League has a similar tobacco policy as well: Smokeless tobacco cannot be used at the arena and players cannot endorse it. And, yet, some of the game's top players — such as the Washington Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin — use it.

Wherever you look they seem to be spitting! The truth is, when you do high-intensity exercise in cold air, saliva and mucus build up making you want to spit more to clear your airways – that's the main reason hockey players are continuously spitting.

Within 10 years, most NHL goalies adopted a similar style mask and few goalies were without a mask by 1970. In 1974, Andy Brown of the Pittsburgh Penguins was the last to play in the NHL without a mask.

While the NHL mandates just half-face coverage with the use of a visor, most amateur and school leagues across the world insist that players wear full facial protection.

Do people still use hockey masks? ›

Since the invention of the fiberglass ice hockey mask, professional goaltenders no longer play without a mask, considering it is now a mandatory piece of equipment. The last goaltender to play without a mask was Andy Brown, who played his last NHL game in 1974.

The revised mask rule applies only to spectators. The current COVID-19 protocols for teams remain in effect, meaning team personnel, including players, NHL personnel, broadcasters and photographers, are required to wear face coverings in public areas of all NHL arenas.

It took 18 years for every player in the league to wear a helmet. The last player without one, Craig MacTavish, retired in 1997.

But a rule only made visors mandatory in 2013. All players who entered the league thereafter play their NHL careers with a visor. Players who had played more than 25 games at the time weren't required to wear a visor, so there are still some players in the league who today go without one.

It's not uncommon for NHL players to use a new stick every game and their teams pay for them — an average of about $200 per stick, which is about $100 less than they cost in a sports store. The regular season is 82 games — not including practices — so the stick bill for NHL teams can get very expensive.

It is mandatory for referees in hockey to wear padding if they are working games above the U13 age group. Hockey refs wear shin pads, protective girdles, padded pants, padded shirts, jockstrap and elbow pads.

Nov 1, 1959: After taking a shot to the face, Jacques Plante returns to the game becoming the first goalie to regularly wear a protective mask.

"For [an] NHL client, it can take [on average] about 30, 40 hours — to design the mask, to prepare the mask and to paint it," Marsolais said. It starts in the sketch process. Usually, a goalie will send an idea to the artist of what they want on the mask, and the artist will incorporate it into their sketch.

Masks have been part of the process and our training at some point throughout COVID. We would prefer not to wear them, but at the same time we have to stay safe and that's something we wanted to make sure we were doing, so we did what we had to do.”

“We wanted to make sure that everyone that was participating was healthy and making sure we're lowering the risk, so we just decided to wear a mask and delay the game just a little bit so that we could get organized and just put masks on and it'd be safe,” said Rebecca Johnston, a Canadian forward.

How many holes does a hockey mask have? ›

There were three holes – two to give a sightline and one for the mouth to breathe through. It certainly wasn't perfect, but it did the job. “The early masks, if you got hit, you still got cut,” said Johnston. “The mask wasn't that cushioned – it was pretty close to your face.