Quote:
Originally Posted by Joborule
Women's hockey definitely should have hitting. Women can take contact, and it's incredibly outdated that they don't allow it.
But the full cages actually is smart, and it's more so silly that the men's game doesn't have it. Football has full cages, and in hockey, the face is at more risk than it is in football. It's surprising how acceptable it is for players to get sticks up to the face, teeth (and lose them), and possibly skates, with no protection at all.
I wonder if there will ever be a time that the men's game does make full cages mandatory like helmets and goalie masks have.
|
I think the bolded part has more to do with the NHL needing to display the players faces for marketing purposes. I watched the Elite women's game at the All-Star festivities and I couldn't tell you which player was which even though the name recognition was there for some of the players I'd recognized from the Olympics.
I think having no face masks for women would help market them better and remove the need to have floating graphics pointing out who is who on the ice.