Full Face Shields

[renny]

I wear a cage, I've been dinged a few times with errant sticks when I just wore the shield I'm just playing rec league hockey, even if it hampers my peripheral vision a tiny bit (I don't feel like it does) it's worth it to be safe. I have a job to go back to, just seems silly now not to protect my face. I've had my retina detach, so the last thing I want is a stick in the eye.

To each their own, but I've converted and I'll never go back to not wearing a cage.

[erikk3]

Pfft, not wearing a bird cage for beer league isn't macho. You should see me, I don't even wear a helmet when I play on the odr. That's macho.

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by pylon

But players who never played the game at a level that cages aren't worn, especially full contact, typically have very little awareness or control of their stick. It took adjusting for everyone that went from midget to Junior, and a large portion of beer league players never had to make the adjustment.

It looks like professional level players never make the adjustment because basically every pro player is missing a few teeth.

If you play enough hockey its basically a matter of when, not if, when it comes to getting some teeth mashed out of your head.

Personally I've seen way more cases of pucks into the teeth causing massive damage then I have seen cases of errant high sticks to the face.

That's something you can't really avoid no matter the level of the players playing. Frozen pucks bounce all over the place.

So I don't think the level of play has so much to do with it, as the fact that stuff just happens on the ice.

I've been watching NCAA hockey players graduate to the NHL by the dozens every single year and I don't see these guys waving their sticks around like crazed gladiators more than anyone else in the NHL, despite having to wear a cage their whole careers.

Blaming reckless play on players who wear cages doesn't add up to me for these reasons.

In reality there isn't a logical safety reason NOT to wear a cage. The reasons not to wear a cage are the same type of reasons not to wear a seatbelt, or earplugs, or gloves, or a condom.

[TheFlamesVan]

Just mandate full bubble wrap body suits.

[loob job]

It's all about marketing, the NHL won't want it because people can't see the faces of their stars. Bottom line.

[Northendzone]

"the goggles, they do nothing"

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by 2ArmBands

Guy with the bird cage always chirping the most

Oh damn I thought you were going full Don Cherry with his past visor rants, but I guess this actually happens in real life haha.

[manwiches]

I find the stereotype of guys with cages chirp the most to be nothing more than the stereotype it is.

Yes, there is the guy who chirps like crazy who is wearing a cage, but on the flip side, there's also the clown with no shield/visor, who thinks he's 1 step away from making the show, and chirps just as hard as that guy with the cage.

My opinion, it's other players insecurities that have them chirping guys with masks. I find it's equal showing on both sides.

Full disclosure, I wear a straight half visor, that covers just over my nose. I have a day job at the end of the day that requires me to see and look relatively professional. I have taken a handful of sticks and pucks to the face, and my visor has saved me from a good chunk of them, however I do have a couple nice gashes in my chin area. My own fault and decision, but I will never chirp a guy for wearing a cage for the same reason I will never chirp a guy for not wearing anything. It's their personal decision. If you're a clown on the ice, having a cage or not doesn't make it any better or worse.

[BurningSteel]

They cant wear cages with all the risks at ice level, yet all arenas have to have netting to protect spectators that are at a lower risk of getting hit????

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by loob job

It's all about marketing, the NHL won't want it because people can't see the faces of their stars. Bottom line.

NFL agrees

[CaptainCrunch]

Personally I hated wearing a full face cage because I always felt like I had a big blind spot at my feet to about a foot in front of me, and I felt like I was always searching for the puck.

When I wore the face shield instead of a cage, I felt over heated.

Maybe its just mental, but I couldn't wait to get rid of the full face and go to a half shield.

[troutman]

Talk to any dentist, and you may not play without a full shield again. My dentist friends have told me some real horror stories.

I can't see the ice as well with a full shield, but my eyes, my teeth, are way more important. Even in non-contact old-timers hockey, accidents can happen.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by vanisleflamesfan

I coach 14 year olds who swing their sticks around head height all day like knights on the battle field. So what is going to happen when they take their masks off? And they all feel that they can swing those sticks around because there is NO consequence for smashing another player in the head. So what is better, 23 players on the ice who have no fear of constantly playing with a high stick, or no one doing that because they are afraid of getting their face beat into pablum?

When I was 14, we'd sometimes wear cages to play street hockey so we could have cage matches and swing our sticks around like those knights on a battlefield. Funny thing though, if we were playing on skates on a lake or an outdoor rink, we wouldn't wear helmets at all.

[jessnuts]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

In reality there isn't a logical safety reason NOT to wear a cage. The reasons not to wear a cage are the same type of reasons not to wear a seatbelt, or earplugs, or gloves, or a condom.

I find not wearing a a cage increases sensitivity too. Glad I'm not the only one going cageless because it just feels better. Besides, my reflexs are sharp, so I just pull out of the dangerous area before anything life altering can happen.

[Hockey]

Originally Posted by 2ArmBands

Guy with the bird cage always chirping the most

Love the guy who calls the guy with a birdcage a *****. Lol they where it cuz of idiots like you.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by troutman

I can't see the ice as well with a full shield, but my eyes, my teeth, are way more important. Even in non-contact old-timers hockey, accidents can happen.

My first game playing with a full cage a good buddy accidentally high sticked me right in the face. Enough to put a good ding in the cage. Had that been my face, I could have easily lost an eye.

I know the people I used to play hockey with that complained about chirping were the ones also doing things to deserve getting chirped at.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by 2ArmBands

Guy with the bird cage always chirping the most

Tough guys with no protection or visors. Give me a break. It's you clowns always chirping because I'm smart enough to protect my face from the high sticks you seem to like to dole out.

[Otto-matic]

I think we all can agree it doesn't matter if you're wearing a cage or not. Its the players who think its game 7 of the Stanley Cup and this is his shot at making it to the show that ruins the game.

[Buff]

It took a while for the NHL to make visors mandatory because the players balked at it. The NHLPA stood up for the players' right to choose. It's as much, if not more so, the player's fault for neglecting some aspects of player safety.

[Northendzone]

I wore a half visor for years, as I always thought that a dentist could likely fix my teeth but medical science had not yet advanced to be able to fix eyes.

in all the years I played men's hockey, I saw one guy get a chipped tooth from a stick and that was it.

I used to find that the young guys with cages generally seemed a little more reckless with their sticks. I used to think it was likely because they played their whole life with face protection. whereas i am old enough to recall playing minor hockey outside without facial protection of any kind, then they mandated mouthguards then maybe two years lated full face stuff so i grew up where you did not stick guys in the face.