Full Face Shields

[Zarley]

I have nothing against guys wearing cages in beer league, but it always seems that the same guys have a lot of difficulty keeping their stick below their shoulders. It's like wearing a cage subconsciously gives people the green light for stickwork.

[loob job]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

NFL agrees

I wouldn't call what the nfl wears a full cage.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by loob job

I wouldn't call what the nfl wears a full cage.

fair

[GirlySports]

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.

NHL doesn't market their stars now, so no difference.

[BurningYears]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

fair

NFL gets a lot of face time on the sidelines as players are half on the field and half off for extended times.



probably wouldnt work unless you want every NHLer to take their helmet off each shift. haha

[2ArmBands]

Originally Posted by habernac

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.

Yup thats me a big tough clown!

Edit - Just took a couple minutes to read the entire thread. I have been quoted and called a clown and an idiot already on more than one occasion. I find it quite amusing that those defending the bird cage are already the ones doing the most chirping in this thread. Just a coincidence right?

[Mass_nerder]

Originally Posted by Keselke

Off topic, but

This is always the first, most idiotic chirp you see in any mens league, usually repeated several times and followed up with nothing else.

The reason I and others typically wear cages is not because "we have never had to defended our faces" its because other people cannot control their sticks, and most importantly no matter how much you try you cannot defend from freak deflections and accidental plays, many cage wearers are converts from an accident.

If you have a career to go to the next day, or value your bank account, it baffles me that non professionals play without cages. Its purely for machismo reasons and others do not follow suit, purely due to the fear of being chirped and the perception of looking weak. Rather than their well being

I've lost a tooth, and had stiches to my lip/face several times in beer league. I picked up a cage but only wore it once because of all the chirping.
It drives me crazy.
Also, cages don't get scratched up and mess with your visibility.

I'm dumb for not wearing it.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by Keselke

If you have a career to go to the next day, or value your bank account, it baffles me that non professionals play without cages. Its purely for machismo reasons and others do not follow suit, purely due to the fear of being chirped and the perception of looking weak. Rather than their well being

I agree with your post. Reminds me of back in the 90s where no one wore a ski helmet because you were thought to be a #####. I remember our ski days in elementary school and not one kid had helmet. Now you go to the hill, and you are an idiotic knob with a death wish if you don't have one.

I don't play rec league hockey, but if I did I would certainly have a full cage. As you said, I have client facing job to go to 5 days a week and I couldn't care less if a bunch of beer league players I see for an hour a week think I'm a ##### for wearing a cage, whereas showing up to work and going to client meeting with marks all over my face every week might actually affect my livelihood.

[TheFlamesVan]

Originally Posted by Keselke

Its purely for machismo reasons and others do not follow suit, purely due to the fear of being chirped and the perception of looking weak. Rather than their well being

Yeah... that's not at all why I play without one. Just a preference and none of anyone's business really.

People who don't do things they want to, for fear of being called a '*****', are exactly that. Wear whatever you want.

[pylon]

Saying guys who don't wear cages is strictly a 'Machismo' thing, is as silly as saying guys that do, is a 'chicken ####, pansy' thing.

Both are stupid to say. But both probably have juuuust a little bit of truth behind them.

Taking a puck or stick to the face hurts. And some guys really don't handle pain well. They won't admit it, or take the risk of crying in front of their grown men teammates.

And some meat heads think 'CHICKS DIG SCARS! IM LEAVING BLOOD ON THIS DIVISION F ICE!!!!'

Both sides aren't telling the whole story. And I will fully admit, although I still prefer the vision and feel of wearing a half visor. The stigma of being cage guy would still stop me from putting one on, or at least think twice about it.

[renny]

Originally Posted by pylon

The stigma of being cage guy would still stop me from putting one on, or at least think twice about it.

But this is a really silly reason to not wear one...

I guess this is the biggest difference that I've noticed since moving to the US. Where I play (San Jose) the mandate is all players must wear full face protection, no visors allowed. I guess that solves the problem of looking "uncool".

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by pylon

Saying guys who don't wear cages is strictly a 'Machismo' thing, is as silly as saying guys that do, is a 'chicken ####, pansy' thing.

Both are stupid to say. But both probably have juuuust a little bit of truth behind them.

Taking a puck or stick to the face hurts. And some guys really don't handle pain well. They won't admit it, or take the risk of crying in front of their grown men teammates.

And some meat heads think 'CHICKS DIG SCARS! IM LEAVING BLOOD ON THIS DIVISION F ICE!!!!'

Both sides aren't telling the whole story. And I will fully admit, although I still prefer the vision and feel of wearing a half visor. The stigma of being cage guy would still stop me from putting one on, or at least think twice about it.

I use to wear a visor, now I don't wear anything, except a mouth guard.

This past winter a buddy on our team had a very close call that, if he didn't have a visor, he would be minus an eye.

I need a new helmet (I played 3/4 of the year with a broken one) so will be including a visor with the new purchase.

Also, chicks do dig scars. So your screw you.

[manwiches]

Originally Posted by 2ArmBands

Yup thats me a big tough clown!

Edit - Just took a couple minutes to read the entire thread. I have been quoted and called a clown and an idiot already on more than one occasion. I find it quite amusing that those defending the bird cage are already the ones doing the most chirping in this thread. Just a coincidence right?

For the record, I wasn't referring to your post at all. It was a general comment that clowns exist when playing, whether they have a cage, shield, half, visor, or nothing.

If you're a dick with a cage, you're a dick without a cage too.

[manwiches]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I use to wear a visor, now I don't wear anything, except a mouth guard.

This past winter a buddy on our team had a very close call that, if he didn't have a visor, he would be minus an eye.

I need a new helmet (I played 3/4 of the year with a broken one) so will be including a visor with the new purchase.

Also, chicks do dig scars. So your screw you.

The one time i thought of taking my visor off, I couldn't do it because nobody had a screwdriver in the room. Guess what happened that very game? I took a slapshot right between the eyes. It broke my visor right down the middle, and I thought I broke my nose. I shudder at the thought of what would have happened, had I actually taken my visor off that day.

Again though, to each their own. I don't care either way.

[JJsChaos]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

Why would a mask reduce the risk of a concussion? It would potentially negate any eye injuries but getting crosschecked in the back of the head will cause a concussion with or without a mask covering the face. The energy in hits still has to go somewhere.

If you were cross-checked in the face with a full cage on would it not disperse some of that energy throughout the cage and helmet? It's not a solution, but it's a mitigation for sure.

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.

This is a really interesting point.

Originally Posted by 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.

I didn't wear a visor for years. After a few stitches, and a buddy talking about a guy who lost an eye, I decided to get a full cage. Before I could, my brother-in-law bought me a half-visor so I used it instead. If he didn't I would have switched.

Originally Posted by 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.

All great points, but I would hope they could design a helmet to negate these issues. Have your ever tried to catch a football with a football helmet on? It's nasty when you first start. OBJ seems to make sick plays even with a full cage (understand there are some differences).

[sec304]

Don't most men's leagues force people to at least wear a visor these days? I've always worn a visor so it didn't impact me but I remember like 5 years ago some of our visorless guys were upset they had to put one on.

I'm sure in due time, whether it's because of insurance reasons or not, that eventually all men's leagues will make full shields mandatory (could be twenty years down the road!)

I can't see the NHL doing it though

[Weitz]

I wear a half shield (required). Have never seen someone on our team or the other team get bloodied because of a half shield.

A lot of guys wear bird cages, which is fine, but they do seem to be the biggest #######s on the ice IMO.

[Samonadreau]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I wear a half shield (required). Have never seen someone on our team or the other team get bloodied because of a half shield.

A lot of guys wear bird cages, which is fine, but they do seem to be the biggest #######s on the ice IMO.

That's cause most Oilers fans are #######s - cage or no cage.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

That's cause most Oilers fans are #######s - cage or no cage.

You mean flames fans since I live and play hockey here in Calgary?

[Bill Bumface]

You can tell a lot about someone's risk management and critical thinking by the protective gear they decide to forgo due to image.

In low level hockey, where the visibility argument becomes moot rather quickly, the distinction becomes more obvious.

Oddly enough I've never seen a guy with a neck tattoo wear a cage. Hmm.