Nhl players should wear more protective equipment

Background[ edit ] The hard surfaces of the tech smart mind and boards, pucks being shot at high speed, and other players maneuvering and often intentionally colliding, also known as "checking" pose multiple safety hazards. Besides ice skates and sticks, hockey players are usually equipped with an array of safety gear to lessen their risk of serious injury. Goaltenders wear masks and much bulkier, specialized equipment designed to protect them from many direct hits from the puck.

Reply March 9, at 4: I have always thought that it makes perfect sense for someone to file a complaint under the OHSA and demand that players wear full face masks.

It makes no sense to me that professional hockey players should have to risk their eyes, teeth, facial bones etc.

To me, the issue, in hockey, is partially dependent on whether the level of violence, as it continues in the NHL, is really an intrinsic component of the sport.

If we get to the point where the NHL would consider banning fighting outright, it would probably become easier to insist on full facial protection for the players. The other argument that I have heard players make is that full facial protection limits their peripheral vision and could make playing hockey even more dangerous for those wearing the protection.

If the argument were true, it could affect the issue of whether the face protection was reasonable in all the circumstances. Ultimately, I hope the day will come where the NHL or an external body will impose full facial protection on all of the players.

Those are the arguments. The fight issue is a separate, but interesting one, especially in Ontario, where the OHSA also regulates workplace violence and the potential of violence. It seems that the state simply defers to the hockey leagues to set their own rules about worker safety, and exempts them from regulation.

I wonder about this strategy. Kevin MacNeill Reply March 10, at 1: Context must surely be an important element to consider.

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Sports apart from hockey result in serious facial injuries including skiing, soccer and other ball sports and cycling. I read one report that in some of these sports the rate of facial injury is even higher than in hockey.

Should full facial protection be required in these sports? Moreover, the vast majority of workplace facial injuries happen outside the sports arena. But professional hockey is more high profile than industrial work. In those sorts of industrial cases where glasses are often the only required facial PPE I am sure that charges have been laid sometimes and orders have no doubt been made as well.

However, we do not hear calls for full facial protection as a general rule to apply to most industrial work environments. Back to hockey, the facial injuries are troublesome but I personally would be more worried about concussions and cervical spine fractures, which are potentially life altering events.

Dan McGarry Reply March 22, at 9: This means that the employer has the duty to ensure that they have taken every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to protect the health and safety of workers.

If this were to occur in an industrial environment, then the MOL would probably order that eye protection be made mandatory and that the employer enforce the wearing of eye protection.

An order such as this might not even require that a critical injury occur.The equipment that National Hockey League officials wear mimics the padding that the players wear but is generally lighter, more flexible, and more compact.

The skates and headgear that NHL officials wear is, in most cases, exactly what the players are wearing in The National Hockey League. Helmets at this price range are good enough for non-checking adult leagues, but players in full-contact leagues should consider something more protective.

"Middle-of-the-Road" Helmets ($ - $) The majority of helmets on the market fall into this price range. Hockey players wear shoulder pads and a chest protector to reduce the risk of injury to their collarbone, shoulders and chest.

The pads come in a variety of styles and sizes. Defensive players tend to prefer more padding to protect them from high sticks, pucks and excessive physical contact.

What’s more, all of our protective hockey gear is genuine pro stock: made for NHL players, but (generally) never used. You’ll be suiting up in the same protective equipment NHL hockey players wear for practice and in games!

What Gear Do Hockey Players Wear? | Healthy Living

Buying protective gear from Pro Stock Hockey comes with all kinds of benefits. so if you’re in the market for a. Section 28(1)(b)requires workers to “use or wear the equipment, protective devices or clothing that the worker’s employer requires to be used or worn”.

Therefore according the Occupational Health and Safety Act it appears that the wearing of eye protection by professional hockey players in the province of Ontario should not be voluntary. Hockey players wear shoulder pads and a chest protector to reduce the risk of injury to their collarbone, shoulders and chest.

The pads come in a variety of styles and sizes. Defensive players tend to prefer more padding to protect them from high sticks, pucks and excessive physical contact.