ErnestoGuevara said:
It's a weird rule thoug... it use to be that everyone had to wear a full faceshield at the WJC...I don't know why they changed it. The neckguard is more for protection against skates and cuts from high sticks than from cross-checks as it's not really padded. I don't understand why they don't all wear full cages and neckguard, it protects them and really doesn't affect their game (you get used to the cage after 1 icetime).... Are mouthguards made mandatory by the IIHF? I could understand why a player wouldn't want to wear a mouthguard as it make brathing harder but they *aperantly* help reduce the risk of concussion.
It does help prevent concussions, which is why generations of boxers have worn mouth-guards. It's every bit as feasible to get a concussion from facial trauma as from cranial trauma, possibly more so. How many boxers have you seen go down after getting tagged to the chin or nose, in comparison with one to the back of the head? I suspect that there may be also be an evolutionary explanation for it, from a mammalian standpoint, but I'm not a paleontologist, so this much is speculative on my part.
Edit: I'm with you about the merit of mandatory facial protection. It's easier to act the tough guy on these boards and advocate things like repealing the instigator rule or mock guys who wear shields, than to advocate measures that seem conservative or effeminate and that actually promote the health of players while they are playing and after their playing careers. Fact is, if you love hockey, than you would have loved to see more of Al MacInnis, Pat Lafontaine, Eric Lindros at his peak, Bryan Berard with binocular vision, and so on, which means that better facial protection correlates with better hockey.
