Thoughts on wearing a cage in mens league?

[Jarick]

No and there is no checking, but guys play hard and there is a ton of body contact and things can get rough. I am 5'9'' 220 lbs (all muscle) though so I am not concerned with guys getting chippy with me. I just don't want to be "that guy." Being that I play guys hard and dive in front of slappers and also drive the net.

5'9 220 all muscle? Must be a bodybuilder!

My philosophy is that until they start paying me to play hockey, I wear a cage.

 

[budster]

The legendary Jacques Plante got chirped for wearing his mask. Good thing he didn't listen.

 

[noobman]

If you're playing A level then maybe you can get away with keeping it off... although you never know when a slapper or an errand stick is going to whack you.

I play between C and D, so I'm always worried about players who can't control their sticks that well.

 

[Hades]

I only recently started playing ice hockey (pick-up). Within 30 seconds of stepping on the ice, I received a stick on the lip/teeth. Good thing it touched my lip before the teeth, or I would have probably lost 1 or 2. This happened my second week skating too. I can't imagine how much it would hurt to receive a slapper in the face. Wear the cage, that's what I would do. I'm the type of guy that plays hard in every sport I've played (soccer, basketball, now playing pick up hockey). I wouldn't feel as safe playing my way if I knew I could receive a stick in the face from a player that can't control it properly. It wouldn't bother me that much if I was an NHL player, but I'm not. I don't have their money to fix my teeth.

 

[Lososaurus]

If I didn't wear a cage, I'd have a broken nose and missing a few teeth. Wild stick from a falling player.

Wear the cage.

 

[dabeechman]

It only takes one bad cut or one tooth for you to permanently wear a cage. So save yourself the pain/money and put the cage on now.

 

[ScottyK]

What happens if god forbid you lose teeth or even worse a eye ?

I don't see how any hockey player ANYWHERE amateur or pro in this day in age doesn't wear a full shield or cage.

Especially amateur. Your tough image not wearing one won't mean squat when your in the hospital.

 

[AvDog]

Wear the cage.
It doesn't matter what others say. If you get hit in the face with a puck, it's not gonna hurt them.

 

[Gino 14]

From everything the OP is stating he should be wearing a cage. If the league he plays in is that competetive, the guys playing know about cages and mouth guards and yet the poster doesn't? Teeth are easy to replace, you need to worry about your sight. I saw a UHL player have a puck deflect off the cross bar and come up under his visor. He lost his one eye and had very limited sight in the other. Need a better reason for a cage?

 

[rondonald]

In the league I'm in it's probably 50/50, I wear mine. I don't think adult league is worth messing up your face...

 

[Halifaxhab*]

I guy on my team got a stick to the eye (no visor or mask) he didn't lose it, but it is pretty bad, he says it's like looking thru a bunch of saran wrap. He now wears a full cage.

 

[ryangib]

I wear a visor, but my whole attitude about being hit by a puck is that I wasn't that pretty to start with.

hahahaha


i wear a pretty big visor. its a borderline colin white special.

i've been playing mens league all year round for like 3 years and havent seen much damage to peoples faces. obviously i've seen some, but not much. i wasn't wearing any facial protection for a long time and finally bought the visor. i'm very comfortable with it, and i dont think i will wear a cage (unless i learn the hard way that i shouldve been wearing one). it's not about being tough, thats for sure. the cage is just simply annoying. and yeah a simple arguement is "well is the annoyance of a cage worth your teeth" ....i try to play as smart as i can. i'm not diving face first to block shots.

 

[mooseOAK*]

I am 25 years old and I play in a competitive mens "A" league. Right now I wear a visor just to protect my eyes. The last 3 games I have played I have had around 8-10 incidents where I nearly lost a few teeth either from irresponible players getting a high stick on me or from a few deflected shots that nearly hit me in the face if I did not see them coming.

It seems to come in waves (shots to the face). I will go a few months without a stick or puck coming near my head then a few game stretch where I come very close to some serious dental work.

What is your opinion on wearing a full cage in a mens league? This is not a normal beer league, everyone in the league is really competitive and most are former NCAA/AAA/Junior players.

Then a lot of those guys played with cages on, why can't you?

 

[MeltingPlastic]

I've gone each way. I currently wear a cage but have gone without anything and with a visor. I don't mind the cage as im not in a league where i can fight etc. I played in one back in college where they let fighting go so i played without anything but multiple times caught sticks to the face. I've already lost my front teeth when i was a kid playing street hockey to a stick to the mouth and have had some bad dental problems because of it so right now, wearing a cage is fine with me. I'm not getting paid to play and it doesn't effect my vision or anything so whatever.

 

[LarryO]

I guess the reason I am hesitant is because I fly around the rink and have no problem sliding in front of shots and I drive the net hard every chance I get with the puck (I am one of the faster stronger players in the league). I would say maybe a handful of guys in the league wear a cage/fishbowl I play in, probably none of them are defensemen (I play defense but normally rush the puck for my team as well). I would be badly criticized for wearing one even more with the style I play.

I have dental insurance but I still value my looks and I hate dental visits.

I wouldn't bet on dental insurance covering a sports related accident, especially when they can argue that you were negligent and the accident could have easily been avoided by wearing proper protection.

 

[Jarick]

Not to mention you've got $500-1000 deductibles, and if you do get broken teeth, count on lots of fun dental surgery, including root canals! Oh, and your dental insurance might not cover the prosthetics or all of it.

$35 cage vs. root canals, thousands in costs, and several hours in a dentists chair...hmm...

 

[sbkbghockey]

there isn't a team of doctors on the bench ready to help you when you go down with a facial injury, put the cage on, thats my motto

This is basically my policy too!! It's not just teeth, cages or full shields protect against broken jaws, skull fractures, eye damage/retinal detachment, and a bunch of other facial injuries a puck or high stick could cause.

Once college/jr hockey is over and if you're not playing at least semi-pro hockey-wear a cage!! I play in a competitive men's league with lots of other ex college and jr guys. It's "no check" but depending on the refs there's more than just accidental contact. Also some guys were one rival college teams sometimes that is interesting when old rivalries are renewed and physical play does happen. I'd say about 2/3rd of the guys wear cages, mostly the older old school guys that grew up playing hockey with no helmets (let alone a cage) are the ones that don't wear cages/full shields.

What happens if god forbid you lose teeth or even worse a eye ?

I don't see how any hockey player ANYWHERE amateur or pro in this day in age doesn't wear a full shield or cage.

Especially amateur. Your tough image not wearing one won't mean squat when your in the hospital.

I totally agree, with all of the strength and conditioning techniques comblined with extra light, flexible composite sticks shots are harder than ever before. (watch some of that old NHL footage and those shots look lighter than many high school games.)

Many amateur leagues are now requiring players to wear a full cage or full shield (fishbowl). I've seen a lot more NHL players hit with pucks and getting facial and dental injuries this season. I think the pros will have mandatory visors within a season or two and eventually (5-10 years) there could even be full cages in the NHL. That's for players' safety but also good business- a team playing millions for a player's service doesn't want him to be out for an extending time for an injury that is fully preventable with a full cage.

 

[TinofGrizz]

I wear a visor, but my whole attitude about being hit by a puck is that I wasn't that pretty to start with.

HAHA, I've always said they can't make it look much worse. I wear no facial protection at all, can't stand looking through the bars on a cage and also play in one league where fighting is allowed.

I have no problems with guys that wear cages as long as they don't initiate fights with players with no facial protection and if they can control their stick.

Nothing worse than getting smacked in the face with a high stick from a guy not paying attention to his stick because his face is fully protected.

 

[RobertKron]

Went back to a cage because it's just plain not worth it to take even the slight risk of major eye injury for beer league hockey. Not to mention that dental work costs a fortune, and missed time at work isn't something I want to deal with.

If a guy yaps at me about it, I'll just laugh in his face because it must suck to be that stupid and have to go through day-to-day life.

 

[SenzZen]

Wear one. After a while you don't even notice it's there, and it's low maintenance- you don't have to worry about it fogging up or getting nicks.

 

[Trojan35]

I heard this guy used to only wear a visor in my men's league. I also heard he changed his mind sometime after this photo was taken.

 

[Rush22*]

I heard this guy used to only wear a visor in my men's league. I also heard he changed his mind sometime after this photo was taken.

Damn that is nasty. I am going to buy a cage this weekend. Most of the guys I play with can launch 85 mph+ shots and I would bet a few are shooting 90+. More dangerous are the quick snap shots that are harder to react to and know where they are going to release.

That is one sick picture, cage goes on asap.

 

[Wile E Coyotes]

I swear by the cage, every so often a stick, puck, elbow comes up and hits me there, and I always think what would've happened if I weren't wearing one..

peace of mind

 

[RobertKron]

Damn that is nasty. I am going to buy a cage this weekend. Most of the guys I play with can launch 85 mph+ shots and I would bet a few are shooting 90+. More dangerous are the quick snap shots that are harder to react to and know where they are going to release.

That is one sick picture, cage goes on asap.

When I switched back to a cage, I hated it. HATED IT. I still don't really like it, but it has become pretty normal so whatever.

One game, as I was going out on the ice, I told myself that this thing sucked, and that I was taking it off when I got home and going back to the visor. I'd been wearing it for a few weeks, and hadn't taken a single impact to the cage.

First shift, I'm jumping out to the point off of a D-zone faceoff and I drop to block a shot. Goes off my shin pads. As I'm getting up to get back with the play, I get absolutely smashed in the cage. The guy totally stepped into the rebound off my shin pads and absolutely cranked one directly into the lower part of my cage where my exposed mouth would have been. I would have been absolutely ****ed. Instead, I was chasing the puck down through the neutral zone trying to get a breakaway. I decided that I should probably just suck it up and get used to the cage.

 

[predfan24]

I swear by the cage, every so often a stick, puck, elbow comes up and hits me there, and I always think what would've happened if I weren't wearing one..

peace of mind

Exactly, I actually have a visor sitting at home I bought probably 3 years ago, I've never actually put it on though and everytime I start to get comfortable and entertaining the idea......WHACK!! I would be missing several teeth and prob have some scars if not for my cage.

As for OP, I realize what your saying. I know there is sort of an unwritten "code" with high level players about not wearing cages so honestly you just have to do what is in the best interest for you. Yeah, if you put on a cage you will likely get chirped but when that guy chirping you loses some teeth or gets a scar that will last him his whole life you will be the one laughing.