OHA Official Fights For His Life; Time For Pro Hockey To Wake Up

In 1989 we saw it with Clint Malarchuk. In 2008 we saw it with Richard Zednik. Two NHL hockey players getting their throats accidentally slit open my an errant skate blade. In both instances, we watched on television as these two players lost quarts of blood as it spilled onto the ice. Players and trainers ran around in a frenzy not knowing what to do. By the grace of God, these two players were spared, and their lives saved by an almost miraculous intervention by a medical trainer who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Today, it's a different story.

The OHA may be one of the lesser known minor leagues of hockey, but over the next few days, it can be sure that they will be at the center of attention as a linesman, Kevin Brown, fights for his life. In the third period of a game between Woodstock and New Hamburg, Brown rushed towards the boards to break up a fight. It was in this time when one of the players fell towards the ice, with his skate coming up, and cutting Brown right across his throat. As reported by Slam!Sports, "[Brown is] not doing so well now."

My question is, how many more players/officials have to be seriously injured (or killed if Brown does not pull through) before there is serious talk about professional hockey instituting a neck guard as part of it's standard equipment regulations? This is a sport where players skate around at almost 50 miles-per-hour with spears in their hands and razor blades on their feet. It is only by fate that more people have not been injured like this.

While The Messier Project looks to protect players from concussions, it is time for another major equipment supplier to step up and design a neck guard that can be comfortably fitted underneath a player's jersey to allow them full peripheral vision and movement, as well as safety.

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