NHL: Newly-Mandated Equipment Shouldn't Stop with Visors

Within a span of three minutes of addressing the media in the wake of his horrid eye injury, Philadelphia Flyers captain Chris Pronger admitted that the damage “could have been a lot worse” and that he is unsure when he will be able to return.

Yet when he refused to offer a detailed assessment on the use of visors, it is easy to conclude that he merely wanted to avoid swinging into a Mike Milbury-esque rant.

Translation—he has no regrets neglecting to protect himself from a situation that is bad enough already and could have, as he implied, turned out to be another Bryan Berard situation. An NHL team captain and heavily leaned-on defenseman has no regrets taking himself out of the lineup indefinitely for something that could have been avoided.

This alone ought to cement the debate in favor of mandating visors for all NHL players.

It certainly convinced this author, who previously felt that professional athletes have the right to choose whether or not to take risks of that nature.

Now, however, it is obvious that failing to protect oneself is not an exercise in individual freedom. Or is it some noble demonstration of manliness or courage?

Rather, it is a selfish disregard for the good of the team and the league.

If you ran a chain of pizza restaurants, wouldn’t you want all of your delivery personnel wearing seatbelts at all times on the job? If you were the boss in any sort of office building, wouldn’t you want your employees to practice good cleanliness, especially during flu season? If you were supervising a chemical lab, wouldn’t you want every staffer to wear goggles?

It’s the same concept. When it comes to taking proper measures to prevent avoidable injuries, this should not be an individual decision. Especially not in hockey, seeing as it is the ultimate team sport.

Like so many of his peers, Pronger is paid a seven-figure income by his team in exchange for his input in the effort to win games. These affluent athletes also have countless paying customers watching in person and/or maintaining a cable or satellite television package so as to keep tabs on their team.

For those who embrace the “win at all costs” adage―and many of them certainly cross over with the Milbury crowd―it should be noted that employers and fans alike expect top athletes to be available to play at all costs.

In this case, the cost is what the likes of Pronger ought to consider pocket change and a little swallowed pride.

Sometimes it takes more courage to admit to one’s recklessness and change one’s ways than it takes to be reckless in the first place.

For the sake of all those with financial and emotional investments in its players, the NHL, at the very least, ought to grant its individual teams the right to mandate visors. And while we’re at it, let’s consider protecting another currently vulnerable portion of the upper body.

Remember what happened to Richard Zednik in February 2008? At that time, the Florida Panthers winger was approaching the 10-year mark of his NHL career. He had recently broken out of a protracted slump to score six goals and nine points in a span of four games.

He entered the Feb. 10 game in Buffalo having just scored two goals the previous night in a 6-3 win at Boston.

But then, at the halfway mark of the third period, Zednik’s season ended instantaneously. To say nothing of the threat the infamous skate-on-neck accident posed to his life, his career was in doubt. Moreover, his team was down a key veteran scorer for the homestretch.

Without his services for the remaining 24 games, the Panthers went 12-8-4 and missed the playoffs by nine points.

Four of those shortcomings came in overtime or a shootout. Five of their late-season regulation losses were decided by only one goal, and two came against the eventual Southeast Division-champion Washington Capitals.

It is not a stretch to claim that if Zednik were healthy and performing like he had been in the week before his accident, the Panthers could have made the 2008 postseason. And he would have been healthy if he were wearing a neck guard.

It may be true that some hockey fans like to see a little blood dripping from a player’s nose or mouth. But no halfway-civilized bystander wants to see a thick trail of blood spanning two zones of the rink while an injured player is struggling to compress his neck and get to an ambulance.

In a similar vein, NHL coaches, general managers and team owners should want all of their employees, especially the established stars, to be able to see what they are doing out of both eyes through at least the remainder of their contract.

If certain players can’t protect themselves from unpleasant, long-term injury for their own sake, then someone needs to make sure they do it for the sake of their team.