In what was one of the scariest moments that a hockey player could experience on the ice, it is comforting for fans around the league, not only the Ranger faithful, to know that Marc Staal is expected to make a full recovery after taking a puck in the eye the other night.
After seeing him kicking in pain and bleeding all over the ice all while holding his eye, it was fair to assume to worst.
Limited vision.
Loss of sight.
Shattered eyeball.
Career threatening.
You name it and it was possible.
Luckily, after being checked out by two specialists today, it looks like Staal is going to make a full recovery. However, I take that report with a grain of salt due to his previous concussion symptoms. In what is a well known tragedy at this point, Chris Pronger's career is pretty much over due to an eye injury. His vision has not been affected but he started experiencing concussion symptoms after the injury. We can only hope that Staal does not experience the same kind of effects and that he is back relatively soon.
Having said that, one thing still remains uncertain. Will visors finally be mandatory in the NHL and should they be?
Follow me after the jump for my thoughts on this debate.
These players make the cut for severe eye injuries suffered over the years in the NHL.
Brian Berrard.
Many Malhotra.
Chris Pronger.
And now, Marc Staal.
That's a list of four players who took a puck or stick in the eye and whose careers have been affected. In Staal's case, he might fully recover and continue to be a staple in the Rangers defense for years to come. However, the other three players' careers took a huge hit.
Berrard was forced to retire because of limited vision in his eye. Malhotra was placed on IR just a few weeks ago because his own coach does not think that he is in any condition to stay safe on the ice because of limited vision. And today, Chris Pronger hinted at retirement due to concussion symptoms from his eye injury.
It would be a shame to include Marc Staal on that list in the near future...or at all. And it would be even a bigger shame to include any other player on that list from here on out.
So, again, like has been discussed over the years, should players be forced to wear visors in the NHL?
To begin, let me state that NHL hockey players are professionals who have played hockey their entire lives with one goal - to make it to the NHL. By making it to the big leagues, they have proven to their fans and themselves that they had made the ultimate sacrifice and devoted themselves to the game. Simply, they deserve to be in the position that they are.
They also deserve to make their own decisions about whether or not to wear facial protection. Many veterans have actually never played with a visor since not all minor or junior leagues mandated visors until a few years ago. However, most young players have had to play with cages or visors most of their nonprofessional careers, yet some still refuse to wear them in the pros.
Even though I believe NHL players are mature enough and deserve to make their own decisions for themselves, I still believe that more of them should consider wearing them. I understand that in some corners of the game, players decide against visors because they are fearful of being looked as weak and soft. Still, if I was in the big leagues, I would personally wear one because having your whole career taken from you by an unlucky shot in the eye is not worth it.
And if I would be looked at as soft, I would try to play my game like Ryan Callahan, David Perron, or Scott Hartnell (as a Rangers fan its hard to support this guy but he is a tough S.O.B.). They all wear visors yet they play their hearts out and throw their bodies around like nothing.
Then there is also the other side of the debate. The side that largely consists of enforces and players that drop the gloves more times during the season than they score goals. Currently, there is a rule that if you start a fight with a visor, you got penalized.
One proposed solution to that is that if guys with visors want to drop the gloves, they should also unstrap their helmets and throw their fists with no helmet (and no visor). The issue with this is that then there is the danger of the players falling and hitting their heads on the ice. If this visor rule would be implemented, it seems like the nature of fighting in games might be diminished. Just another dilemma.
In the end, it is the players decision, and it should remain that way. But one can only hope that as more players enter the league they become aware of the unnecessary risk of playing without a visor before its too late. And one can also only hope that Marc Staal does the most to protect his eyes from now on and decides to wear one.
Dan Girardi, this goes for you too.
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