Majority of Bruins Wear Visors, But Not Ready to Make Them Mandatory Despite Recent Scares

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Oct 28, 2011

Majority of Bruins Wear Visors, But Not Ready to Make Them Mandatory Despite Recent ScaresIt was a frightening sight that nearly cost an NHL star his sight.

Chris Pronger, one of the biggest and baddest blueliners in the NHL, was left screaming in agony, dashing to the locker room as 19,569 fans at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center feared the worst after the Flyers defenseman was hit in the eye by Toronto forward Mikhail Grabovski's stick Monday night.

Pronger will be out for several weeks, but avoided permanent damage to his eye. Still, the incident has once again fueled a long-raging debate throughout the league about the need for players to wear protective visors.

The NHL does not require its players to wear face shields, though a growing number of players do. On the Bruins, 12 of the skaters on their current roster wear visors, while just eight do not. Coach Claude Julien is amazed that any of his players would chose to forgo the protection for their eyes.

"Today players are coming up the ranks with a visor," Julien said, noting that visors or face shields are mandatory in virtually all junior, college and minor leagues as well as throughout youth hockey. "They're used to playing with them. I don't know why they would want to take them off. That's my personal opinion."

Julien stopped short of advocating making visors mandatory, though. That's just as well, considering several of his players would vehemently disagree with such a rule.

"It should be for the players to decide what they want to wear and what they don't want to wear," Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. "It's up to the players. If they make it mandatory then we'll have no choice, but so far we have the choice and we can decide if we want to wear them or not wear them."

Chara is one of the players who opts to play without a visor, joining fellow defensemen Andrew Ference, Adam McQuaid and Joe Corvo and forwards Milan Lucic, Nathan Horton, Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton as the remaining Bruins without the half-shields.

Johnny Boychuk used to play without one as well, but has worn a visor since getting hit in the eye with a deflected shot in the 2009-10 season. Thornton also had a close call last year when he was cut by a skate above his right eye last year against Chicago. Thornton required over 40 stitches to close the gash and missed three games, but returned to the lineup without a visor and has no plans to put one on.

"Who knows if I had been wearing a visor if that skate wouldn't have went right into my eye," Thornton said. "That's my take on it. I couldn't wait to get that thing off. That's my personal opinion on it. People can do whatever they want. I know every time something happens there's going to be a debate, but I saw two guys lose their eye in one year. One of them was wearing a visor and one of them wasn't. I'm sure the stats are different. I guarantee doctors say they're different, but like I said, with that skate that hit me, who knows if I'm wearing a visor it could have pushed it right into my eye instead of sliding by my forehead."

Questions about the effectiveness of visors in preventing injury form the basis of just one of the arguments against them. Some players also complain about having trouble adjusting to the sight lines with the half shield, while others fear that making players feel immune to injury with the extra protection only leads to more dangerous stickwork.

"I didn't see Prongs' thing, but I know I played 14 games in the minors when visors were mandatory [in the AHL] and I've never been slashed or stuck in the visor as many times in 14 games as I have been in 14 years without wearing one," Thornton said. "I think people get a little careless when you have them on."

Thornton also objects to wearing a visor because of the role he plays as Boston's primary pugilist. When possible, players will take off their helmets when fighting if they have a shield on because of the unfair advantage of fighting with a visor. But that can lead to other dangers.

"I obviously believe everyone should make their own choice," Thornton said. "I know for a guy like myself fighting, it's a lot more dangerous to take my helmet off every time I fight and risk landing on my head than it is for me to maybe randomly get hit by a stick or skate as I'm playing."

Julien doesn't necessarily agree with that argument.

"Sometimes they feel the pressure because they play a tough game and they're going to drop their gloves," Julien said. "But there are a lot of guys now that drop the gloves that wear visors. So to me, I would protect myself the best way that I can. I would encourage anybody to keep wearing the visor, but once you turn pro and you've got your contract and it's your decision, it's hard for us to force anybody. All you can do is suggest, and I would certainly recommend that they keep it on."

When it comes to the visor debate, recommendations are about as far as anyone can go at this point. There is no consensus on the need to make them mandatory, not even after the sight of another player nearly losing his sight.

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