In the old days of helmet-less hockey, players were much more cautious and
deliberate care was taken to keep the sticks down. Now, ever since the Wayne Maki
- Ted Green incident, there has been this steadily-increasing demand for complete
body protection.
 
Sure, a lot of stitches have been saved and probably the vision in several eyes
... but now we're experiencing head-concussions, quadriplegic paralizations and
so on. We may have chosen the worse route of a dastardly "catch-22" situation.
 
Players today are using their entire body as a weapon and their fallacious
notions of infallibility are leading them into places they should steer clear of.
I think we ought to out-law full face-guards ... thereby imposing vunerability on
these kids and subsequently cutting down on the horrendous injuries that are
plaguing the sport. Let these kids skate without head-gear and you won't see so
much body-crunching and reckless abandon.
 
Of course, I'm not serious ... but the notion deserves some consideration. I
presonally prefer to skate without a helmet and do so at every opportunity. I
play pretty recklessly, but I'm pretty cautious about my stick and I was taught
well how to protect my head in the corners.
 
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