T1B

Maybe coming after the recent event. Here's a good read on it all:

http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/sto ... b4&k=79945" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

bryan berard almost lost an eye and zednik's not the first to have a major throat injury via a skate. it's going to take someone DYING on the ice or straight up having a eye fall to the ice for masks/throat guards mandatory. period.

It is too bad that it takes an incident like Zednik or Berard's to bring about a safety issue that the league either overlooked or the players don't want. Plus, you can't forget the girl being killed by a puck which lead to the netting in all arenas. You wish the league and the players had more foresight to cover themselves in most situations. The league wasn't afraid to go to the "RBK Edge" uniform system just so the uniforms don't absorb sweat. Having the attitude of "accidents happen" is just screaming out for a fatality to occur.

In the history of the NHL, I think only Bill Masterton has been the only one to die from an on-ice injury, hitting his head on the ice. Zednik and Clint Malarchuk are the only ones I know of to have their kind of flukey injury. To mandate equipment because of two incredibly rare accidents would be a bit of a knee-jerk. Kind of like the nets behind the goals. I know they're no big deal now but the girl that got hit (she was actually sitting near center ice, NOT behind the nets) by a puck in Columbus had a pre-existing condition and was conscious as she left the arena.

Howie Morenz died from complications from an injury he suffered on the ice...granted back in the '30s when medical science isn't what it is now.