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OHL Goes To Mandatory Neck Guards
by Paul on 03/04/08 at 05:44 PM ET
Comments (6)
via The Record,
The Ontario Hockey League will force all of its players to wear neck protection starting next week.
The league has annouced mandatory neck protection must be worn by all players effective March 10.
Update March 6th, 2008 - 12:23pm ET:
From CTV,
A new group named “Keep neck guards out of the OHL” was created on Facebook early Wednesday morning. By Thursday afternoon, more than 180 people joined the group on the popular social networking website to sound off on the new regulation.
One group member wrote, “We might as well put the cage on if we have to wear neck guards.”
Another hockey player posted a note saying he simply won’t wear it. “I probably shouldn’t be in this league anyway but I’ll be pumping gas before I will wear a neck guard,” he wrote.
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, Minor League | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: facebook, neck+guards, ohl,
Comments
That’s kind of ridiculous...Yes it was a horrible incident, but it is incredibly rare. If you’ve ever had to wear a neck guard when you were little playing hockey, you know they suck...If a player wants to wear one, then he should go ahead, but to force the players to at that age seems wrong. To many, the risk is not great enough to substantiate the discomfort of a neck guard.
Posted by NHLJeff from Boston, MA on 03/04/08 at 07:26 PM ET
Hopefully, the NHL follows suit. Seriously, I can’t see any reason not to require neck protection of some kind- seems pretty unobtrusive and, if it can save the life of one player or referee, worthwhile, too…
Posted by mudshark from Divetown, Colorado on 03/04/08 at 07:53 PM ET
Good on them. There are so many neck guard options out there at this point that I really think the whole ‘oh, it’s uncomfortable!’ complaints are bull. I know that when I’m playing I don’t even notice it’s there (and kind of feel like something’s missing if I take it off).
What I really want to see is a reasonably priced compression shirt with a built in neck guard. I’ve only ever seen the loose long sleeve dry fit-esque ones.
Posted by Dare from Edmonton on 03/04/08 at 07:54 PM ET
Have you ever played hockey? You haven’t if you feel like requiring neck-guards is good for the game.
Posted by moore00 from Grand Rapids on 03/05/08 at 12:27 AM ET
After the Zednick thing, I started wearing one for my games. I’ve played 3 times so far with it on. It’s uncomfortable right up until I start playing and then I really don’t notice it. I second Dare’s wish to see a shirt with it built in (UnderArmour, hear that?) as I think that would be the most comfortable solution or something that attaches to the shoulder pads (which may or may not be good for adult leagues since a lot of the guys I play against don’t wear them).
Posted by philduba from New Jersey on 03/05/08 at 12:00 PM ET
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Hopefully the WHL and QMJHL will follow suit making it a Canadian Hockey League mandate.
Posted by Ted from Innisfil, Ontario on 03/04/08 at 06:47 PM ET