NHL players union blind to safety (Toronto Star 10/17/2005)

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An organization representing workers should have the health and safety of its members first and foremost in mind. The Canadian Auto Workers wouldn't dream of putting a General Motors employee into a hazardous situation. And if such an instance ever happened, the union would fight management tooth and nail.

Why is the National Hockey League Players' Association not doing the same?

Instead of protecting its members, it's allowing them to vote on whether or not NHL players should be forced to wear protection for their eyes. There shouldn't even be a question.

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Originally posted by robbie_dee:
So how many of your eyes have been knocked out by a flying puck, tough guy?

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None. I wear a visor, girlyman (is this another name calling thread?)

I don't think anyone has had an eye 'knocked out' by a puck in the NHL although there have been broken orbit bones and detached retinas.

These are grown men, consentually playing a contact sport. The can make the decision themselves if they need to wear a visor. 38% do wear them. As the younger players who are accustomed to wearing them come into the league those numbers will rise.

Helmets are no longer madatory in the NHL but everyone wears them. Most of the old school hold outs who weren't wearing helmets (like Brad Marsh) said players were much more aware of where their stick were and kept 'em below the shoulders for obvious reasons. Many visorless players say they have issues seeing clearly through them and feel the impairment actually slows their reaction time to a high stick or puck. Further to that some players wearing a visor have actually been injured by having an opposing players slick stuck under the visor.

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These are grown men, consentually playing a contact sport. The can make the decision themselves if they need to wear a visor. 38% do wear them. As the younger players who are accustomed to wearing them come into the league those numbers will rise.

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That's the point I wanted to get at, though. Suppose this was a construction site and some of the "old-timers" didn't like wearing a hard hat. Should the building trades union fight for their right to do that, or should it fight to uphold a rule that all workers have to use certain safety equipment to do their jobs?

[ 20 October 2005: Message edited by: robbie_dee ]

It would be crazy to compare pro sports with industry. Imagine if you ran a construction company the size of the NHLPA...a 500 or so staff. Every year:

10 or fifteen guys get concussions
20 guys tear the A or MCL
5 guys break bones
15 have back injuries
2500 stitches are put into various staff
10 guys dislocated shoulders and knees
20 under go survery to repair an injury that occureded on the job

WCB would shut your ass down.

I don't remember seeing many body checks happening on the job site when I worked construction. I never wore shoulder pads or a cup either. Should a constuction worker be forced to wear a cup in the odd chance she gets hit in the nuts?

Personally I think you'd have to be crazy not to wear a visor in hockey at any level, but some guys just won't.

Even the majority of guys wearing visiors in the NHL don't believe it should be mandatory.

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girlyman

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I love people who only read half a thread and snap.

Move along Jimmy, nothing to see here.

[ 20 October 2005: Message edited by: Yukoner ]

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I think there's a machismo issue. I understand that the players have at least been polled on the issue before, if not formally voted, and the numbers were something like 70% against.

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Do know what that word means in Southern Tutchone?

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Just don't like gratuitous heteronormative insults being flung around whether facetious or not.

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Originally posted by Yukoner:
Maybe the 'union' should petition to ban body checking and make the puck out of a nerflike material.

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Originally posted by scooter:

What!??! No more fighting at work. That guy in the mail room was really pissing me off and now I can't deck him?!?

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On a slightly more serious note, this thread is beginning to remind me of "Longwang."

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*gurgle*

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Care to drop the gloves?

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Originally posted by Cartman:

You think that a physical taunt could ever compare to the image of Yukoner wearing a little geisha dress?

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.....the dress wouldn't be that little. My pants are a 38.

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Originally posted by Yukoner:

Helmets are no longer madatory in the NHL but everyone wears them. Most of the old school hold outs who weren't wearing helmets (like Brad Marsh) said players were much more aware of where their stick were and kept 'em below the shoulders for obvious reasons.

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Originally posted by Nam:

Wrong. Helmets are mandatory in the NHL. When that rule came in (mid '80's?) players were grandfathered and allowed to finish their career playing without helmets if they desired.

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1979, as I recall.

Edited to add: Link

[ 21 October 2005: Message edited by: Tape_342 ]

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Maybe the 'union' should petition to ban body checking and make the puck out of a nerflike material.

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Both of those changes would change the very nature of the game.

Making someone wear a visor won't. It may, however, challenge some macho attitudes, to which I think the progressive response is "too bad, so sad". Seems to me that visors or cages are a very minimal intrusion on visibility, and a very reasonable remedy for a not-uncommon injury.

During a Capitals game the other night, the commentators noted that Alexander Ovechkin had switched from a clear visor to a tinted one. They said that he'd admitted that he preferred the tinted one all along, but wore the clear version for a few games so that pictures of him would look better.

It's not much of a jump to wonder whether some of the guys who don't wear visors at all are thinking similiar thoughts, no?

[ 21 October 2005: Message edited by: Tape_342 ]

Eric Weinrich (now retired, I think) used to wear a yellow visor.