I've never seen this

[jkrdevil]

For the past couple games Devils D-man Colin White has been wearing a full cage on his helmet because of an injury to his face. Here's a pic

Now I've seen players wear a full viser when they have an injury like White's, but I have never seen a player in the NHL wear a full cage helmet (ala, youth hockey). Anyone have any thoughts? Has any other player in recent memory worna full cage?

[JQK]

That is a new one for pro hockey.. i have never seen the full cage.. i've seen the full visor, but not a metal cage...

looks good...

[habsfannova]

Never seen one.  It might be a good idea.

[Discrim]

strange, considering the league.  Got a card of a Whaler (can't remember who) with a full visor, but first time i seen a full cage on a non-college player.

[Snowcap30]

if i recall, it mite of been jose juneu who ive seen with one of those plastic jar things. no visor, just the jar gaurd. it was weird lookin

[habsfannova]

Shayne Corson wore a jaw guard once.

[tmorss9]

I remember seeing guys in the '70's and '80's with jaw or mouth injuries using football facemasks (usually receiver style). that was a really interesting look. Maybe it was just the brand of cage that I had, but my cage had a bar exactly at eye level, and I couldn't see any shots farther out than the hashmarks. Either that or i just sucked.

[CC97]

The full-cage makes him look like a woman's hockey player... I hate adding extra equipment, hell I'm all for making helmet use optional.

[NJTank]

Well if its for an injury ists undertsandable as long as they dont become mandatory I have no problem with the full cage.

[-kj]

Helmet use optional?  Insanity.

Granted, I'm not for making shield/cage use manditory at all.  But I can't imagine playing without a helmet.  Yike.

(And, yeah, I'm a wuss--I play with a full cage at all times.  But, I'm also not getting paid to play the game, and value my eyesight and teeth a bit.)

[Discrim]

Well if its for an injury ists undertsandable as long as they dont become mandatory I have no problem with the full cage.

it's mandatory in college hockey, it'd just look weird if this was widespread in teh NHL.  seriously, i woulda mistook the pic for someone playing for St. Cloud State or Denver.

[Saintsfan]

I would have thought a full cage would be more sutaible than a full visor, as its not gonna get steamed up, and there is less chance of it breaking i would have thought!

[jkrdevil]

Saintsfan in right that's probably why White went with the cage. Although today White for the most part stayed out of the nasty play in the 3rd period. Of course he would look like an idiot fighting with a cage on.

As far as USA Hockey, a full cage/full visor is madatory in all levels except juniors and adult. And I think in juniors you must be over 18 and sign a waiver in order to play with out the cage. I'm not sure about that maybe someone you plays a level of Junior in the US could confirm if that is true.

[CJR]

I seem to remember a Wings player (Yzerman, maybe) using a full cage a couple years ago after an injury, complaining that the full shield fogged up too much.  Can't remember exactly when or what the injury was, though.

[CC97]

Correct me if I'm wrong (cause I might just be!) But I recall hearing that head injuries happened a lot less frequently during the non-helmet days of the NHL, mostly because the opposing players were aware of the no helmets and respected the head area accordingly.

Then again there have been numerous bad incidents without the helmet.

Discuss.

[CJR]

I've heard that as well.  Players respected each other more then when they knew how much damage they could do.  Now you never know, and accidents happen a lot more.

[CDunn]

I'd piss my pants without a helmet playing in the NHL.

 I'm in the midget division(strange name for the oldest age group in youth hockey...and I'm 6'3'') and I love the cage. I don't know if I have horrible luck or what, but pucks have hit my cage 3 times in the past 3 seasons, all slappers.  Thank God for the cage. Some people on my team last year used the full visor and they were always spraying it with stuff before games and constantly wiping it off on the bench.  After you wear the cage a couple times you don't even see the wires.  I think the excuse that I've heard some player make is that it hurts your visibility in the game and can hinder your playing.  i don't believe that at all.  

 I certainly don't think face protection should be made mandatory, but helmets need to be mandatory.  The game is too rough to not have something on your noggin.  Has anyone in the minors or NHL worn a full cage/visor full time recently?

[Saintsfan]

Given how hard the ice is and how fast hockey is I would doubt how much protection any practical helmet would give you in a game of hockey. Perhaps players are more reckless nowadays, expecting there helmets to give them more protection than they actually can.

I guess though the one useful thing a helmet gives players is somewhere to hang a visor/cage from, given that you wouldn't want to be hit by a flying puck!!

Lots of sports seem to have this debate every now and again, ie how much protection does head protection actually give you. Generally the argument goes that the skull is usually sufficient protection, and all a helmet does is to spread out the impact causing more damage. (I don't quite understand the argument fully, so I won't be answering any follow up questions!!!!!!!!)

[-kj]

That can't be factual at all.  Helmets, when worn properly (not like many of these dunderheads in the NHL) take the impact and absorb it, rather than transfer it to the head.  Same reason for wearing a bicycle helmet--I have taken a fall off a bike, and bumped off the ground with my helmet.  Of all the things that hurt afterwards, my head wasn't one of them.

[Saintsfan]

I think the problem in sports Mockba is that the helmets are to a degree designed for the playing of the game, not for protection. As I say I am not completely up with this argument, but certainly the argument with headguards in boxing is that the spread out the impact of the punch causing more bleeding under the skin and therefore more bruising around the impact area.

Lets face it, protective gear, particularly head gear is not generally designed to a high level of protection. Certainly say your bicycle helmet would have been subject to much greater research, and design.