manny
01-17-2006, 08:17 AM
'I was stupid'
Slater dons visor after near miss
By GUY CURTRIGHT (gcurtright@<hidden>)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/17/06 Jim Slater's mother pleaded with him to wear a visor on his helmet.
His coach advised him to do so at the start of training camp.
http://www.ajc.com/shared-local/images/1pix_trans.gifThe Thrashers rookie, however, decided to be fearless — like most NHL players — and put the danger of flying pucks and high sticks out of his mind.
It almost cost him Wednesday night.
"I thought I was blind," Slater said. "There was blood, and everything was blurry. I won't lie to you. I was really scared."
Slater was skating down the right side in the first period at Philips Arena when the stick blade of Nashville's Martin Erat caught him just under the left eyebrow. Fortunately, the only damage turned out to be a cut on the eyelid that required six stitches.
Patched up, Slater returned to the ice in the next period. He was wearing a visor. He doesn't plan to take it off.
"I'm going to be smart from now on," Slater said. "When you don't have to, why risk it? I guess I was stupid."
In the macho world of the NHL, it is considered by many a sign of a lack of toughness to wear a visor. This is also the league where goalies once didn't wear masks and skaters resisted using helmets.
"Personally, I would like every player to wear a visor," Thrashers coach Bob Hartley said the day before Slater's scare. "People talk about the macho side of the game. Well, that's one thing. To end up with one eye, though, isn't what anyone wants. Careers are too short to gamble on."
Visor use has been on a steady increase for more than a decade, but still only about 38 percent of NHLers — according to a study by The Hockey News — wear the clear Plexiglass half shield, which attaches to the helmet and covers down through most of the nose.
The percentage on the Thrashers isn't that high despite the late addition of Slater. Seven of the 21 present skaters — led by Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa — wear eye protection, which was introduced to the NHL with the influx of European players in the late 1980s.
Scott Mellanby, the Thrashers' 39-year-old captain, says it's too late for him to change, but he thinks it's time for players to get smart and agree to the required use of visors for everyone joining the league, like helmets were grandfathered in for the 1979-80 season.
After all, face protection is already required at almost all levels below the NHL. It has just been the NHL Players Association that has held out, saying it's members wanted the individual choice.
"I think that they should be made mandatory," Mellanby said. "Obviously, I'm an old-school player who has been around a long time, so people might be surprised by that. But I think that the game is so dangerous now that a change would be good. If you have worn one in juniors, college or whatever, you should keep it on. I don't know why you would take it off."
That's exactly what Slater did, however. After wearing the required full cage during his four seasons at Michigan State, he jumped at the opportunity of the NHL's freedom of choice. "I guess maybe I wanted to show I belonged up here," Slater said.
Stereotypes are hard to shake.
"The stuff about being tough or macho by not wearing one should be over," Mellanby said. "It's gone on too long. There are plenty of guys who wear shields out there and still play the game the old-school way. What about [Jarome] Iginla and [Vinnie] Lacavalier? It has nothing to do with being cowardly."
"Hockey Night in Canada" curmudgeon Don Cherry touched off a furor two years ago by saying European and French Canadian players were soft — or worse — because they were more likely to wear visors.
"Don Cherry is a caveman," Andy Sutton said. But Sutton, like all the other Thrashers defenseman, elects not to wear a visor. High-scoring center Marc Savard also plays without one.
Niclas Havelid, from Sweden, wore a visor when he got to the NHL. He took it off after a few years, however, hoping to fit in.
"I guess it was stupid to take it off, but now I'm used to not having it. You can see a little better without it."
Havelid said, however, that he wouldn't mind being required to wear a visor, especially after what happened to countryman Mats Sundin. The Toronto Maple Leafs star was struck in the left eye by a puck in the season opener.
Sundin returned in about a month, but it was the NHL's scariest moment since Bryan Berard was struck in the left eye by the stick blade of current Thrasher and then-Senator Marian Hossa in 2000. Berard lost most of the sight in the eye, buthe made a comeback after missing a season.
"I think I have used all my good breaks," Sundin told Toronto reporters after his injury, insisting that he would wear a visor the rest of his career.
Berard, who had the retina in his right eye reattached in a 4 1/2-hour operation, also wears a visor as he continues his career with Columbus.
"I don't really want to talk about it," Hossa said last week. "I said it before that I'm not going to talk about it. It's something that's behind me. I go out there and just play. Hopefully it's something that won't happen to anybody anymore."
Despite his injury, Berard doesn't think that visors should be made mandatory in the NHL.
"Having a visor on at certain points prevents injury, but I'm one that believes the visors are the reason why there are more sticks up," Berard said in an interview with the Canadian Press after Sundin's injury. "I think guys get more careless when they do feel protected, and sticks do come up."
Visors aren't foolproof as Dany Heatley found out playing in Europe during the lockout. The former Thrashers star's orbital bone was fractured, similar to Sundin's injury, when a puck flipped up under his visor as he was falling to the ice.
Fighting, still a significant part of the NHL, also impacts the visor debate. Under NHL rules, a player who starts a fight wearing a visor gets an extra two-minute penalty.
"Fighters aren't supposed to wear visors," the Maple Leafs' Wade Belak told the Toronto Sun in October. "I guess people might think you're weak. I've had to wear a visor because of getting a puck in the eye ,and as soon as you go on the ice, they look at you like, 'Whoa, what's going on? Are you going European on us?' "
Garnet Exelby is the Thrashers' biggest hitter and a worthy fighter. His last fight was against Philadelphia rookie Mike Richards, who wears a visor. Quickly, Richards' helmet and visor were off.
"I didn't want to break my hand," Exelby said. "Actually, I wouldn't mind if everyone had to wear visors. I'd like to see everyone a little more protected. There's being tough, and then there is being dumb. Maybe we need to get smarter."
"Wearing a visor doesn't make you weak," Kovalchuk said. "It shows you want to be safe."
— Staff writer Craig Custance contributed to this report.
Slater dons visor after near miss
By GUY CURTRIGHT (gcurtright@<hidden>)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/17/06 Jim Slater's mother pleaded with him to wear a visor on his helmet.
His coach advised him to do so at the start of training camp.
http://www.ajc.com/shared-local/images/1pix_trans.gifThe Thrashers rookie, however, decided to be fearless — like most NHL players — and put the danger of flying pucks and high sticks out of his mind.
It almost cost him Wednesday night.
"I thought I was blind," Slater said. "There was blood, and everything was blurry. I won't lie to you. I was really scared."
Slater was skating down the right side in the first period at Philips Arena when the stick blade of Nashville's Martin Erat caught him just under the left eyebrow. Fortunately, the only damage turned out to be a cut on the eyelid that required six stitches.
Patched up, Slater returned to the ice in the next period. He was wearing a visor. He doesn't plan to take it off.
"I'm going to be smart from now on," Slater said. "When you don't have to, why risk it? I guess I was stupid."
In the macho world of the NHL, it is considered by many a sign of a lack of toughness to wear a visor. This is also the league where goalies once didn't wear masks and skaters resisted using helmets.
"Personally, I would like every player to wear a visor," Thrashers coach Bob Hartley said the day before Slater's scare. "People talk about the macho side of the game. Well, that's one thing. To end up with one eye, though, isn't what anyone wants. Careers are too short to gamble on."
Visor use has been on a steady increase for more than a decade, but still only about 38 percent of NHLers — according to a study by The Hockey News — wear the clear Plexiglass half shield, which attaches to the helmet and covers down through most of the nose.
The percentage on the Thrashers isn't that high despite the late addition of Slater. Seven of the 21 present skaters — led by Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa — wear eye protection, which was introduced to the NHL with the influx of European players in the late 1980s.
Scott Mellanby, the Thrashers' 39-year-old captain, says it's too late for him to change, but he thinks it's time for players to get smart and agree to the required use of visors for everyone joining the league, like helmets were grandfathered in for the 1979-80 season.
After all, face protection is already required at almost all levels below the NHL. It has just been the NHL Players Association that has held out, saying it's members wanted the individual choice.
"I think that they should be made mandatory," Mellanby said. "Obviously, I'm an old-school player who has been around a long time, so people might be surprised by that. But I think that the game is so dangerous now that a change would be good. If you have worn one in juniors, college or whatever, you should keep it on. I don't know why you would take it off."
That's exactly what Slater did, however. After wearing the required full cage during his four seasons at Michigan State, he jumped at the opportunity of the NHL's freedom of choice. "I guess maybe I wanted to show I belonged up here," Slater said.
Stereotypes are hard to shake.
"The stuff about being tough or macho by not wearing one should be over," Mellanby said. "It's gone on too long. There are plenty of guys who wear shields out there and still play the game the old-school way. What about [Jarome] Iginla and [Vinnie] Lacavalier? It has nothing to do with being cowardly."
"Hockey Night in Canada" curmudgeon Don Cherry touched off a furor two years ago by saying European and French Canadian players were soft — or worse — because they were more likely to wear visors.
"Don Cherry is a caveman," Andy Sutton said. But Sutton, like all the other Thrashers defenseman, elects not to wear a visor. High-scoring center Marc Savard also plays without one.
Niclas Havelid, from Sweden, wore a visor when he got to the NHL. He took it off after a few years, however, hoping to fit in.
"I guess it was stupid to take it off, but now I'm used to not having it. You can see a little better without it."
Havelid said, however, that he wouldn't mind being required to wear a visor, especially after what happened to countryman Mats Sundin. The Toronto Maple Leafs star was struck in the left eye by a puck in the season opener.
Sundin returned in about a month, but it was the NHL's scariest moment since Bryan Berard was struck in the left eye by the stick blade of current Thrasher and then-Senator Marian Hossa in 2000. Berard lost most of the sight in the eye, buthe made a comeback after missing a season.
"I think I have used all my good breaks," Sundin told Toronto reporters after his injury, insisting that he would wear a visor the rest of his career.
Berard, who had the retina in his right eye reattached in a 4 1/2-hour operation, also wears a visor as he continues his career with Columbus.
"I don't really want to talk about it," Hossa said last week. "I said it before that I'm not going to talk about it. It's something that's behind me. I go out there and just play. Hopefully it's something that won't happen to anybody anymore."
Despite his injury, Berard doesn't think that visors should be made mandatory in the NHL.
"Having a visor on at certain points prevents injury, but I'm one that believes the visors are the reason why there are more sticks up," Berard said in an interview with the Canadian Press after Sundin's injury. "I think guys get more careless when they do feel protected, and sticks do come up."
Visors aren't foolproof as Dany Heatley found out playing in Europe during the lockout. The former Thrashers star's orbital bone was fractured, similar to Sundin's injury, when a puck flipped up under his visor as he was falling to the ice.
Fighting, still a significant part of the NHL, also impacts the visor debate. Under NHL rules, a player who starts a fight wearing a visor gets an extra two-minute penalty.
"Fighters aren't supposed to wear visors," the Maple Leafs' Wade Belak told the Toronto Sun in October. "I guess people might think you're weak. I've had to wear a visor because of getting a puck in the eye ,and as soon as you go on the ice, they look at you like, 'Whoa, what's going on? Are you going European on us?' "
Garnet Exelby is the Thrashers' biggest hitter and a worthy fighter. His last fight was against Philadelphia rookie Mike Richards, who wears a visor. Quickly, Richards' helmet and visor were off.
"I didn't want to break my hand," Exelby said. "Actually, I wouldn't mind if everyone had to wear visors. I'd like to see everyone a little more protected. There's being tough, and then there is being dumb. Maybe we need to get smarter."
"Wearing a visor doesn't make you weak," Kovalchuk said. "It shows you want to be safe."
— Staff writer Craig Custance contributed to this report.