The Face Rule

I tend to develop 'rules' based on things I see out on the ice. Many of these rules build my hockey philosophy and I'm always adding new rules. Some rules are more important than others. I played in an adult-league game last night and something I saw supported one of those rules.

The rule is: If you insist on wearing only a half shield or no shield to protect your face and you flinch and cover your face every time the puck leaves the ice in your general vicinity, you should be wearing a full cage.

Half shields look cool, especially with the variety of tints and colors they now come in. But if you're wearing anything less than a full shield because it looks cool, you've missed the point.

Steve and I coach in half shields and Steve still plays in one. We used to coach in baseball caps! I switched back to a full cage after 5 stitches to the chin and I know Steve has been bloodied on at least one occasion. But in all the games we've played together, I've never seen Steve flinch because of a puck or a stick coming too close (and I'm pretty sure I never did). We still block shots and go into the corners with partial protection because we've learned how to tuck our chins and avoid damage.

This recent post by Third Man In further supports my theory (Warning: the picture is pretty ugly...no blood, but still bad).

Wear what you want to wear but if you're afraid of getting hurt, wear more protection.