Nowadays about 60% of NHL ice hockey players wear some kind of facial protection to protect them from skates, pucks, sticks, other players, boards and the ice. The realization of how essential face protection is was brought to light in 1973 when Greg Neeld lost his eye due to a high stick. From then on he and quite a few other players on all levels, began to wear protection. Full face protection is now essential for a lot of North American amateur leagues, all high school hockey, college hockey, and for any player who's below 18. A more recent and certainly significant injury to Bryan Berard's eye has lead to a large controversy over whether to make putting on at least a visor essential at the professional level also. Even though face protection isn't yet mandated by the NHL, it is still seen as an crucial part of safety equipment in the game of American ice hockey.
A hockey shield or visor is a protective piece of equipment which is connected to the front of a player's headgear. Visors offer a restricted level of protection as they only cover the upper half. A more complete kind of protection can easily be found in a total face shield. Both types of coverage are constructed from high-impact resistant plastic material. The substitute to a shield or visor is the cage, that is also coupled to the face of the player's helmet. Unlike the visor, the cage is constructed of metal or a composite mesh material that usually protects the entire face; even so there are some 1 / 2 cages obtainable currently as well. A combination mask is additionally being produced now which offers the very best from both guards. This style incorporates a visor to guard the upper half of your skin and a cage protecting the mouth, cheeks and jaw.
The most important variations between the 3 kinds of hockey facial protection essentially boil down to which ones offer more sight and better air flow. Visors Shields and visors give coverage without obstructing the player's line of vision because of the crystal clear plastic. The bad side to these are that they do not have good air flow and have a tendency to fog up. Cages of course are open, so air flow seems to not be a problem, however the small metal bars that run in front of the face can obstruct your view of the hockey puck. With a combination mask you're able to both see and breathe more freely and thus get the advantages of both masks.
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