Visorless NHL Players Still Don’t See Need To Protect Their Eyes

Despite the recent injury to Canucks forward Manny Malhotra in which he is now in jeopardy of losing the sight in his left eye, NHL players who don’t wear a visor still do not see the need in donning one. Malhotra was struck in the eye by an errant puck and has since undergone two surgeries in hopes of saving his eyesight, and the horrific injury has raised many questions over the possibility of making visors manditory; something the league’s visorless players don’t agree with. “Are you kidding me? I will never wear one, absolutely not,” said 20-year veteran Adam Foote who has never worn a visor in his 1153 career games. “The day I am forced to wear a visor will be the day I quit. The league is always trying to turn our sport into figure skating, this would be another step in doing just that.”

While 60% of current NHL players wear a visor, the 40% who remain without one feel that they should be allowed to choose whether or not they want to wear one. “Really, what’s the worst that could happen,” asked LA Kings forward Jarret Stoll, a player known for his excellent shot-blocking ability. “So there are a bunch of 6’2, 220 pound men shooting a rock hard rubber puck up to 100 MPH, and then there are 10 players on the ice at once all using sticks to frantically chase that puck around. Big Deal. I can’t think of too many things that could possibly go wrong under those circumstances so why jeopardize my comfortability and the repercussion of being looked at as a sissy by my peers.”