Real Men Who Wear Cups Don't Block Shots...

That is about as crazy as I see the 'no fighting if you wear a visor' debate. I personally give a lot of credit from the get-go for players who drop the gloves, whether or not they are wearing helmets with visors. I mean, to throw yourself out there with the chance of being humiliated in front of the fans, opponents, and especially your teammates, is in itself a big risk if you ask me. But to criticize players for keeping their lids on makes about as much sense as asking players to remove their cups if they are going to block shots during the game.

Don Cherry, the wacky Hockey Night in Canada commentator has brought this issue into our 'Wild World' when he went after Cal Clutterbuck in his 'Coaches Corner' segment recently. Now I am not going to repeat the short segment...but Cherry was not kind. I guess I have a problem with commentators and reporters who feel the need to make 'themselves' the story, which is what Cherry does with his wackiness. He is entertaining, I'll give him that, but I also take what he says with a grain of salt. The masses, especially in Canada, see him in a different light and that is what is unfortunate when he goes after players, especially rookies from Canada.

Back in 1979, NHL Commissioner John Ziegler announced that helmets would be a mandatory piece of equipment. And from the there, another safety piece was born in the shield, although not mandatory yet. And I would imagine that ever since the addition of these two pieces of equipment, the debate on whether a player should remove his helmet (especially if said visor is attached) before fighting has raged on. Interestingly enough, the AHL makes mandatory the wearing of a shield by all players. And there is currently a debate in the minors on whether or not keeping your helmet ON during a fight should also be mandatory. This has come to a head after the death of Don Sanderson, who played for the Whitby Dunlops (Ontario Hockey Association-AAA), died as a result from an injury sustained after hitting his head on the ice during a fight. And more recently in the AHL, a player began 'convulsing violently on the ice for 30 to 40 seconds' after hitting his head on the ice after a fight. And for the record, both of these players were not wearing helmets at the time their heads banged off the ice. In fact in one of the incidents, the player voluntarily removed his helmet before fighting.

As I said earlier, this debate on helmets, visors, and fighting has gone on for some time, longer than I can remember. And there is in fact a mention of visors and fighting in the NHL rulebook. It basically states that if are assessed an 'instigator' penalty and you had a visor on during the fight, you will be assessed an additional unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Funny, but I have never heard that one called. However, just as has been the case with the wearing of helmets in the NHL, rules change and the wearing of a visor becoming mandatory may come, as I believe it will and should. What that will do for fighting, I do not know. But it is interesting to me that every NHL player that plays without a visor has done so by making a conscious decision to remove that equipment from their helmet, as it was mandatory in their prior minor league career. As for the player who wears a cup while blocking shots...how do you think Cherry would propose checking for and dealing with that?