For what ever reason I was out looking for a new hockey helmet in one of the local Burlington Sports stores on Saturday & yes even in Oldtimer hockey we've learned to protect our melons. I came across the M11 helmet the one that is being endorsed by Mark Messier and interestingly enough the manufacturer is the same company as the one that produces helmets for lacrosse. The young guy serving me went on to tell me that it was about time that hockey designers looked to lacrosse for design thoughts given all the fuss surrounding hockey hits theses days. All you have to do is examine where football helmet designers have gone over the past few years for example the new lid from Ridell which has taken off like wild fire from a players & equipment managers perspective. I mean shouldn't a company spend a large portion of their budget protecting their most valued assets, of course they should. And shouldn't the union/players association be super proactive when it comes to protecting their membership, of course they should.
Well that thought of protection goes deeper than the helmets they wear and all you have to do is look at the front page of Sun sports on December 20th to see where the real problem is or at least one of them. Its a bit like the seat belt analogy, no matter how well the car is built if your seat belt isn't on when you get whacked you are in trouble.
I wish hockey players and even their teams would begin to mandate that all helmet straps have to be tight and no more of the straps hanging 3 inches below the chin. I might take it a step further and make all players wear a chin strap similar to the kind football players wear so that when contact happens their lid doesn't pop up a roman candle.
Sure players would object at first but like all things, for example the visor issue the players would become use to it and if it's introduced at the youth level it ultimately becomes a no brainer over time.
So come on people lets get our helmets out of our butts and make the right call on this hot topic.
Oh ya did I hear correctly that the New York Jets were concerned that their rookie QB Mark Sanchez who hails from southern California & a grad of USC would have a tough time during the game dealing with the cold weather this past wkend so they planned on putting a fur lining in his helmet. Now I get that QB's aren't for the most part like other players when it comes to the toughness factor though there have been exceptions BUT a fur lining in his helmet. What should we get him for Christmas some eye liner and earings, where is Dick Butkus when you need him.
Merry Christmas everyone and a safe and healthy New Year.