Equipment Ice Hockey Tip: Neck Guards
Richard Zednick’s life threatening neck injury earlier this month got me thinking about neck guards. I’ve never worn one. I really don’t know what they’re like. Can they really prevent a skate blade from slicing your throat?
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first injury of it’s kind.
Nasty Injuries
In 1989 Buffalo goalie, Clint Malarchuk had his jugular vein severed when another player was upended while skating toward the crease and caught him with a skate. Malarchuk required over 300 stitches. (He only spent one night in the hospital and was playing two weeks later.)
Trent McCleary on the Canadiens took a pucks in the throat from a slapshot during a game in January 2000. Doctors said he would have died, had he not had a tracheotomy. He retired in November that same year.
According to Mats Sundin, there was a similar incident in Sweden where the player died, so neck guards were made mandatory in the Swedish league for a while.
There have been several neck slash injuries in amateur hockey as well.
Although these are extremely rare occurrences, is it really worth risking your life not to protect yourself? When Zednick starts playing again, he says he'll be wearing some sort of neck guard.
Neck guards are optional for adult rec hockey players, and so they should be. I know some players that wear them, but most don’t. For me, the minute chance of getting hit in the throat is not enough to warrant the inconvenience. Wearing a neck guard would probably make me hotter, and cause me sweat more than I do already.
Bubble Wrap
I just don’t think we need to protect ourselves from every possible situation that may occur on the ice. To me, it makes more sense to concentrate on the most likely possibilities. For example, wearing a concussion proof helmet with a cage. Plenty of flying pucks and sticks out there, not so many skate blades.
If I’m more likely to get hit by a car walking down the street than get my neck sliced by a skate, maybe I should start wearing my hockey equipment all the time? On the way to the rink? To the mall? To the Pub?
What are your thoughts on wearing a neck guard? Does the Zednick incident change your stance?
Buy Neck Guards Online
