Junior B Panthers make move to full-face shields

The picket-fence teeth and lower-facial bruising are a common feature of junior hockey dressing rooms.

That is why the Peninsula Panthers will make full-face shields mandatory for their players, beginning this season in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League. Panthers general manager Pete Zubersky said he believes Peninsula is the first junior team in western Canada to mandate this.

“I hope it starts a trend,” he said.

Junior players in western Canada, from Junior B and Junior A up to the major-junior Western Hockey League, are mandated to wear half-face visors. Players in the U.S. collegiate NCAA must wear fullfacial protection. So why not Canada, asks Zubersky, before answering himself: “Because it’s the culture of the game here, but now it’s time for a change.”

Zubersky said he has thought about the issue ever since former Panthers forward Jeff Zukowski, standing at the crease, took a direct slapshot from the point off the face. That was in 2005, the same season now Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn played on the Panthers.

“Jeff’s teeth and face were all banged up and he missed eight weeks and lost 25 pounds,” recalled Zubersky.

“I’ve thought about this for a dozen years since.”

Now it’s time to act, he said. The Panthers players can wear either full-facial clear plastic or metal-cage protection. Most NCAA players choose metal cage because the plastic can fog.

“It’s about the safety of the player,” said Zubersky.

“The research I’ve looked at shows that full-facial masks make no difference in concussion risks, compared to half-visors, but that facial and dental injuries go down to near zero. Times are changing. Hockey has to adjust with the research. We used to drive with our kids on our laps. It’s time to move forward.”