Full-face shields coming to Junior B
B.C. Hockey has put a new face on what is referred to as the Junior B level. And it covers the entire face.
Beginning next season, all players in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League, Pacific Junior Hockey League and Kootenay International Junior Hockey League will be required to wear full-facial protection with either a wire cage or clear plastic.
The Peninsula Panthers of the VIJHL became the first team to do so this season when the team self-mandated the use of full-facial protection for all its players.
“This is a really good move for the players and the game,” said Panthers GM Pete Zubersky.
“We had a game just over the weekend against the Saanich Braves and one of our players, Brendan Martin, received an accidental stick up in the face. His face would have been destroyed if he wasn’t wearing the full-face shield.”
The ruling, however, is contentious among some coaches and players in the VIJHL.
“There will be a bit of whining over the first few practices. But it all went away,” Zubersky noted, of his own team’s experience this season.
“The players won’t be happy for a little while. But by mid-season they won’t even notice it. They will forget that [they are wearing full shields] and it will become a non-story.”
Currently, junior players in western Canada — from Junior B and Junior A up to the majorjunior Western Hockey League — are mandated to wear halfface visors. The three Junior B leagues in B.C. have now made a major break from that standard, and beginning next season, will be in line with the U.S. collegiate NCAA, which requires its players to wear full-facial protection.
Most Junior A and Junior B leagues in Ontario have also mandated full-facial protection beginning next season.
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. Zukowski missed eight weeks and lost 25 pounds because of the damage to his teeth and face, recalled Zubersky. That was in 2005, the same season that current Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn played on the Panthers.
Zubersky feels his advocacy has paid off.
“It’s about safety at all levels of junior and the Panthers showed great leadership,” said B.C. Hockey CEO Barry Petrachenko.
“Our game is faster than it has ever been, and as a result, we face increased challenges and responsibilities relative to safety. We are confident, that through this initiative, facial and dental injuries will be greatly reduced. You are safer in a full cage. You can’t argue it. It was an easy decision for us.”
Zubersky said the research he has 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.
B.C. Hockey released statistics Tuesday to back that up. They come from Todd Jackson, Hockey Canada’s director of insurance and risk management, who addressed the 2017 Hockey Canada Winter Congress.
“More than 370 dental injuries with players wearing half visors were reported to Hockey Canada from 2010 to 2015 as compared to eight for those who wore full face protection,” said B.C. Hockey, in a release.
“Junior B teams will see a 71 per cent reduction in major medical and dental premiums under the Hockey Canada Insurance Program [down from $35 to $10 per player] with the move to full-face protection.”
But not everybody is happy about this move, or even neutral about it.
Lee Stone, head coach of the Campbell River Storm of the VIJHL, didn’t hold back in tweeting Tuesday: “What B.C. Hockey and Hockey Canada don’t realize [is that] when cages are worn, hands and elbows come up during physical contact. We are going to see a whole new level of head trauma because of this decision. Shame my days in Junior B will be finished because of this!”
Added Petrachenko: “We will take concerns into consideration and provide information to address those concerns as implementation happens. But the positive aspects of this far outweigh the negatives.”