Sidney Crosby. Steve Stamkos. Alex Ovechkin. Corey Perry. The
Sedins. Phil Kessel. Patrick Kane. No, this isn’t just a list of the best in the NHL today. It’s also a growing
list of the 69.4 percent of NHLers who wear a visor. This season’s hot button topic is safety, and a close second behind
head injuries is whether or not to make visors mandatory in the NHL. You have traditionalists against visors altogether. You
have pro-choice advocates who so far are getting their way. And then you have the safety police insistent that visors be mandatory
for all players. I fall somewhere between option two and option three. Here’s why.
I’ll admit off the bat, I’ve never worn a visor
in my life. I’ve worn a cage (mandatory in intramural hockey), but never a visor. I can’t comment on the impact
visors have on a player’s vision or just how dangerous it can be to have a foggy visor. Simply, I don’t know.
What I do know is that 90 percent of players entering the league are wearing some form of facial protective equipment –
visors or cages. I understand the guys who’ve been in the game for years like Ryan Smyth, Zdeno Chara and Shea Weber
and their decision not to wear a visor. It wasn’t mandatory when they joined the league, and they can’t be forced
to change their ways now. But the new kids? The once who got to the NHL wearing visors? What excuse do they have? None. That’s
why the best young players today are wearing visors at a rate never before seen in the NHL, thus further advocating for player
safety, a movement that began in 1979 when helmets were grandfathered in to the league.
Chris Pronger wasn’t among the 69.4 percent who wore
a visor . . . until this happened.
Now the most hated player in the NHL dons a visor and
joins the group of NHLers who care about their careers AND their lives off the ice. Let’s learn from the past and
take the painfully obvious route here: grandfather (or Chris Chelios) them in. A player entering the league MUST wear some
form of facial protective equipment, be it a visor or cage. At the current pace and without change to the rule, I expect
in 10 years all players will be wearing a visor. But ask Chris Pronger, Bryan Berard, and Ethan Moreau if the game can wait
10 years. If that’s my kid on the ice (and one day it will be), he’s wearing a visor. C’mon, the cool
kids are already doing it!
It's My Game, and I'll Fight If I Want To
Ankur Jain, Pennsylvania (Oct. 22, 2011)
One of the
most absurd subjects in the NHL today is whether or not to remove fighting from the game. This is the biggest crock I’ve
ever heard, and yes I didn’t forget about the blue laser puck on Fox hockey broadcasts. Here’s the argument. How
does a sport commit to protecting its players by banning dangerous body checks and headshots, yet allow them to engage in
organized fighting? The recent attention that concussions are receiving in the game serves as a convenient platform for those
against violence in the NHL. In recent memory, I can’t recall a single player suffering from a concussion after a fight.
I could be wrong; it wouldn’t be the first time. But the fact remains that the overwhelming majority of concussions
are a result of ill-advised body checks where the principle point of contact is the head. The kinds of injuries suffered after
fights are broken hands, noses, maybe a dislocated finger. What we have here is a small group of idiots, taking advantage
of an unfortunate (and admittedly huge) problem in the NHL to serve their goal of taking fighting out of the game.
For anyone who’s watched
a few games, they know fighting isn’t about television ratings or egoism. It isn’t even about being a traditionalist
and avoiding change. Hockey purists, myself included, understand the importance of fighting and how it can change the momentum
a given game. Case in point, the 2009 playoffs saw two heavyweights, Dan Carcillo of the Flyers and Maxime Talbot of the Penguins,
go at it with the Flyers up 3-0. It wasn’t a memorable fight for the jabs and punches thrown. It was memorable for what
followed. Fourteen seconds after the fight, the Pens got their first goal, followed by another two minutes later. You know
where this is going. The Pens never let up and scored an unprecedented FIVE unanswered goals in one of, if not the toughest,
NHL arenas to play in. This was the series clinching win Pittsburgh needed and served as a catalyst for the Penguins in claiming
the franchise’s third Stanley Cup.
If
I sound a bit attached to the issue, it’s cause I am. I’m willing to accept any change to the game I love if it
makes it better, but trying to take game changing plays from any game is absolutely ludicrous. You wouldn’t take out
baserunner-catcher collisions in baseball would you? (Just don’t ask Buster Posey). If the NBA and its players ever
get their act together, ask them about removing the 3-point line. More quarterbacks are hurt by sacks than hockey players
by fights, but who’s making a stink there? Are their problems with the game? Of course. Is fighting one of them? Ask
the 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Tighty Whities
Joshua Davidson, correspondent
Rob Hendry, senior MLB writer
Ankur
Jain, correspondent
Tyler Pisani, senior MLS
writer
James Sowers, senior college writer
Dan Spritz, senior NFL writer
Travis Stockinger, senior NBA writer
Ankur Varma, senior EPL writer
Piper Wilson, correspondent
Joshua Davidson, correspondent
Joshua is the sports editor for "Tiger Weekly"
magazine in Baton Rouge, La., and a huge sports fan.
Rob Hendry, senior MLB writer
It takes a man with a deep love for baseball and
a strong sense of humor to survive allowing 10 earned runs in 1/3 of an inning in his only college start.That
man is Rob Hendry.You might say he was destined to revel in the game’s absurdities, as he was born on
the same day that saw Jack Morris throw an AL record-tying five wild pitches and Joe Niekro get ejected after being caught
with a nail file on the mound.
Though he resides in Baltimore,
Rob is not an Orioles fan.He is originally from Irvine, Calif., and started following baseball around the time
of the 1994 players strike, so he never got caught up in the supposed “Orioles Magic.”It also doesn’t
help that Peter Angelos’ ownership style resembles that of Larry David’s version of George Steinbrenner.Even a 10-year-old could tell it was a bad decision to let Davey Johnson go after the 1997 season, according to one
person who was 10 years old at the time.
Rob’s only
real accomplishments in life include throwing a perfect game his junior year of high school (in a six-inning slaughter rule
game, though, so does it really count?), catching a foul ball at an Orioles game (but it bounced off the press box first,
so does it really count?), and eating two Chipotle burritos in one sitting (that one’s legitimate).As
a great American philosopher once said, “If you take everything I've accomplished in my life and condense it down
to one day, it looks decent.”
Rob is currently a
free agent in all notable areas of life (that’s right, ladies, he’s single), so it’s a miracle that someone
has given him a forum in which to share his off-centered view of the world.Luckily, it’s only the world
of sports, so there’s a limit to the amount of potential damage.Rob looks forward to sharing his thoughts
on sports with you, and he encourages you to reciprocate with your (hopefully polite) comments and ideas.He
also hopes you will forgive him for pulling a Rickey Henderson and writing this whole thing in the third person.
Ankur Jain, correspondent
Ankur hails from Pittsburgh, Penn., via Toronto
and Montreal. An NHL lifer, he followed the Quebec Nordiques
to Colorado (hate you, Detroit) and finds himself reminiscing about the good ol' days
of Sakic, Forsberg and Roy. Also a hardcore Jays fan, he's looking for both his teams to return to the glory years,
which he thinks will happen sooner rather than later (he's not kidding). Naturally, Ankur grew up playing hockey and
baseball, and still gets the urge to yell out "CAAAAAAAAR" when walking down the street. On
Sundays, GO BILLS and once the labor dispute is resolved, GO RAPTORS! Dedicated to bringing you your weekly dose
of NHL news and kicking your butt in NHL 12, PS3 ID: jainomac!
Tyler Pisani, senior MLS writer
Tyler was born in the landlocked village of Spokane, Wash. He has collected
16 years of game-worn soccer jerseys, the only problem being that they are all his jerseys. He grew up watching the Spokane Shadow of the United
Soccer League's Premier Development League. Tyler began to follow the young MLS in 1999, and his passion for sports, especially
soccer, has grown exponentially since then.
After
moving closer to the pretend ocean that is the Puget
Sound as a teenager, Tyler began following all of the major Seattle sports teams (except the Seahawks, because
he was raised as a Steelers fan). Tyler followed the creation of the Seattle
Sounders FC since its early rumblings and has been a season ticket holder since the inaugural season, an unnecessarily large scarf outside Qwest Field stands as evidence.
Tyler moved to Oklahoma City during the Thunder's second season in existence. He became a fan after literally running
into Russell Westbrook while working at the Oklahoma City Arena. After
the season Tyler moved back to Seattle so he wouldn't miss the Sounders'
second season.
Tyler has (in)experience with many (a few) different media platforms, including writing for Soundersfc.com during the 2010 World Cup, creating an online "radio" podcast, and
starring in a made-for-(public access)-TV movie.
James Sowers, senior college writer
James Sowers is a graduate of Pennsylvania State
University and currently resides in Tallahassee, Florida.
Dan Spritz, senior NFL writer
Dan, of Amherst, Mass., is an avid pre-2001 Patriots
and pre-2004 Red Sox fan who is still trying to justify the Kendrick Perkins trade and gets burned every spring when he decides
to start watching the Bruins again. He thinks Dustin Pedroia is the most talented player in baseball, and has no problem with
Tom Brady wearing Uggs. You can follow him on twitter @danspritz or read his musings on music videos and pop culture at: http://professorofpopculture.blogspot.com/
Travis Stockinger, senior NBA writer
Standing at 5'8" tall and weighing
in at 165 pounds, he isn't very intimidating physically, but he does love boxing and the "Karate
Kid" movies, so watch out. He hails from Sacramento, Calif., which is the capital
of the state, not Los Angeles. Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, basketball, football, writing, shoes, good music, his puppy, and his family of four all keep him sane
and, more importantly, happy. He played his college ball . . . actually . . . earned a degree in business management from
Sacramento City College and is your new NBA coverage guy . . . Travis Stockinger!
Ankur Varma, senior EPL writer
Ankur was born and raised in Cincinnati, so naturally he's a Bengals and Reds fan, however fortunate or unfortunate
that may be. He graduated from the University of Dayton in 2007 and currently resides in Chicago, where he is getting his
Masters in Sport and Health Psychology. Ankur grew up playing soccer and is a huge Manchester United fan and enjoys watching
European soccer, though the MLS is growing on him. In other sports, Ankur likes the Red Wings, Indian Cricket team (World
Cup Champs!), Denver Nuggets (because of Kenyon Martin), and he roots for the Flyers, UC Bearcats and tOSU in college sports.
Ankur heavily dislikes the Pittsburgh Steelers and St. Louis Cardinals. He likes to talk trash as well, but since most of
his sports teams let him down, other people are better at talking trash to him.
