Nailed in the choppers

[calvin 0]

wanted to share an experience that i had with taking a puck to the face. So the other night while playing some ice hockey, the puck was around the blue line, and i got in the way of a pass, deflected the puck, and it came straight up and nailed me right in the choppers.

after the puck landed, all i could feel was my teeth clinching, and everyone on the bench asking if i was alright as i got got to the bench. luckly, there was no blood, and even better, no missing teeth. had the puck hit a few inches more to the left, it would have probably been bye-bye front teeth.

morale of the story: it took me 1 time (1 too many) getting nailed in the face to realize that it would just be a horrible situation losing teeth on the ice, and therefore i now have a full face mask.

just wanted to share

[Sven 1]

holy...

I can feel with you, it wasnt a puck, but a shaft right onto the teeth, i didnt loose any teeth, but my lips where shredded and it was kinda bloody, but i dont care.

Im a half visor guy btw

[Jason Harris 31]

I know of at least four times in my career when someone took off their cage/mask and something bad happened that night.

Skate to the nose, stick or puck to the face, skate through the lip....

[ash_96 0]

skate through the lip....

man that sounds horrible!

some guy on my team broke his helmet, got a new one the day of his game, but couldnt get a cage.... Ended up with stitches in his tongue! not nice at all.

[Chadd 916]

skate through the lip....

man that sounds horrible!

some guy on my team broke his helmet, got a new one the day of his game, but couldnt get a cage.... Ended up with stitches in his tongue! not nice at all.

I had a guy break my helmet on a slash to the head from behind.

[warrior37 0]

my brother had a cage on this spring in midget aaa, hes a fairly big guy (6-3 185) and was in front of the net on the power play, the opposing d-man really got away with murder, my brother had a diced tounge and 3 front lower gibbers chipped to shit all from a few high cross checks, the ref called both of them for roughing, later in the game they dropped em and my bro fed the guy, but it didnt make up for the dental bill

[tokes 0]

Encouraging words to hear a week before I play my first game ever without a cage :lol:

[A_Steeves12 0]

In a HS game in my area last season a guy got checked and bite his tounge sounds harmless but he actually bit his tounge right off and it was flopping around on the ice. i glad i didnt see it i read about it in the paper.

[sonsplayhockey 0]

You guys using custom fitted mouth guards?

[tokes 0]

You guys using custom fitted mouth guards?

Yep. I spent to much time and $$$ at the orthodontists to get this beautys to just throw it away.

[shute 4]

i've always said that you people are crazy for not wearing a full cage or visor/cage combo. it's just not worth it unless your in a pro league making a living out of it. losing an eye or teeth just isn't worth it. i used to wear a half visor until i got a stick to the month that cut my lip up and almost lost one of my front teeth. these days i wear a full visor/cage combo even for stupid pickup games with friends. if anyone is looking for a combo that allows you to see everything then pick up the oakley visor/cage combo... it looks really big on you but you can see EVERYTHING and trust me i've tried them all.

[wickedwrister 0]

The bottom line is........most people who think that they are going to gain some huge advantage wearing anything less than a full mask of some type are never going to play professional hockey anyway. If you got the goods, you will shine with or without a mask.

[ponty 0]

I took my cage off once years ago and got a skate in the mouth while diving to break up a break away.

I have worn a cage ever since.

[warrior37 0]

to tell you the truth i dont wear anything but a helmet right now and its only because it feels like i get too damn hot

[hockeydude_49 0]

I can remember in gym one year we were playing floor hockey and I was running down the floor and I got tripped, landed on my mouth, and chipped my front tooth in half. The gym teacher started freaking out and sent me to the nurse and she had no idea wat to do so she stuck the tooth in a cup (without water or milk) . Once I got to the dentist the tooth had changed color because it was left dry. The dentist pretty much glued it on. Its broken off like 2 or 3 more times since that, but they just keep glueing it on because they say I'm still to young to get it capped. Moral of the story, always wear mouthguards!

[Geeno_56 1]

One game I went to dump the puck went up a guys stick and hit em In the throat. Its not bad compared to some stories I've heard.

[Jason Harris 31]

I know that guy! :D

Actually, a similar thing happened to my teammate at his other game. He was playing the point and rushed up to block the defenseman's shot. The puck deflected so hard up his stick, it broke his jaw. He had to have it wired shut for about a month.

He came back with a face mask.... ;)

[Rustybender 0]

I've always worn a full cage. I take 2-3 pucks or sticks to the face every game. My head is an impact magnet. Still, I'll share two face injury stories with you all.

My best friend was wearing a half shield and took a puck just below his lower lip. A tooth poked a hole through his lip. Very little blood so he kept playing. Whenever he was on the bench, he'd take a swig of water, press his lips together, and shoot water out of his new hole and impresonate a sprinkler...He thought it was hilarious. Actually, it was.

Last summer, I was playing pickup. Two guys were coming down on me (2 on 1,) One guy fired a hard on ice pass to the other, I stuck out my stick to break up the pass. My blade was tilted and the puck used my blade as a ramp. The puck hit the other guy flat over his eye. It chipped the bone above his eye and destroyed the eye socket bone below his eye. He now has a metal plate in his face and a full cage.

[chippa13 1844]

Here's a different kind of story. One game I was moving out to block a shot by a defenseman. I was actually so close that I was surprised he still tried to shoot it. Anyway, the puck deflected up off my skate and hit him over the eye, cutting his forehead.

I'm a half shield guy. I find that usually the younger guys who wear the full cages are the ones who are out of control with their sticks the most. The kids around 20 or so have never played without a cage and are irresponsible with their sticks. When I play with and against guys around my own age who've gone with visors or nothing for a while are so much better about it.

[warrior37 0]

chippa, i agree with you about the caged part but not the age factor from a personal experience. im here in michigan and theres a pretty good roller hockey showing. when i was about 17 or 18 i was very good at ice hockey and big for my age. my friends were in a roller hockey league, it was like tier 2 pretty good. so my first game i toss on the visor and head out, like ten minutes in, a guy about 35 or so with a clunky ass bauer 5000 and cage combo let me taste the blade of his stick, and my tounge was cut, so i punched him in the side of the head, we both got like 4 mins or whatever, i was pissed. after the game at the hand shake i asked him, why do you swing your stick like that when you wear a full cage, he looked at me dumbfounded and said wow youre tough, thats probably in my top 3 most pissed of hockey moments ive ever had

[tokes 0]

The bottom line is........most people who think that they are going to gain some huge advantage wearing anything less than a full mask of some type are never going to play professional hockey anyway. If you got the goods, you will shine with or without a mask.

I totally agree, I put my new visor (Itech HS22) on my new helmet and my old Itech white cage on my old helmet, and switched back and forth between them when I was messing around with some friends. When you're going to make a play you just feel into it and you forget like you're wearing anything on your face, the only thing the visor does for me is make my vision a little bit better because it is tinted and cuts down some glare.

Everyone has their own reasons for wearing a visor or a cage, and I'm chosing to wear a visor now. I sweat like a god damn pig, and it's so nice to be able to just wipe down your face with a towel instead of having to try and pluck through the cage to get the little salty remnants in your eye. I hated the sweaty rough chincup always mauling my chin, and I hated repainting the thing every year because it rusts like a POS. If I played in a league with all kids my own age (18) I would never ditch the cage because everyone is so damn irresponsible at my age, but I went for a skate with my beer league team and the average age is like 26-27, we're all low tier players, not much other than rec experience, so people tend to take it mellow. I'm going to wear a mouthguard for games, and if I take a stick in the chops I'll probably go back to the cage.

[CardinalHcky19 0]

I cant remember who it was but someone from the Dallas Stars took a puck striaght to the face and it broke his jaw

[Squirrel 0]

I cant remember who it was but someone from the Dallas Stars took a puck striaght to the face and it broke his jaw

I could be thinking of a different thing but I think it was Roenick when they played Dallas

[A_Steeves12 0]

I cant remember who it was but someone from the Dallas Stars took a puck striaght to the face and it broke his jaw

I could be thinking of a different thing but I think it was Roenick when they played Dallas

not Roenick he got popped agianst the rangers.

[Chadd 916]

I cant remember who it was but someone from the Dallas Stars took a puck striaght to the face and it broke his jaw

I could be thinking of a different thing but I think it was Roenick when they played Dallas

Hatcher broke his jaw on a cheap shot, nothing to do with a puck. The other time was against St Louis, I believe. The incident in Philly was #3.