Taking shots on the face

[biff44 0]

Its not that big of a deal. Back when I started playing (back before the earth cooled) NOBODY wore any sort of cage or shield except the goalie (who was wearing that Friday the 13th mask). They did make us wear a rubber mouth guard.

In general, you were a little more cautious about going down in front of a shot, etc, but it was NOT common to get whacked.

[bdh13 1]

For me the decision to wear facial protection has always depended upon the league. I've played without, with a visor, and with a cage. Take a look at the majority of the players in the league and if they are wearing cages you may not be very safe to wear anything less than a visor. The guy who has never taken an elbow, puck, or stick in the face doesn't take the time to think about what it feels like.

[zachary 2]

The guy who has never taken an elbow, puck, or stick in the face doesn't take the time to think about what it feels like.

That's the truth.

[jmiami 4]

An opposing player wearing a visor took a puck to the face in our game last night and was down for 10 minutes in a pool of blood while trainers attended. It wasn't pretty, and the poor guy was writhing in pain. Apparently he caught it just under the nose. Ouch.

My choice is visor, still. I can see much better than with a cage. And if I catch a stick, or a puck to the mug, then that's hockey. I wasn't planning on entering into any beauty contests in the near future anyway,

[Leb_CRX 0]

every time I think about switching from cage to a visor, I get a high stick in the face or get hit hard in the cage

I actually got shoved hard into the goal post once and it landed right where my mouth was...I would of left there toothless

cage for me, I'll never take it off, not worth it

[nyhockey6 1]

In the game after mine last night a guy got a puck to his upper lip, he was down for a good 10 mins or so. Blood was everywhere. A teammate picked up his helmet and brought it to the locker room, as he was going past me and my friends we saw it and it was covered in blood. As soon as I got home last night, I took my half shield off and put a full visor on. Not going to take any chances

[Harv 86]

I don't understand when people in beer leagues use the logic of ''Pro's wear visors and no shield and do just fine''.

That's because if something does happen, theres a half dozen doctors ready there to help them if something happens. There are no doctors waiting in the runway at a 10:15 beer league game on a weeknight ready to put your teeth back in.

[howtohockey 3]

I have seen a few players come very close to losing their eye sight, I wear a full cage and I don't think it affects my goal scoring or stickhandling at all. I played a few times without a cage and I noticed I was not as aggressive in the corners.