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Deker

Could this serious head injury have been prevented with the proper gear?

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A few days ago a Russian player took a puck to the head and is now fighting for his life:

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The play looked rather innocent and the shot was not even a slapshot. You can see it happening here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fli7HQQ1LYc

I don't want this happening to me or anyone I know. Would this have been prevented if the player was wearing a full cage? I have a Bauer Re-Akt 150 helmet with full cage and now I'm afraid to turn my back to the puck. Am I safe from this happening to me if I'm wearing a full cage?

Edited by Deker

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That is horrific and so sad and, in my opinion a freak injury.  I'd venture a guess that this is a very rare occurrence and also that anyone in your league shooting the puck wouldn't be able to shoot that hard anyway.  There are other things to worry about.   The 150 is an excellent helmet as well.

Edited by dkmiller3356

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1 hour ago, Deker said:

Would this have been prevented if the player was wearing a full cage? I have a Bauer Re-Akt 150 helmet with full cage and now I'm afraid to turn my back to the puck. Am I safe from this happening to me if I'm wearing a full cage?

Sad answer is no. My understanding is it caught him under the ear, the biggest issue is the damage to the carotid artery. Even with a cage there is no protection there other than a piece of plastic if you still have the ear guard in place.

It's a freak accident (and from a simple dump in) but one I'm not surprised hasn't happened before (a puck to the facial area) given the propensity of pros to lie down in front of a player who is taking a shot. 

If you worry about this then I'd suggest you also need to wear neck guards, wrist guards, groin guards and a host of other guards covering areas where a puck or skate blade may strike. And whatever you do, don't look at motor vehicle stats or else you would never leave home to drive to the rink. With any sport, there are degrees of risk, you need to weigh them and decide if you are happy to participate. fwiw I've seen guys nearly die from playing soccer, who'd have thought that kicking a ball around could kill you? 

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For those who think it's a freak accident, it's happened before.  Here it is happening to Winnipeg Jets player Bryan Little and it basically ended his career:

The issue it seems is that there is not enough protection in the ear area for players' helmets.  Compare that area to goalie's helmets, for players' helmets there is just a piece of plastic protecting the ear.  If you're paying $300 for a helmet, you would think it's going to protect against a shot to the side of the head.  I guess I thought wrong.  If this player dies, do you think it's going to change the way helmets are designed and have better protection in the ear area for future helmets?

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But, neither one of those guys even has the ear protection in. Not blaming them or saying that would have prevented it, but it might have helped. 

I took mine out, but after seeing this and getting slashed really hard in the cage the other night, I’m considering putting them back in. Crosby and Kane manage to hang on in nhl play with them in, I suppose I can wear them. 

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2 hours ago, Deker said:

For those who think it's a freak accident, it's happened before.  Here it is happening to Winnipeg Jets player Bryan Little and it basically ended his career:

  If this player dies, do you think it's going to change the way helmets are designed and have better protection in the ear area for future helmets?

I don't disagree with you, I think that manufacturers could do a lot better but it's a complex issue. Imagine if you have something covering the area but it disintegrates or deforms from a puck strike sending shards into the ear? And whatever you put there it needs to not impair the hearing or look dumb or cover anymore of a players face. Imho they will address wearing of cages or hybrids first (because someone will die from a slapshot to the face) before they do anything about the ear area.

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I know no helmet is 100% perfect but I feel it’s a freak accident. As was mentioned, it was more in the neck and behind the ear (temporal bone fracture). I don’t know I’d ear guards would have helped, it’s impossible to tell from The video. It shocks me that it wasn’t a slap shot as I originally thought too. It makes you wonder. I’ve been hit in the helmet many times and had no problems but this one just hit him just right. I just pray he makes it through. I feel it was a one in a million chance of happening. Even if it hit some helmet, it just hit in that area that’s very delicate and vulnerable. 
 

as for adding protection there, lack of hearing and neck movement would be an issue I think. If it’s too low it’s going to impede with head movement plus add weight and heat. 

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Yeah.  Kinda a freak accident.  Don't think a cage or a more sturdy helmet would have helped at all. (unless is was like those new MLB helmets that no one wears)

IMHO, these things happen, but the chances of it are still pretty rare.  It's like when Pronger's heart skipped a beat when he got hit in the chest with the puck, or when Malarchuk got his throat cut.  Possible, but considering how much hockey is played, very very rare occurrences.

Concussions are still the bigger problem with helmet protection...by a large margin.

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8 hours ago, shoot_the_goalie said:

Concussions are still the bigger problem with helmet protection...by a large margin.

My fear is companies are so focused on concussion prevention overall protection slips.

Edited by stick9
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10 minutes ago, stick9 said:

My fear is companies are so focused on concussion prevention overall protection slips.

Ideally, they would focus on everything, but I have no problem with the companies focusing primarily on concussions, since it's a much bigger and common problem.  Problem is that, let's be honest, helmets aren't going to really protect from serious concussions any way; just lessen the severity maybe.

Unfortunately, it was announced that the player has passed away from his injuries.  So unfortunate.

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Such a tragedy and a freak accident.  Immediately I was reminded of what happened to Zuccarello a few years back, he got up but couldn't hear and had vision issues on the bench, scary to hear about all of that stuff.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/nov/12/mats-zuccarello-rangers-comeback-brain-injury

On the Russian side... you wonder if this had happened in NA if he would have survived, they don't have the best track record when it comes to incidents (see Alexei Cherepanov).

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The chances of getting hit on the side of the head with a puck is far greater than getting your throat slit with a skate.  Even though some people are referring to this as a "freak" accident, i think it was an accident waiting to happen.  I posted a link above of this happening to an NHL player Bryan Little and it effectively ended his career.  I think the issue is helmet design.  They could easily put more padding in the ear area and perhaps even extend it and still have hole(s) to provide for good hearing.  Concussions are an issue yes, but people recover from concussions.  Getting hit in that ear/temple area (and we can see it wasn't that hard of a shot) can be deadly. 

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13 minutes ago, Deker said:

The chances of getting hit on the side of the head with a puck is far greater than getting your throat slit with a skate.  Even though some people are referring to this as a "freak" accident, i think it was an accident waiting to happen.  I posted a link above of this happening to an NHL player Bryan Little and it effectively ended his career.  I think the issue is helmet design.  They could easily put more padding in the ear area and perhaps even extend it and still have hole(s) to provide for good hearing.  Concussions are an issue yes, but people recover from concussions.  Getting hit in that ear/temple area (and we can see it wasn't that hard of a shot) can be deadly. 

 

Getting hit on the ear is a fluke, but seeing that a puck makes direct contact with the skull if it hits the upper part of the ear kind of tells you its going to shake the skull as much as a frontal hit..

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2 hours ago, xstartxtodayx said:

On the Russian side... you wonder if this had happened in NA if he would have survived, they don't have the best track record when it comes to incidents (see Alexei Cherepanov).

The early reports I saw on Twitter made some allusions to this, saying the hospital he was evaluated in wasn't capable of dealing with the injury, and he couldn't be stabilized enough for a transfer to more appropriate care. A freak accident and terrible tragedy.

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13 minutes ago, caveman27 said:

Getting hit on the ear is a fluke, but seeing that a puck makes direct contact with the skull if it hits the upper part of the ear kind of tells you its going to shake the skull as much as a frontal hit..

I think a frontal hit would be much more absorbed by the foam/padding in the frontal part of the helmet.  In the area of the ear, there's practically nothing but that plastic ear piece (which the player had removed).  There's going to be a lot more impact when there's no foam/padding.

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Do you think this helmet would have helped: 1bbc459381e179cccc2fcaf6fb48b5e6.jpg

It seems to cover the ear area much better than my current helmet. I would definitely feel more comfortable wearing that. I'm hoping future helmet designs go in that direction especially after what has just happened.

Edited by Deker

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Sadly, I saw this game live on the MHL YT channel. In the context of the game, it really didn't look like much. In fact, the other players didn't seem too concerned.  I commented to my wife I had been hit in a similar spot (but a teammate shot) in Juniors (and we didn't wear facemasks). It resulted in sewing the upper front of my ear back, but not until the ER reshaped the ear with a hammer. Painfully, this tragedy was a one in a million thing that just happened. Even with good equipment, playing the game properly, there is a risk, however small, that something bad can happen. It's not time to preach re-engineering of the helmet, rule changes, or anything else. It's best to reflect on how fragile life can be, and to try to be good humans. RIP. 19 years old. Tragic. 

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1 hour ago, clarkiestooth said:

It's not time to preach re-engineering of the helmet, rule changes, or anything else.

I'm not advocating any rule changes, just a safer helmet which you can choose to get or not to get.  If something can be made better or safer, then doesn't common sense say to do it? 

I've played over a decade of hockey and I've never been hit in the groin.  It's not a common area to get hit (at least for me).  But I still wouldn't get on the ice without wearing a jock, even knowing that I likely won't get hit there.  Do you see the point?  Even if the ear/temple area of the helmet is not a common place to get hit, If the companies can make that part of the helmet better and safer, then why wouldn't you want them to do it? 

Edited by Deker

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16 minutes ago, Deker said:

I'm not advocating any rule changes, just a safer helmet which you can choose to get or not to get.  If something can be made better or safer, then doesn't common sense say to do it? 

What about plastic add on pieces, that are designed to cover the ear, that already exist, and nearly every player removes them from their helmets already?

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9 minutes ago, Buzz_LightBeer said:

What about plastic add on pieces, that are designed to cover the ear, that already exist, and nearly every player removes them from their helmets already?

I leave mine in.  I really don't know if that's enough though.  If you feel it, it feels very flexible and I don't know if that would protect you against a 90 mph slapshot.  Keep in mind that the shot that killed Timur didn't look that hard. 

Can you imagine in the 70's and 80's when some NHL players didn't wear any helmets at all? 

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1 hour ago, Deker said:

I'm not advocating any rule changes, just a safer helmet which you can choose to get or not to get.  If something can be made better or safer, then doesn't common sense say to do it? 

I've played over a decade of hockey and I've never been hit in the groin.  It's not a common area to get hit (at least for me).  But I still wouldn't get on the ice without wearing a jock, even knowing that I likely won't get hit there.  Do you see the point?  Even if the ear/temple area of the helmet is not a common place to get hit, If the companies can make that part of the helmet better and safer, then why wouldn't you want them to do it? 

They are free to do it, but there has to be an assumption someone is going to buy it.  Most people seem to feel the current helmets offer sufficient protection.

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31 minutes ago, BenBreeg said:

They are free to do it, but there has to be an assumption someone is going to buy it.  Most people seem to feel the current helmets offer sufficient protection.

Do you think Timur Faizutdinov's family felt that his helmet offered sufficient protection?

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