Covid: Better face masks for hockey

[SolarWind 23]

For these who are forced to wear a face mask on ice (most minor associations force coaches to wear them at all times, and even some leagues mandate masks for players) have you come across a more tolerable option?

Cold environments combined with hot breath leave pretty nasty wet mask no matter what type I tried. And speaking with a mask on sucks also! Both these things combined make coaching a lot less enjoyable, as commented by even top NHL coaches. I’m not even referring to other drawbacks such as obstructed peripheral vision since it is what it is. But the damn wetness is annoying! 

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

I use the UA mask, and it pretty comfortable when I'm on the ice, since it sits off the face a bit.  I find it allows better ventilation and comfort than other masks.  It does get wet and can exacerbate fogging visor problems, but I find that since it sits off your face, you don't feel the wetness of the mask when wearing it.

[start_today 769]

As a player with a cage, I thought the best option was the CCM mask that affixed to the cage. Sitting a little always from the face helped. 

[marka 526]

Howdy,

For playing or coaching?

For playing, I tried both the UA ear loop mask as well as the CCM cage attached mask.  I used the UA with a cage (so obviously no fogging problems) and the CCM mask with a bauer concept 3 / whatever fishbowl.  No fogging problems with the CCM mask.

As mentioned, I noticed hot wetness on my face with both because of trapped sweat, which was one of those "sorta annoying, but otherwise doesn't seem to affect me" things.

For wearing to coach on the ice, I'd try the UA mask with a helmet without a shield just to ensure no fogging issues.  But... Not sure if no shield is allowed?  The UA mask, to me, does as good a job of moisture management as anything else does and better than most.

In terms of "can people hear me"... I think masks don't actually muffle people very much but we all think they do... Just force yourself to use it / not pull it down to talk loudly and you'll get used to it.  Easy for me to say though, given that I'm not on the ice coaching.

Around here (eastern OH, western PA), masks aren't required and even though I mask up everywhere else, I don't wear one on the ice as a player or a ref.  My view on mask usage in those situations is that its much more about "knocking down particulates you exhale" vs. "filtering air you inhale" so since nobody else is wearing one, it seems a little pointless for me to.  But who knows, maybe all the other people there are thinking the same thing...

Mark

[xstartxtodayx 343]

For using on a cage I found the Bauer one worked best followed by the CCM.  I felt like Bauer waited a little longer and found a better material to use than CCM which made a difference, they had a nice adjustable nose clip and they also had multiple layers with a filter pocket which was nice if you wanted to add yet another layer of protection).

For using while coaching I've tried a handful, the UA ones aren't bad and do breathe well but I was more aware of it while wearing it.  In the end I found that regular disposable ones (the accordion looking ones) were the best as they didn't make my face as hot and I could easily replace it if I felt it getting too wet (I'd always have a few on me at any time, buying a huge box of black ones from Costco means I never worry about wasting any lol). 

As for talking, I didn't find any of them actually affected my ability to speak or be heard, maybe if I spoke really low but pretty sure people would then have a hard time understanding me with or without a mask.