Blade through the mask

[seagoal]

Scary stuff in Arizona tonight.

Hoping Darcy is ok. 

[Lucky Pucker]

Trying to find some initial diagnosis/status report. Arizona news has the coach saying he seems OK, though not 100% of course:

https://arizonasports.com/story/1898802/coyotes-darcy-kuemper-leaves-game-after-taking-stick-to-face/

I had toyed with the idea of obtaining a non-cert cateye, and while I am mindful that the exceptional and anomalous is disproportionately reported with alarmist immediacy, I think I'm gonna keep my straight-bar cage.

Very glad that this is a relative rarity, present day; there are many stories of Original 6-era goalies having broken cheek and orbital bones, gashes and swelling over the brow, and even not being able to see out of one eye, going out and playing.

Hope Kuemper makes a full recovery!

[Puckstopper]

Wow, that's tough to watch.   I'm not certain I could go back to a straight bar cage, but watching that at least will make me re-evaluate that decision.   As I get older stopping every puck isn't quite as important as mitigating the risk of life altering injury.

[Lucky Pucker]

30 minutes ago, Puckstopper said:

Wow, that's tough to watch.   I'm not certain I could go back to a straight bar cage, but watching that at least will make me re-evaluate that decision.   As I get older stopping every puck isn't quite as important as mitigating the risk of life altering injury.

This. At 40 now, I'd rather play badly for an extended period than not get to play at all. Plus, I don't want to miss watching my kids play!

[seagoal]

3 hours ago, Lucky Pucker said:

Trying to find some initial diagnosis/status report. Arizona news has the coach saying he seems OK, though not 100% of course:

https://arizonasports.com/story/1898802/coyotes-darcy-kuemper-leaves-game-after-taking-stick-to-face/

I had toyed with the idea of obtaining a non-cert cateye, and while I am mindful that the exceptional and anomalous is disproportionately reported with alarmist immediacy, I think I'm gonna keep my straight-bar cage.

Very glad that this is a relative rarity, present day; there are many stories of Original 6-era goalies having broken cheek and orbital bones, gashes and swelling over the brow, and even not being able to see out of one eye, going out and playing.

Hope Kuemper makes a full recovery!

Thanks for posting this link.

All things seem to suggest he's ok. I'm not an Arizona fan at all and I see very little of them, but man, Kuemper has been fun to watch this year and he's played really well.

I imagine,  injuries aside, there is a significant amount of fear and just being rattled here, too. I had a guy fall on my back my last game and while I wasn't hurt, it did scare me and made me hyper aware of how dangerous being a goalie is and how our lives could change in a split second.

I echo the age concerns, too.  I'm 38 in a couple weeks.

[coopaloop1234]

37 minutes ago, seagoal said:

made me hyper aware of how dangerous being a goalie is and how our lives could change in a split second.

That's most sports in a nutshell, especially contact ones.

I've seen a coworker blow out his knee playing goalie in soccer. Not even from any collision, just had his cleats catch the turf funny.

In a recent game, one of my defencemen was going back into our corner to retrieve a dump in, caught and edge and went head first into the boards. Was super lucky that he was only shaken up and not paralyzed. The guy is a high level skater too.

Thing is, regardless of the precautions we can take, shit can and will inevitably happen and while I whole heartedly agree to take whatever steps necessary to protect yourself, we do all have to recognize that we are playing a fairly dangerous sport and that we harbour some risk everytime we step on the ice.

[seagoal]

12 minutes ago, coopaloop1234 said:

In a recent game, one of my defencemen was going back into our corner to retrieve a dump in, caught and edge and went head first into the boards. Was super lucky that he was only shaken up and not paralyzed. The guy is a high level skater too.

In hockey, these are the situations that make me gasp the most.  I saw my best friend/best D do this recently.  My stomach knotted, for sure.

[stackem30]

It's true — it's a dangerous position no matter how well-protected you are. You can wear a dangler and a throat guard (I do) and still get your throat cut. People go flying in weird, unexpected ways... You could get a life-changing concussion, or be paralyzed. You could catch a bullet shot to the throat, or hell, to your face if your mask comes off.

The bottom line is when you have a bunch of strong, grown, hyped-up people with blades on their feet and sharp, sturdy sticks in their hands flying around at high speeds on a slippery, rock-hard surface with iron poles jutting out of it and hard boards surrounding it, all while trying to maneuver around each other (or knock each other over) in the crazed, mindless pursuit of a small, hard object that they can also propel with extreme speed ... shit can happen. And given the infinite metaphysical possibilities of this universe, there's no reason it can't happen to you.

I feel safe and comfortable in net most of the time, and don't consciously think of my safety in too many circumstances. But I agree with what people have been posting here — prioritizing health/safety over making a save becomes an easier choice as I get older. I had a bad shoulder separation in September, and though I'm cleared to play/take shots, my doctors told me that I should be wary of big collisions/falls. About a month ago, a big fast guy on the opposing team was driving to the net hard, with my teammate doing his best to drag him down from behind. They were coming real fast from short-side on my right (where my hurt shoulder was), and I could tell they were going to wipe out right into me. I just moved out of the way, and they absolutely smashed through the net, took it back to the boards. I don't even know if the puck went in to the net, but the ref told me he wouldn't have counted it either way. And hell, even if he did, it wasn't worth re-separating a shoulder I'd just rehabbed for 3 months, or risking a serious concussion.

I'll stick with my cat eye, but this video is something to think about. When I was recently swapping a new cat-eye cage onto my mask, my wife asked me if anything could go through it. I told her the tip of a stick could go through the eye hole, "but that almost never happens." Well, almost isn't "never", and seeing how scary it is when it does happen makes you think twice.

[goalie]

Hate the certified cats eye. But I have a cheater cage on my CCM that won't let most blades through