Leto

Either Stevie Y or Maybe you are thinking of Bryan Berard who received a stick to the eye. (link below)

I think that in his case, a visor could have prevented the injury, as the stick came from up front. But a lot of sticks could get caught under a visor as it comes up. The juniors grow up playing the game with cage protection, so that kind of cover shouldn't be a complaint of the players.

I think that seeing the faces is better television. The NHL will be hesitant on full face coverage for this reason. Visors may be the way to go, but only on a voluntary basis.

Berard link:

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...30/ai_80678765

Text:

NO ONE CAN SAY BRYAN Berard is the kind of guy to take the money and run. He couldn't--he loves hockey too much.

That love of the sport has led the 24-year-old defenseman to undergo seven operations on an eye that was gruesomely injured in March 2000, give back the lion's share of a $6.5 million insurance settlement he received when it looked like he would never play again, and come to the New York Rangers camp on nothing more than a tryout contract.

"I love the game of hockey. That's why I'm doing it," Berard says.

On March 11, 2000, the question wasn't whether Berard would ever play again--it was whether he'd ever see out of his right eye again. While playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Ottawa, he was hit accidentally in the eye by Marian Hossa's stick. Blood streamed from the eye, and there appeared to be little question that a career that began with being selected No. 1 overall by Ottawa in 1995 and winning the Calder Trophy on Long Island two years later was over.

But Berard wasn't so willing to go quietly.


Even while lying in the hospital, his head wrapped in bandages after being told he might lose the eye, he told friends that he would play again. He underwent seven operations, enough to eventually give him 20/600 vision in the eye. In April 2001, one month after receiving the insurance settlement for what was regarded as a career-ending injury, he began working out again.

By summer, Berard was skating with some buddies near his Woonsocket, R.I., home; by September, he was practicing with the United States Olympic team--and stunning his countrymen with the progress he'd made.

In the meantime, he had become a free agent. The Maple Leafs, who took care of Berard and his family in the days and months after the injury, weren't going to offer a guaranteed seven-figure contract to a guy who might not be able to see.

When it became apparent that Berard might be able to play again, the Leafs were among the teams interested--but Berard was more interested in playing closer to home.

His former Toronto teammates understood.

"Teammates aren't there forever, but your family is," says winger Tie Domi, who kept in touch with Berard throughout the recuperation process. "I think that's really where his heart is--to be near his family; because they're the people who were with him through the whole thing."

Berard said he wanted to play for a rebuilding team, not a Cup contender like the Leafs. That, combined with the Big Apple's comparatively close proximity to Woonsocket, made the Rangers a perfect fit. After being fitted with a special contact lens that enabled him to meet the NHL's minimum of 20/400 vision in the eye, Berard was Broadway-bound.

The Rangers were the NHL's poorest defensive team last season, and aside from Brian Leetch, they were talent-poor on the back line. Berard's agent, former NHL defenseman Tom Laidlaw, worked out a deal with GM Glen Sather that gave the defenseman a tryout--at the cost of his insurance settlement. There were no guarantees when Berard suited up for his seven-day tryout during the last weekend of the exhibition season--if he couldn't play, he stood to lose everything.

But despite not having played competitively for 18 months, Berard didn't look out of place. He played well enough to parlay the two-game look-see into a deal that will pay him $2 million this sea, son and could earn him nearly $12 million over four seasons.

If he makes it through the four-year deal, the money is more than he would have made by not playing again--most of the first-year's salary will go toward paying off the insurance company, and the last three years are at the team's option. But Berard says the comeback is about pucks, not bucks.

"I hope the people in Toronto can see this wasn't a dollars decision," he says. "The Leafs were terrific to me, and the fans helped me through a difficult time. But it was a personal decision. Mentally, if I had gone back and started my career again in Toronto, there would have been so many reminders of what happened. That's why I think New York is a good place for me."

Amazingly, on opening night, just 19 months after his career appeared to be over, Berard was back in the NHL. Aside from the eye, he's actually in better physical shape than when he left--he's lost weight and is in better condition than when he won the Calder Trophy four years earlier. The question now is how well he can play.

If his early-season showing is any indication, Berard looks like he'll be able to stand up to the physical pounding that's part of the job description for an NHL defenseman. On opening night in Carolina, Hurricanes center Rod Brind'Amour drove Berard into the net in the first period, but Berard was able to get his arm up and avoid crashing into the crossbar. He also survived a fall in the third period, dove to break up a scoring opportunity, and played on both the power-play and penalty-killing units.

"I think he surprised a lot of people," says Rangers captain Mark Messier. "He came in and looked like he hadn't missed a beat. He's solid as a rock--he really Worked on his conditioning. You've got to feel good for him."

But the rust, if not his physical limitations, are visible, too. In the Rangers' home opener against Buffalo two nights later. Berard made an ill-timed poke check in the slot that led to one Sabres goal and he was burned on another tally when he left the area in front of the net open to throw a body check he didn't need to throw, leaving him out of position.

"I know I need to improve some parts of my game," he says.

Before the injury, the best part of Berard's game was his ability to move the puck--he was a good passer with a better-than-average shot and served as the quarterback of the Maple Leafs' power play. When he has the puck, Berard has looked like the player who was regarded as one of the league's better puck-moving defensemen--someone who was able to hold onto the puck for that extra half-second to make a play. But with almost no vision to the side, he knows he'll have some limitations.

"I have to keep the play in front of me," Berard says. "You're supposed to do that anyway. I'm trying to keep it simple--the first guy who's open gets the puck. That's how you're supposed to play the game."

Berard's sight in his right eye may be just enough to meet the league minimum; but it doesn't mean he'll necessarily have the on-ice vision he'll need on the blue line. With almost no peripheral vision, he figures to have trouble seeing players coming up alongside him. That could leave him open to being hit; it could also make him more likely to clip an opponent, or even a teammate, with his stick.

But he's got his sights set on the positive aspects of his return. Through his first six games, he had one assist and a plus-1 rating--not bad for someone who was forced to sit out more than a full season.

"Since the injury, I've always looked ahead," he says. "I feel fortunate to be here. A year ago, I didn't think I'd be in this situation--it looked like my career was going to be over. I'm excited to be back on the ice."

Perhaps his most emotional moment came on the season's second weekend, when he made his first trip back to Ottawa. It was the first time he and Hossa had been on the ice together since the accident.

Berard has never blamed Hossa, who visited him in the hospital after it happened. The two have also had several telephone conversations, including one the night before the October 13 game at the Corel Center.

"He called the hotel and we talked for a while," says Berard, who heard cheers at an arena where his unwillingness to play for the then-woeful Senators six years ago still earned him boos before the injury. "We've spoken several times since the incident. I appreciate the support I've received from him.

"It's been tough on him. I've made it clear that I have no hard feelings. I know it was an accident. He really struggled with it for the rest of the season and the playoffs."

Berard is unlikely to have the offensive flair that made him the No. 1 overall pick six years ago and drove expectations that he would become an elite player--a status he never achieved. He's worked harder to make his comeback than he ever did before he was injured--had he paid this much attention to conditioning in his pre-injury career, he'd have been the All-Star both the Senators and Islanders expected him to be.

But having sustained an injury that by all rights should have ended his career, Berard knows he's fortunate to have a second chance.

"I think he appreciates the game more after being away for 18 months," Laidlaw says. "He's just glad to be back."