On Tuesday night, Montreal Canadiens power forward Juraj
Slafkovsky took former teammate Christian Dvorak’s skate to the face and
suffered a cut to the face in the game against the Philadelphia Flyers. As a result, he missed most of the second period
while he was being attended to.
On Thursday, at the Canadiens’ morning skate, the young
Slovak was wearing a full cage and a neck protector. One could have thought he
had been scared straight since the incident with Dvorak could have had much
more serious consequences if the blade had caught him lower. Who doesn’t
remember Clint Malarchuk or Richard Zednick being cut to the neck in the NHL
or, more recently, Adam Johnson tragically dying in a Challenge Cup match
between the Sheffield Steelers and the Nottingham Panthers in England?
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I reached out to Juraj Slafkovsky Sr. to see if perhaps it
was a concerned parent who got the left winger to wear the additional
protection, but it wasn’t. The dad replied:
We watched the game
at home via stream, and we also communicated with Juraj right after the match.
Of course, the protectors will help, he probably realized himself that this
type of protection is suitable.
– Juraj Slafkovsky Sr. on his son’s cut
When the player jumped on the ice for Thursday’s game
against the Toronto Maple Leafs, he was still wearing the full cage, but the
neck guard had disappeared in warm-up. After the game, he was asked what it was
like playing with a cage, and he replied:
It was awful; I felt like I couldn’t see to the sides, but I
have to do it for a couple of days, and then it will be fine.
– Slafkovsky on playing with a cage
Hockey players are creatures of habit, and his comments are
not at all surprising, but it’s a shame that NHLers are not more open to protecting
themselves. In the PWHL, all players wear full cages, and they have no issues
with it because that’s how they’ve always played. While I don’t have
statistics, I’m pretty sure that fewer teeth have been broken in that league
and fewer cuts sustained.
Perhaps, one day, protective gear will be obligatory, but
for now, it’s up to the players themselves, and even a serious scare isn’t
enough to make them change their ways.
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