Editor's Note - New Helmet Rule Makes So Much Sense
By / Andrew Chong
Hockey Alberta recently announced a new helmet initiative to protect minor hockey coaches during practices. Effective immediately, any trainer, coach or volunteer on the ice (or on the inline surface) must wear a helmet.
For the safety of the instructors, even Craig MacTavish – the last North American pro to play lid-less – would have to agree that the new rule makes perfect sense for everyone.
The positives of protecting yourself far outweigh any negatives that might be associated with wearing a helmet.
Yes, those with distinctive hair styles will have them temporarily messed up; yes, if you don’t have a helmet, you will have to fork out $40 to $100 to buy one; and yes, you will not look or feel as cool as Guy Lafleur, whose luscious locks used to flow freely through the wind as he rushed the puck up ice.
So the “negatives” aren’t really negatives at all; maybe just a little uncomfortable, a little costly, a little annoying. But really, you get used to it, you’re far safer and you’re setting a great example for your players.
Simply put, hockey players wear helmets; why not hockey coaches?
And what are the consequences of taking an errant puck to the head or cracking your skull on the ice? It happens so easily.
During the time when I was growing up, two players at our hockey club were shooting around without helmets on an empty sheet of ice during open hockey.
Unaware that his friend was skating behind the net, one of the players shot a puck high over the crossbar and accidentally hit his friend in the head. The young man suffered permanent brain damage.
To me, the injury itself is less startling than the fact that it is so easy to get into a dangerous situation, even in the most controlled and casual hockey environment.
Huge props to Hockey Alberta for taking the initiative to protect coaches.
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld would agree: “The only thing dumber than the helmet is the helmet law, the point of which is to protect a brain that is functioning so poorly, it’s not even trying to stop the cracking of the head that it’s in.”
