In ice hockey, players always wear protective equipment such as helmets, face masks, gloves, and various body pads. However, some parts of the body are less protected and a hit from a skate blade can have fatal consequences. It's the neck.
The debate over whether hockey players should wear neck guards reignited in October 2023 during a game between the Sheffield Steelers and Nottingham Panthers in the Elite Ice Hockey League. Near the end of the second period, Steelers forward Matt Petgrave's leg swung up and slit the neck of Panthers forward Adam Johnson, a former NHLer. Johnson received immediate medical treatment, but was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Collegiate and professional athletes are not normally required to wear neck guards, but many organizations have worked to change that since Johnson's death. The English Ice Hockey Association and the International Ice Hockey Federation have made neck guards mandatory from 2024, but the NHL has not.
Some NHL players have chosen to wear the guard anyway, including TJ Oshie. The Washington Capitals winger is the founder of Warroad Hockey Co., which makes protective hockey equipment. He's not the only one wearing a neck guard, but a recent poll from The Athletic shows a majority of players don't want the potential assignment.
Nearly 80% of NHL players surveyed were against requiring neck guards. Some players surveyed said it was the player's choice, including those who suffered injuries from their skates.
It's understandable that players might find the guards uncomfortable or itchy, especially if they're not used to wearing them, but flatly refusing to wear the hockey equivalent of a turtleneck to reduce the chance of death is ridiculous. I am. No player is immune to accidents, and just because you haven't had an accident doesn't mean you won't have one in the future.
Quinnipiac graduate Rachel Roth knows that freak accidents can happen to anyone at any time.
On January 5, 2023, the Army Ice Hockey game against Sacred Heart was held in Bridgeport, Connecticut. During the second period, a Sacred Heart player's leg kicked up, decapitating then-Army junior forward Eric Huss. It's frighteningly similar to Johnson.
Thankfully, Ross, then the Army's senior associate athletic trainer, jumped over the boards and rushed over to put pressure on Hass' neck. Ross was rushed to the hospital, where she sat on his stretcher and kept her hand on his wound throughout the drive.
“We rolled into the hospital and it looked like something out of Grey's Anatomy,” Ross said in an interview with the Chronicle on January 3. “His care team took over and he was rushed into surgery.”
Ross, who graduated from Quinnipiac's sports medicine program in 2016, had never dealt with such an injury before.
“Large lacerations like that are not very common,” Ross said. “Typically now it happens two or three times a year, but before that it would have been several years since it happened.”
Hass has since returned to the ice for Army, where he and his five teammates wear neck guards to all practices and games. However, Ross emphasized that the new equipment had serious flaws.
“I think we need better technology to actually protect all the structures in the neck,” Ross said. “The neck guard (Has) currently wears would not have helped him if he got injured. The injury was too high up for the neck guard to reach.”
In theory, neck guards are a good idea. The neck is a very exposed part of the body where major arteries are located and if attacked can have fatal consequences. However, current technology is not advanced enough to protect athletes at all times. Is it still worth continuing to wear it?
The answer is absolutely. Hockey is a fun game and some people are lucky enough to get paid. Under no circumstances should a player risk death on the ice, and frankly it's ridiculous that the NHL doesn't mandate neck guards. It's understandable for players to feel uncomfortable and heated, but it's a small price to pay for survival.
The same goes for athletes at the college level. Accidents happen all the time, and students should never have to go through what Hass went through.
Even if the neck guard is not 100% effective, it is not 0% effective either. It's better to be safe than sorry.
