Penguins players agree on importance of wearing a visor

When Rob Scuderi was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 14, it marked the end of an era in the Penguins organization.

It wasn't the end of players born in the 1970s. Chris Kunitz and Matt Cullen are children of the Carter administration.

It wasn't the end of players drafted by Craig Patrick. Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang predate the Ray Shero era.

It was the end of players on the Penguins roster who don't wear visors on their helmets for eye protection.

Counting injured players, there are 24 skaters on the Penguins roster. Each wears a visor.

According to a recent sportsnet.ca survey, 89 percent of all NHL players wear one, up from 73 percent in 2012-13 and 68 percent the year before that.

“It's kind of common sense,” Cullen said. “It really is. You see enough eye injuries and face injuries. Why not?”

The question of whether visors should be made mandatory was a hot topic in the NHL for years. At the end of the 2012-13 season, after New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal suffered a serious eye injury on a deflected shot, the NHL took action. Eye protection would be required for players with fewer than 26 games of NHL experience. Older players could decide for themselves.

“I think it was a smart move,” Cullen said. “I think it made everybody happy.”

Seven players on the Penguins roster — Olli Maatta, Brian Dumoulin, Conor Sheary, Sergei Plotnikov, Adam Clendening, Bryan Rust and David Warsofsky — wear visors because they have to. The other 17 do so by choice.

When Cullen was breaking into the league in the late 1990s, he didn't wear a visor.

In October 1999, during his third pro season, Cullen took a high-stick to the face and suffered a broken cheekbone.

“It's an inch away from possibly losing (an eye),” Cullen said. “It woke me up. It just doesn't make any sense not to wear a visor, truthfully.”

The strongest arguments against visors largely have fallen by the wayside since the NHL made them mandatory.

Players used to complain that their vision would be impaired by foggy visors. Anti-fog technology has put those concerns to rest.

“The visors are so good these days,” Cullen said. “You don't even notice them.”

Players used to worry that sticks would come up if everyone wore visors. That argument presupposed that players were careful to keep their sticks down out of respect to opponents not wearing eye protection.

Cullen hasn't noticed an increase in high-sticking now that visors are commonplace.

“If sticks come up, it's still a penalty,” Cullen said. “That's why the penalty's there, to keep sticks down. The good news is, when the sticks do come up, there's a penalty, and there's also a visor to protect your eye.”

Penguins assistant coach Rick Tocchet, who fought more than 150 times in his 18-year NHL career, profiles as exactly the type of former player who would argue against mandatory visors. The idea of bashing his fist into a hard plastic shield must make him cringe.

Still, he fully supports the move toward more eye protection.

“Steve Downie last year, I was preaching to him to put the visor on,” Tocchet said. “Listen, I like a good, old-fashioned fight. I'm old school. But when it comes to visors, put a visor on. Pucks are flying everywhere. Sticks are everywhere. There's no reason not to put a visor on.”

Jonathan Bombulie is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter at @BombulieTrib.