Minnesota Wild vs Los Angeles Kings, Thursday 1-28-21, 7:00pm, Xcel Energy Center

[Jimtown guy]

[Icechipper]

That looks horrible. Seriously though, I've said before that Dumba needs to recalibrate his shot. Up to this point the only guys who feared his rising slappers were on the ice crew....  

[lynxrattle]

Thank goodness for the eye protection. If a puck would hit an eye at that velocity, who knows if it would make one blind.

[Icechipper]

I know it was a "freak" accident, but it seems like a player has some responsibility to control their shot, just as they need to keep their skating under control. I lost a tooth on a shot, but it was a deflection. Slippery slope, I know. Not like Dumba saw a clear path through three players. Hit a standing 6-6 opponent (on skates) in the face. A stick deflection off that shot would be high sticking. That shot was rising and would have sailed over a soccer net, let alone a 4ft high hockey net.....Am I in the the minority here? Not suggesting it should be penalized, but holy crap, 80 mph puck to the face? Ouch.

[lynxrattle]

I think Dumba said he feels guilty about the shot. He should control it better. But stuff like that is going to happen anyways. Players need better protection.

[Alexandron]

10 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

I think Dumba said he feels guilty about the shot. He should control it better. But stuff like that is going to happen anyways. Players need better protection.

Metallic cages above the face will provide a better protection, less broken teeth, bones,face scars,blindness.

[Icechipper]

Maybe a clear, semi-formed, breathable Covid mask....when I was a kid some wore kind of plastic mouth cage. Especially kids with braces!

[CreaseAndAssist]

Yea, as a person who only ever played with a cage I'm not sure why we don't see more of that.  Although I wonder if the league kind of wishes they didn't so fans can see the players' faces?!?!  Either way, pretty horrific injury to Sean Walker.  Either way, it sounds like it should heal and he'll recover.  

 

I remember a long while ago, and it was a game between the Blues and the Detroit Red Wings.  Al MacInnis was at the point when Brendan Shanahan decides to drop down to block a shot.  Al was winding up to blast a slap shot on goal when he looks up at the last moment and sees Shanahan who fell head first towards him.  Realizing he'd probably kill Shanahan if he fired the puck he tried to saucer a wrist shot over him instead.  So MacInnis let's go of the wrister and hits Shanahan right in the mouth.  Shanahan's mouth explodes in a burst of blood and teeth.  While it was ugly, if MacInnis fired that slap shot just imagine how much worse it would have been.  Since then I've never understood why anyone would A.) not want a visor at all, Code or not B.) why anyone would not want to wear a full i-Tech or cage.