Karlsson's achilles tear prompts Kevlar socks...

[One87]

http://m.washingtontimes.com/blog/ca...pitals-encour/

[LawMan]

I was quite surprised to find out that these are not worn by all players. Karlsson's injury is the most dramatic both in terms of magnitude and his star power but I can think of cases of guys getting nicked in the past that required at least stitches. Seems like when you have assets as expensive as NHL players you should take every small precaution to reduce injury. I suspect Karlsson's injury will be the catalyst to most teams re-visiting the issue with players who don't wear them.

[Carcillo]

Originally Posted by LawMan

I was quite surprised to find out that these are not worn by all players. Karlsson's injury is the most dramatic both in terms of magnitude and his star power but I can think of cases of guys getting nicked in the past that required at least stitches. Seems like when you have assets as expensive as NHL players you should take every small precaution to reduce injury. I suspect Karlsson's injury will be the catalyst to most teams re-visiting the issue with players who don't wear them.

I think very few players actually wear them. Atleast for the Penguins only James Neal and Beau Bennett do so.

[Achilles]

Originally Posted by LawMan

I was quite surprised to find out that these are not worn by all players. Karlsson's injury is the most dramatic both in terms of magnitude and his star power but I can think of cases of guys getting nicked in the past that required at least stitches. Seems like when you have assets as expensive as NHL players you should take every small precaution to reduce injury. I suspect Karlsson's injury will be the catalyst to most teams re-visiting the issue with players who don't wear them.

I agree, but the interesting thing for me is that this same logic applies to both mandatory visors and mandatory full face protection. A lot of people get concerned when you do something to mess with the traditional macho hockey culture, so I wonder what the response from the players will be.

[Rylant]

Originally Posted by Achilles

I agree, but the interesting thing for me is that this same logic applies to both mandatory visors and mandatory full face protection. A lot of people get concerned when you do something to mess with the traditional macho hockey culture, so I wonder what the response from the players will be.

I think the big difference between visors and Kevlar socks, is that an argument can be made that visors can impair vision and therefore, productivity. Can the same argument be made for Kevlar socks? Could Kevlar socks hinder your ability to play?

Rylant