WHY NOT ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION AND MAKE NECK GUARDS MANDATORY IN USA HOCKEY?

In light of the recent tragic death of the HS hockey player Teddy Balkind, I want to dig a little deeper into why protective neck guards are not mandatory in all youth and HS ice hockey…and specifically, why has USA Hockey been reluctant to make them mandatory, This is a controversy that has been around for a number of years, and the time has come to dig into it.

Now, let me say upfront that I have no idea whether Teddy was wearing a neck guard or not. And for those of you not all that familiar with the protective equipment in ice hockey, a neck guard is a strip of tough durable cloth, sometimes even  made of nylon or Kevlar, that goes around the player’s neck with the purpose of protecting them from getting cut by a skate or a stick.

There are even some neck guard models that are just an extension of one’s undershirt, so it’s like wearing a turtleneck which is meant to protect one’s neck.

But there has been debate for many years as to whether neck guards really are effective in preventing injury. There is no universal rule about wearing them.

And as a result, we have a hodge-podge of rules and mandates as to whether hockey players have to wear them. It all depends on what league, or for that matter, even what country they play in. For example, while neck guards are not mandatory in all leagues in the US, they are mandatory at the amateur level in Canada and Sweden.

By the way, I should point out that all hockey goalies do wear neck guards since they are always in harm’s way regarding sticks, pucks, and skates in front of the net. Protection for them is just common sense.

Now , in some states in HS hockey, you do have to wear a neck guard.  So If a kid takes the ice and a ref sees that you aren’t wearing one, you have to go off the ice and put one on. But in many leagues, including USA Hockey which oversees all youth hockey in this country, they are recommended, but not mandatory.

Let me give you a specific example of how complicated this all is:

In CT, for example, the CT Interscholastic Athletic Conf (the CIAC) -- the governing body of HS sports in that state - mandates that all HS hockey players in their conference wear neck guards. But curiously, for private schools in CT which are NOT part of the CIAC,  that mandate does not apply. St. Luke’s where Teddy played, is part of that private school league.

You can imagine how confusing all of this is. But at the end of the day, why not err on the side of caution and make them mandatory?

According to most reports, the key issue usually boils down to whether protective neck guards really do work in preventing catastrophic injury.  And even more so, experts argue that the odds of a player being cut by a skate in their neck is exceedingly rare. But yes, these accidents do happen. And not all of them are fatal. But I’ll let you decide. Listen to the callers from my WFAN show this AM and see what you would do if you have a son or daughter who plays ice hockey: https://www.audacy.com/wfan/podcasts/rick-wolff-the-sports-edge-209