In today’s passion blog I wanted to take the same approach as my past passion blogs and talk about things going on in the world of sports. In the last week several things have transpired in the sports world. One in particular being the passing of 19 year old Russian professional hockey player Timur Faizutdinov. Timur was a defenseman for the Dynamo St. Petersburg’s junior team. Sadly, Timur passed away on March 16th four days after he was struck in the head by a hockey puck during a playoff game. Timur suffered a fatal head injury after a rubber hockey puck struck his temple, causing him to instantly collapse on the ice. He was on life support prior to his passing. Timur was a young talented hockey player with a bright future ahead of him.
His death raises many questions on safety precautions that should be taken in sports. Like would a different kind of helmet protect Timur and not lead to his death? Not only in hockey, but also in sports like American football, safety precautions like helmets and padding have been extremely important. With both sports being high contact sports and leaving the very high possibility of head injuries and other high end injuries. In today’s world we see safer precautions being added yearly to help reduce injuries for players. However, we still see players in many sports suffering high end injuries that in some cases end their sports career. Or in very tragic situation death. In particular, the use of certain helmets in hockey has been a topic of debate for years. In professional hockey leagues like in the National Hockey League (America) and the Russian Super league, players use a visor helmet. Which is the kind of helmet that Timur Faizutdinov used (see image above). These helmets protect the head while having a thin visor that covers the player’s eyes. As mentioned before, these helmets are more popular in professional leagues. Whereas in lower level leagues such as college, high school, and kid leagues, they use cage helmets (see image below). In many cases, these leagues actually require their players to wear cage helmets as it is seen as a safer alternative to visor helmets. So if cage helmets are seen to be safer and required in lower level leagues then why don’t professional players wear them? Well that’s the issue.
As you can see in the image above, each helmet looks different. Yet, each has a set of pros and cons. Starting with visors, some of the pros would be that it provides protection, is more adjustable and comfortable, and has clearer visibility. The visor comes in two sizes, half and full covering. Each is the same design in the sense that it is a clear visor that allows the player to have clear vision of their surroundings and easy to adjust in order to appeal to the players standards.However this can be an issue as the half covering visor doesn’t protect as much. This leads to some cons, as the visor helmet leaves an opening in the face that can lead to the chances of more head injuries. Now when it comes to cages, some pros include durability, no fogging, and full face covering. The cage is screwed into the helmet allowing it to be extremely durable and sustain blows from players and pucks. The cage of course isn’t a visor so fogging is not an issue and wouldn’t affect performance. It also covers the player’s entire face. Thus allowing the player to feel safer knowing that their face and head are covered and protected. However, the cage of course can cause distractions as the player must look through a cage to see what’s going on. This can be very distracting to players. Also, cages must be unstrapped to be raised/removed from the helmet. This can be annoying and a time consuming process as visors don’t have to deal with this issue.
So, which is better? Well, most people will tell you cages and full face visors are the better option as it covers your whole face. However, you see professionals use half visors anyways. Most likely due to preference and comfortability. When deciding which helmet to wear, you need to figure out which you prioritize, safety or style. As something less stylish is safer, and something more stylish can be less safer. So, would a cage helmet have saved Timur Faizutdinov life? In a simple answer yes. The cage would have most likely helped protect Timur. However, theres no way to be completely sure as Timur Faizutdinov would have still suffered a head injury. Yet, the level of the injury may not have been as bad.
Sources:
https://www.the-sun.com/news/2524822/russian-ice-hockey-player-timur-faizutdinovs-dead/
Thank you Christian for this tragic but important blog post. Hockey is such an entertaining sport that brings joy to so many people every day. It is disheartening however to see how athletes like Faizutdinov are put in danger every day because of the nature of this sport. Similar to how football causes long-term head trauma to many of its players, I think Hockey needs more regulations to protects its players, especially the future generations of athletes in this sport. Perhaps one day engineers could create a hockey helmet that has a clear visor that gives ideal vision whilst playing and also gives full protection?
Hi Christian,
I have heard about conversations around helmet safety in the NFL, but never in the NHL. My uncle played hockey in college and worked at an ice rink for a long time. He has lost teeth and suffered many injuries while playing. It is interesting to think if some of these injuries would have been prevented by a different type of helmet. Thank you for informing us on this debate.
Hi Christian!
I did not hear about this story last week, so thank you for bringing it to my attention. I have always watched hockey games growing up with my dad. Although I do not watch many games, it always surprises me the number of physical attacks they make on each other. It can be a very aggressive and unsafe game. The debate on what helmet to be worn is interesting. To be honest, I never noticed what helmets they wear. Hopefully, they can implement more security and protection for the players.