HighSchoolHockeyForums.com

give me your thoughts

they get marked up once and your done

I would prefer the caged masks way over the clear shielded masks. They are more convenient and you don't have to worry about the marks or if the mask will fog up. Also cleaning the mask would get annoying. But if they work for you then go for it...

my thoughts are that no helmet is the best. get tough and play some old school hockey

whatever you do, don't get a black tinted shield. there was a kid a 15's with one, looked really dumb.

clear shield masks suck. get a cage.

The half shield half cage DLX by Itech is good but be sure to have a replacement lens handy for backup.

Well this is just like any other thing in hockey. You have to try it out and it depends on what you are confortable with. However, if you are going off what other people say or do, take a look at the WCHA. Those are some of the best players still required to wear a full mask and most seem to be sporting cages these days.

WoodStickSniper wrote:my thoughts are that no helmet is the best. get tough and play some old school hockey

I like WSS old school thoughts.

Cage is the best. Easy to take care of and vision is fine.

I bought my son a Itech. I was hesitant before buying it. Hockey Giant had youth shields at a good price.
After the first practice he said it felt like he wasn't wearing a helmet.
It did get one scratch on the top of the shield. The negative thing about the shield. You have to make sure to take care of it. I wrap the shield up in a t-shirt before I place it in the hockey bag. If you have a cage you just throw it in your bag. No worries!

No doubt the Itech allow for better vision. My son has been skating with it for about a year. It has never fogged up on him. It has never altered his vision.

Cage = less maintenance.
Shield = See the ice better.

Shield!! yea theres a little more maintenance nd have to be more careful.. but dont u think its worth putting in that little extra min or what ever to wrap it up b-4 putting it into the bag if u can see better on the ice..

After wearing a cage for long enough it's as though it's not there, the people I know like the air flow of a cage.
Upper level players don't get much life out of the shields because the sticks are up, and there is way more contact...so they get beat up quickly.

I'm pretty sure the coaches will soon have to wear one to protect their mugs soon after some coach takes a face plant or a shot in the face while screwing around on the ice

tomASS wrote:I'm pretty sure the coaches will soon have to wear one to protect their mugs soon after some coach takes a face plant or a shot in the face while screwing around on the ice

It'll have to be a dangler mask though

Can't Never Tried wrote:

tomASS wrote:I'm pretty sure the coaches will soon have to wear one to protect their mugs soon after some coach takes a face plant or a shot in the face while screwing around on the ice

It'll have to be a dangler mask though

oh absolutely!

real men play with cages

tomASS wrote:I'm pretty sure the coaches will soon have to wear one to protect their mugs soon after some coach takes a face plant or a shot in the face while screwing around on the ice

tomASS

I agree! Pretty soon we'll have to wear masks walking to the cars after the game.

I think it's time to play soccer. There's no way you can get hurt playing soccer.

BoogeyMan wrote:
I think it's time to play soccer. There's no way you can get hurt playing soccer.

Govs93 wrote:

ONLY IN AMERICA! - trying to make the sport our own.

Govs93, Breakout, CantNeverTried........did someone say something to me???

Yeah I didn't think so, it was just a big sucking sound of a blackhole and you know what Gopher fans think about blackholes

BoogeyMan wrote:I bought my son a Itech. I was hesitant before buying it. Hockey Giant had youth shields at a good price.
After the first practice he said it felt like he wasn't wearing a helmet.
It did get one scratch on the top of the shield. The negative thing about the shield. You have to make sure to take care of it. I wrap the shield up in a t-shirt before I place it in the hockey bag. If you have a cage you just throw it in your bag. No worries!

No doubt the Itech allow for better vision. My son has been skating with it for about a year. It has never fogged up on him. It has never altered his vision.

Cage = less maintenance.
Shield = See the ice better.

With an endoresement like that, I am heading over to Hockey Giant as soon as they open up. Never mind, I don't shop there because they sharpen skates poorly and their help lacks hockey knowledge.

FYI, you can see fine with a cage. Ever go to a high school game? More kids wear cages than shields. If there was a sight advantage, it would probably go the other way.

Shields trap sweat and even the best ones fog up no matter how good you take care of them. Watch the pros, they go to the bench and wipe their half shields several times during a game. Plus, shields scratch up.

I would never put a shield on a young player. Who's going to wipe the sweat off their shields during a practice or game? Coaches don't bring towels to the bench for that purpose.

Look at little Sid, he doesn't appear to know where he is going. That's because he is wearing a shield and his vision is blurred.

BoogeyMan = ChanMan, I would stick to soccer. You seem to have more knowledge in that area.

breakout wrote: BoogeyMan = ChanMan, I would stick to soccer. You seem to have more knowledge in that area.

Oh thanks breakout, thanks a lot!

No, enough of his ignorance on that pitch has been shown too.

bought my daughter one last year,she likes it... no fog,shes cool as a cucumber,no sweat problem...on the soccer topic,have any of you guys been to a game recently?....there are more soccer injuries than hockey every day....and i am not talking about those pansy european guys that fall down and grab their knee either....broken bones,torn ligaments,hip flexors,etc...

hesabaddmann wrote:bought my daughter one last year,she likes it... no fog,shes cool as a cucumber,no sweat problem...on the soccer topic,have any of you guys been to a game recently?....there are more soccer injuries than hockey every day....and i am not talking about those pansy european guys that fall down and grab their knee either....broken bones,torn ligaments,hip flexors,etc...

girls soccer more so than boys because of their body mechanics - lack of core conditioning and strength training. If the core is not strong the lower body will have breakdowns.

However most community soccer clubs do try to address this with speed and agility training classes that the coach and players can take from Sport Trainers & Therapist (free of charge) through their community clubs or local Rehab centers. They would much rather prevent injuries than treat injuries.

However having been in soccer all my life - my baseline experience tells me the total amount of injuries are going down percentage wise while player participation levels rise. After a combined total of 15 surgeries from both knees - neither my two soccer playing kids have had one knee injury so here is where I am glad they did not get my genetics (besides the looks they got from their mom)


I have seen more repeat injuries of the same player due to them not sitting and rehabbing long enough because they just have to get back out on the field and in most cases it is way too soon. I tell all my players with ACL - I want them to rehab for one full year before playing games again. Only soccer is juggling and playing against the wall so they can keep their technical touches up to par.

The Full90 Nike headgear shown in the picture - actually are causing more upper body injuries due to
1) additional courage that i will not get hurt wearing one of these so more out of control play develops
2) this pc. of equipment starts teaching poor heading technique not proper heading technique and coaches also start ignoring the need to teach any technique at all when heading the ball.


So back to hockey now

tomASS wrote:

breakout wrote: BoogeyMan = ChanMan, I would stick to soccer. You seem to have more knowledge in that area.

Oh thanks breakout, thanks a lot!

No, enough of his ignorance on that pitch has been shown too.

Ya, I was thinking of you when I made the soccer dis

Soccor helmuts, Oh my Lord!