Years ago, the NHL mandated that all new players must wear a visor and grandfathered the players who didn't. Now Ryan Reaves, one of the last to not wear a visor, has put one on.
In Reaves' last game against the Flyers, he fought enforcer Nic Deslauriers and took an accidental poke to the eye. It was seen to be badly swollen as he left the ice, and at Leafs practice yesterday, Reaves was spotted having to wear a visor. If he plays tonight against the Oilers and wears the visor, he'll lose his eligibility to play without one, and only four players without a visor will remain.
The four other players to not wear a visor are Erik Gudbranson, Cal Clutterbuck, Matt Martin, and Ryan O'Reilly.
Honestly, it's a very good move by the NHL to implement mandatory visors, and they did it in the best possible way by allowing players who played without them to continue taking the risk if they wanted. Now it's become nearly a symbol of the last bastion of hockey tough guys, and a rightfully bygone era where the league wasn't serious about player's safety. Still, it's tough to see one of the final players without a visor have to relent and put one on to stay in the lineup. Certainly it'll affect Reaves' fighting, and will be even more a deterrent for opponents to take him on.
