It's never a good thing when neck guards are on the minds of hockey players, parents and coaches — because it usually means tragedy struck.
And this weekend, it did. In a game Saturday between the Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers in England, Panthers forward Adam Johnson died after taking a skate to the neck in what the team called a "freak accident." Johnson was from Hibbing, Minn., played his college hockey at Minnesota Duluth and spent time in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was 29.
Unfortunately, New England knows tragedy like this all too well.
In January 2022, Teddy Balkind, a 16-year-old sophomore at St. Luke's, died after taking a skate to the neck in a junior varsity game against Brunswick.
The deaths have those around the hockey world thinking about neck guards. The English Ice Hockey Association, the league Johnson played in, mandated players at all levels of English Ice Hockey wear neck guards beginning Jan. 1. The Western Hockey League, a major junior level, will require neck guards beginning on Friday.
There are questions about what the NHL and other professional leagues in the United States might do. The same goes for the NCAA.
Prep hockey could be next to follow.
On Tuesday, NEPSAC hockey president and Frederick Gunn head coach Craig Badger sent an email to coaches asking them to vote on whether to implement neck protection. By the end of Wednesday, momentum was growing among prep coaches to implement a mandate.
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"I don't see a real clear argument as to why we wouldn't [mandate neck guards]," Badger said. "There's been some feedback from some people in terms of not being reactionary. I've heard people try to make an argument about how effective neck guards really are and all of the above but our players' health and well-being is certainly at the forefront of our priorities, as it should be. ...We want to keep our kids safe and I think at this point, this is what we need to do."
The next step is figuring out what this is going to look like.
"We obviously can't mandate them for Day 1, which is a week and a half away," Badger said. "I think we need to look into what would make sense. Is it possible by Jan. 1? Is it highly encouraged this year to get one when you can but then mandated for next year? I think time will tell as to what companies are able to produce and when they're able to get them to market."
The NEPSAC doesn't have a person whose sole job is to run the league, so there's been trouble mandating things in the past. Often, policy enforcement falls on coaches, who have many other duties.
"I think here with this timing and all of that still to be determined, I think we would ask the referees to also enforce it," Badger said.
With many coaches in favor, this feels like something that will actually be enforced.
"My personal opinion is that we do it for sure next year," Dexter head coach Danny Donato said. "I think we should. Why not? As long as it's not crazy in blocking your breathing and all that stuff. I think we're crazy not to do it."
Neck guards have long been thought of as, well, tedious and irritating. They can scrunch up on your neck and interfere with mobility. They can be itchy. Sweat can gather in them. They've never looked very cool.
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But players get used to them. No one knows that more than Belmont Hill boss Brian Phinney, who played four seasons in Sweden where they mandated neck guards. After a short time, the Ripton, Vt., native stopped feeling it around his neck.
"It's somewhat rare," Phinney said of neck laceration injuries. "But what difference does it make? I don't know what the arguments would be against it but I'm always thinking of if it's going to protect players, and I don't see it as something that's restrictive. Why wouldn't you do it?"
Even though USA Hockey doesn't mandate neck guards (they recommend them), more players at the youth levels are wearing protection around the neck. St. Mark's head coach Carl Corazzini has seen this with his own son who recently began playing hockey.
"It's the first piece of equipment I wanted my son to wear even though I had never even thought about it for a single second," Corazzini said. "In my whatever years of playing ice hockey, I never thought about a skate to my neck.
"If it makes the game safer, why not?"
Kevin Kavanagh, the executive director of Mass. Hockey, says the number of players in the youth ranks wearing neck protection will continue to grow.
"More and more people are wearing them," he said. "And they're wearing better equipment on all parts of their body, to be honest. Skates are sharp and that's one of the risks that's inherent with the sport of ice hockey. You see the kevlar socks now that the ankle and heel are exposed at times and those are very popular. They're just things to make the experience better and anytime you find a piece of equipment that is valuable, you want to embrace it."
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Ultimately, the rise of neck guards is a sign that hockey is just getting smarter.
"Instead of the hockey warrior mentality that's part of the game and you've got to battle through everything, I think in 2023, people are seeing 'well, maybe that shouldn't be how we approach things'," Badger said. "If we have the ability to protect players and protect kids, these are just kids that we're working with. If we're not doing that, then what are we doing? It's a game. It shouldn't be a life-or-death situation ever.
"If we're not teaching them to wear the equipment that's available to them, then we're not doing our jobs."
