WEAR MORE PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

PROTECTIVE GEAR EQUALS SAFETY IN THE NHL The NHL should force their players to wear protective gear. Three reasons why protective gear should be worn are: one, it would prevent physical injuries; two, the players would set a good example for the future generations; three, it would take away from the negative aspects of the game. Protective gear helps a somewhat violent game remain as clean as possible. Wearing protective gear would prevent physical injuries in hockey. There were many hockey players who have worked hard all of their lives to become professional hockey superstars and when they finally got to the NHL, they become injured and were forced to watch the game instead of playing in it. An example of this is Brett Lindros. At the age of sixteen, the New York Islanders drafted Brett in the first round of the entry draft. He played his first NHL game against the Buffalo Sabers when he was eighteen years old. One year later, on February ninth, his whole life came crashing down on him. His lifelong dream to win a Stanley Cup had come to an end. He

Sports Illustrated May 2000 45-46

was hit with a thundering bodycheck into the boards and was knocked unconscious. Soon it was discovered that Brett had a history of concussions that dated back to when he was sixteen years old. The collision forced him to retire at the age of nineteen and spend the rest of his life pondering what was now the fact that he would have to quit in order to live. What actually happened was, when he was hit against the boards, his head hit the glass and that impact forced him to collapse and fall to the ice. This gruesome injury could have been avoided if Brett was wearing an approved helmet. The helmet that he was wearing at the time of the injury had no foam on the inside. That foam helps absorb the impact of a blow to the head. If he had been wearing one, there would have been a huge chance that he could have left the ice with only a mild injury instead of a career ending one. Another example is Brian Berard. His whole career came to an end on March the eleventh when he was playing against the Ottawa Senators. Marian Hossa was taking a slapshot and Berard fell to the ice to block the shot. When the puck wa

Some common words found in the essay are:
Brian Berard, Stanley Cup, NHL NHL, Pavel Bure, Sports Illustrated, Marian Hossa, Buffalo Sabers, York Islanders, protective gear, sports illustrated, Brett Lindros, players wear protective, pavel bure, hockey players, playing hockey, wearing visor, players wear, protective equipment, wear protective, play hockey, TSN Sports, 4off record tsn, 21-22 4off record, tsn sports illustrated, 1997 21-22 4off,
Approximate Word count = 772
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)