Why Players In The NHL Should Wear Facemasks

This is my draft of my old speech.

“And he will get the penalty for slashing the face”. Hello my name is Robert Anderson and I’m here to talk to you about why NHL hockey players should wear face masks. My facts about my topic are why the players should, the risks of not wearing a face mask and the facts and details about this

topic.

I’m a hockey player myself and if I ever played in the NHL I would wear a face mask for sure. In the NHL nobody wears a face mask which is crazy because they are leaving their faces vulnerable to serious injury. Lots of players have been slashed and hit in the face but they still don’t wear a mask. Did you know that the that all hockey players have to wear a facemask when they are age 5 to 16?. However a lot of them don’t wear them after that when they actually play in the minor leagues. My friend Ben who's 15 plays the highest level possible right now and is going to be picked to play in the minor leagues. He says he won't wear a facemask because it’s uncomfortable. So than I asked Ben if he would worry about injury and he said no he wouldn’t. After he told me that I was thinking why wouldn't you? Now you're putting yourself at risk of injury just because it's uncomfortable? This is probably what all NHL players think too but they ignore the fact that they could get injured which is unbelievable. An example of a life threatening injury happened to a Slovakian player at the world junior hockey championship in Saskatoon and Regina. He was hit in the face while coming around the net and the result of the hit was him hitting his face on the ice. He was out for the rest of the championship but the unfortunate thing was that he was injured because he wasn’t wearing a face mask. So this is all the more reason to wear a face mask when ever you play hockey what ever level you're playing.

The risks of not wearing a face mask are gruesome. Here are some examples: you could get slashed in the face, hit, cut, hit by the puck in the face and you could get punched in the face after the whistle. If you want to be tough you don’t have to put yourself at risk but you can just score goals and make plays. By the way, none of these injuries can happen if you wear a face mask. A player on the Kitchener Rangers got a cracked skull from a hit because he wasn’t wearing a face mask. He might never be able to play hockey again and all because of his decision not to wear the face mask. Goalies wear face masks and they get the puck shot at them.Players block shots too so why would they risk getting hit in the face when goalies don't take the risk? I don’t know why but they are putting themselves in harms way for no reason.

The average speed of a shot in the NHL is 80-90 mph. If that shot hit you in the face it would break every bone in your face and probably kill you. That’s the average but there are some players in the NHL who can shoot the puck about 100 mph! That’s like getting a mini car shot at you. Did you know that 1979 was the first year that players had to wear a helmet, which is crazy because hockey started 60 years before that? I hope that they make a face mask rule that you have to wear one because players are being hurt every game because of this. About 30 percent of the players in the NHL wear visors (which is a plastic sheet which covers the eyes) but none of them wear face masks. Another fact is that there are currently 79 injuries in the NHL right now. A fair amount of them are concussions and face injuries that could have been prevented by just wearing a face mask.

So remember whenever you play always wear a face mask because it’s better to be safe than sorry. Just ask your self would I rather play with a face mask and not risk injury or risk getting injured by not wearing a face mask.