#and then breaking off to wax poetic about the wind on your face while skating

[croszukis]

I was talking to Lane Hutson about adjusting to playing with a full cage in university and now with the visor. And you were talking the other day about how you played with a cage in university and the eye injury you suffered and then put on a shield. Was it peer pressure that made you not wear a visor when you came into the league or was it you just wanted to play that way?

I couldn't wait. You grow up watching the NHL and guys wearing nothing. And I think it was one of the things that... look cool. [laughs]

Until you get a puck in your eye.

Yes. But I think I came in the league, I was a small player. The league was big boys. For me at the time, I definitely wanted to show guys that I wasn't scared. Not saying that was smart, just at the time, the era I came in, I had to prove to people I could play with the big boys. And probably, having no shield helped me like 'hey, he's got some toughness' I guess. Not that I was fighting or anything. It was just an era.

Honestly there's nothing like feeling the wind in your face on the ice, like hitting you. It's pretty cool, it's like the outdoor rink. Going out and skating with just a toque on. That feeling, of the wind blowing in your face as a hockey player, is an unbelievable feeling. To get to do that in the NHL was pretty cool, but you know, you have to adapt.

The game was just speeding up and the way people were shooting the puck and the stick on puck and the tips and stuff. And obviously I took a puck in the eye that made me reassess the coolness.

Are you surprised when you see guys today still playing (without visors)—there's only a few.

Oh I can't imagine right now playing in the league without a shield, the way the game is being played.

marty — 12.12.24