It's been a terrible 2 years for Marc Staal. After establishing himself as one of the top Defenceman in the NHL he was checked into the boards by brother Eric Staal, causing a concussion. he returned to the Rangers line-up for the 2012 winter classic but never really got it going last season. Despite winning the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference and eventually losing to the New Jersey Devils in the East finals Staal admitted to never really finding his game post concussion. This season started late due to the lockout and Staal began to look as every bit of the pre-concussion player Rangers fans loved so dearly. Jakub Voracek launched a freak redirect off of a Kimmo Timmonen slapshot and now Ranger fans (and hockey fans everywhere) sit in stunned silence as we wait to hear the news on Staal's condition
68% of NHL players wear visors to protect against such freak occurrences and frankly, that number is too low. Visors are optional but for how much longer? The NHL has been known to make mid-season rule changes (eg. hitting defenseless players) but the general thought is that they will allow a grandfathering in of playing without a visor. This is such a small piece of equipment that they should make a wholesale sweeping change of the visor optional rule. The two oldest players in the NHL (Teemu Selanne, 42, and Jaromir Jagr, 41,) wear visors already. As far as how long the grandfathering this into the game goes, 28 year old (and linemate of Marc Staal) Dan Girardi, does not wear a visor. In the 2010-2011 season Girardi LED THE NHL IN BLOCKED SHOTS WITH 236. That means 236 times Girardi knelt down, slid across the ice or full out dove to block a shot, with nothing protecting his eyes. If Girardi plays until he's Jagr or Selanne's age, that's 13 years of chances Girardi is going to lose an eye. The NHL has suffered a lot of bad press over the years (you know, multiple lockouts, being shunned by ESPN for various reasons, Todd Bertuzzi ending Steve Moore's career) the last thing they need is for a player to lose an eye on the ice.
(updates on Staal's Condition will be given when announced. Staal did not go to the hospital last night)
UPDATE: Brother Eric Staal told www.nhl.com Marc is "waiting for the swelling to go down" before deciding the extent of the injury and "it's an awful feeling and it made me sick to my stomach seeing him in that pain with his legs kicking."
h/t Dan Rosen (@drosennhl)
2nd UPDATE: The New York Rangers released through twitter the following "Marc Staal was examined by both an Opthalmologist and Maxillofacial Surgeon today. Both are optimistic that Marc Staal will make 'a full recovery' Staal will be sidelined indefinitely though the injury has 'improved significantly'"
(@nyrangers)
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