“It’s Time to Think about Visors” by Ken Dryden

1. Sir Francis Bacon’s quote “Knowledge is Power” relates strongly to this essay. Before any of these injuries happened, the players did not really know of the consequences for not wearing a visor. After hearing of many stories like Berards, they started to realize that the choice of not wearing a visor could result in career ending injuries. The more knowledge they gained about these consequences, the more power and control they have over their own safety. They might start to rethink their decisions about visors.

2. Analogy: “Skiers can’t ski down a hill fast until they learn how to control their speed and know they can stop if they have to.” He compares the topic to skiing because most people know that skiing can be very dangerous and skiers must always be in control.

Metaphor: “Safety doesn’t need to straightjacket performance.” He is saying that you can still be safe and perform the same in the game. Wearing a visor will not affect your performance as a player.

Vivid Description: Dryden uses vivid description in the first paragraph when he tells Bryan Berard’s story. He especially focuses on the “dark spot forming beside him. Blood on ice in crimson; it splatters and streams. This was darker and thick.” This creates an image in the reader’s head and you start to see how everything happened as if you were watching it live at the game when it happened.

Rhetorical Question: “The question is not if but when. And the question for us is whether we drag out this time to its extreme or act sooner. He uses this at the end of the essay to leave the reader thinking about when there will be the rule that visors are mandatory. He states that we need to smarten up and put this rule in place before more people get injured because of not wearing face protection. Ms. Nigro

Why Visors Should be Mandatory in Hockey
Hockey is a very aggressive sport that can lead to many different injuries. Visors are an optional piece of protective equipment that many professional players choose not to wear. Visors should be mandatory to wear because it makes players less aggressive, it sets good examples for younger players, and it prevents injuries to the face. Wearing a visor makes players less aggressive and allows them to focus on the game more than taking things out on each other. If players wear visors, there will likely be less fighting because they do not want to start throwing punches at each other and end up hitting their visor. All of the players would be seen as equal and no one would be picked out as a potential target to fight for not having protection on their face. If professional hockey players are required to wear visors, it sets a good example for younger players who look up to them.

When players are no longer required to wear a cage, part of their decision on what to wear is based on what their favourite player or role model wears. If they see a professional not wearing a visor it will influence them to not wear one as well, or if they do see them wearing a visor they will most likely want to wear one too. This will prevent injuries from happening to new players that could result in the end their career. Wearing a visor can prevent most injuries not only to your eyes but your whole face as well. Anything that is coming in contact with a player’s eyes, whether it be a stick, puck or even a skate, will be stopped by the visor. This will protect the player from serious injury that could end their career. Visors can protect your face too. If you get hit hard into the boards, or fall face first on the ice, the visor will take the impact and stop your face from coming in contact with the hard ice or boards. This will prevent broken bones and cuts that could damage your face for life.