Richard Zednik was one of my favorite hockey players when he was with the Washington Capitals a number of years ago — I was sorry to see him traded. He used to dye his hair blond, and some of his biggest fans in DC would dye their hair blond as well. They were called “Zed Heads” and they sat in the upper bowl of the home arena.

By now, anyone who pays even a small amount of attention to hockey, and even some who pay less, probably know that Zednik was nearly killed during a recent game — in a freak accident, a teammate’s skate blade slashed his carotid artery. Fortunately, Zednik is okay, thanks to immediate medical attention. I gather he won’t be back on the ice anytime soon, though.

In hockey circles, this has raised the perennial issue of personal protection. Currently, players at just about every level are required to wear some sort of face mask — the NHL remains a holdout because many players think face masks are unmanly. A growing minority now uses them, however, and there probably will come a time when they all do. It just makes too much sense, when guys are capable of launching hard-as-a-rock pucks at 100 mph. I still cringe to think about how Steve Yzerman’s career nearly ended during a playoff game in Calgary when a puck cracked his orbital bone.

But what about neckguards — or what my wife and I are starting to call “Zednik Guards”? My son, who plays on two squirts teams, often wears one. Now that his mother has watched the Zednik injury on YouTube, you can be sure he’ll never go on the ice without one again. There’s an argument about how a neckguard wouldn’t have helped Zednik because of exactly where he was cut. But that’s just a footnote. I suspect that we’re going to see a lot more of them, certainly in the recreational leagues and over time at all levels.

Anyway, here’s a good article from the Edmonton Journal on hockey’s “macho culture vs. bodily protection.”