Calgary Flames head coach Ryan Huska commented on the ongoing debate in the hockey world as to whether NHL players should be mandated to wear protective neck gear. Huska told the Western Standard Wednesday morning he thinks there will be follow through. The issue arose over the weekend, following a “tragic and unprecedented” incident where former NHL player Adam Johnson was fatally slashed in the neck by the blade of opponent Matt Petgrave during a game in England Saturday night. “I think it's something that's going to get a lot of attention over the next little while,” Huska told the Western Standard at the Saddledome after the morning skate. “And I would assume it is going to be something that will be brought in at some point down the road.” Huska said the league has made moves to bring in cut-resistant gear for other body areas, such as ankles and wrists. “The NHL and the NHLPA (National Hockey League Players Association) have done a good job of bringing in the cut guards for wrists, they all have cut resistant socks now that they wear under their gear,” Huska said. “Some players have added different levels of cut guards to their equipment as well in certain areas.”. The Western Standard asked Huska if the debate about mandatory neck guards will go on for a while and then get discarded after a month or so, as have past debates following serious injuries. In 2013, a tendon in Eric Karlsesson’s Achilles heel was slashed by a skate, and there was a debate about whether players should mandate Kevlar socks, which are made of slit-proof material. “I think there'll be follow through with this,” Huska said. “But this Kevlar sock stuff, it's not something that will ever happen overnight.”Huska described some of the precautionary measures players already take, such as having protective material stitched to their gear in certain areas. He also said more can be done and league officials are working to help players understand better how to protect themselves. However, it’s a performance issue as well, as players still need to be able to move around the ice, Huska pointed out. The good news is, the protective gear is more lightweight than in years past, making it more comfortable and conducive to performance. “You do see more and more players wearing that stuff,” he said. “We have certain players that have our equipment guys stitch things into certain areas.”“So there's a lot of players now that are in need of our understanding that if they can protect themselves a little bit more without making it something where they're feeling like they can't move around on the ice, then they're going to do [so] I think.”“The stuff that they've put into play now, the cut-resistant wrist guards, the socks, they're lightweight, now they're comfortable,” he said. “So technology nowadays, I think will allow for it.” Huska also gave insight into what happens behind-the-scenes before the puck drops and the role of Flames captain Mikael Backlund, who was named captain at the start of the 2023-24 season, and alternate captains Jonathan Huberdeau, Elias Lindholm, Rasmus Andersson, and Chris Tanev. .“The biggest thing we'll see is, you make sure that you know what's expected of you individually,” Huska said of the team as a whole. “And then after you go through our team meeting, like we had this morning, you have a handle on how we want to play tonight.”“So making sure you're prepared for the situations that are in front of you.”“Mikael and [the alternate captains] have done a really good job,” he added. “He understands the responsibility that he has wearing the captaincy, and I think he's taken that to heart, so he's been excellent.”
