There was a period back in the early to mid 90s where the helmet rule was relaxed. AFAI remember only Greg Smythe took his lid off at that time.
I don’t agree. Have you ever watched NCAA hockey? Those players have to wear a helmet and shield or cage, and then they go around carrying their sticks shoulder high because they feel that they are invincible. That feeling has taken a great deal of resepct out of the game. Most players will tell you that there were fewer stick injuries and fewer things like the Marty McSorley cheapshot when players didn’t wear helmets. Of course, the finest helmet on the market isn’t going to help the player that gets hit from behind into the boards. The league has things that are more important than helmets to worry about. The players are all adults, not necessesarily mature, and they have all seen what happend to Berard (would a shield have helped him?) and to Wilson last year, and to Boucher earlier this season.
One more thing about Berard - after the incident too many people were saying that shields need to be mandatory, but nobody seemed to mention that if players would keep their sticks on the ice, there would be fewer of these incidents to worry about. Personally, that would be a change that I would make to the NHL - a penalty if your stick is used for anything other than passing or shooting the puck, anything.