Adam, this is the exact same illogical argument I already dismissed in my post. Just because it’s still POSSIBLE to be injured wearing a helmet does not mean that wearing a helmet won’t reduce that possibility. Once again, I point you to the seat belt. It’s still POSSIBLE to be injured while wearing a seat belt, is it not? People are still injured while wearing them, are they not? So would you argue that it’s pointless to wear a seat belt?
I don’t care how old they are, an employer that does not insist on proper safety precautions is negligent. It’s exactly akin to a construction company not requiring hard hats and safety shoes, or a factory not installing safety guards and cutoff switches on machinery.
Maybe it did happen in the NCAA and maybe it didn’t; to be honest, the constant “the sticks are getting higher” whining isn’t convincing to me when you look at old tapes or listen to accounts of the game back in the day; certainly to my eyes they carried the sticks just as high. What I DO know happened in the NCAA is the total elimination of eye injuries. So they could be carrying the sticks higher, but nobody’s getting their eyes damaged. Introducing face shields eliminated eye injuries. Introducing face shields would eliminate eye injuries in the NHL.
And frankly, one of the reasons sticks are being carried higher (and the game is getting dirtier in other areas) is simply non-enforcement of the rules. Want to get the sticks down? Assess a major and a game misconduct if your stick comes into contact with a player above the shoulder when the player’s on his feet. Even if it just brushes him. They’d come down in a hurry.