Yanni Gourde followed his example and Pierre-Édouard Bellemare will soon follow. In the Seattle Kraken locker room, the death of Great Britain’s Adam Johnson, who was injured in the neck by a skate, led to a shift in mentality toward wearing neck guards.
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Gourde has patched his shoulder pads to provide additional neck area protection.
“It’s different, I haven’t worn this in maybe ten years,” he said as he entered the opposing team’s small locker room at the Bell Center. At first I thought it was hot. But we found a way to attach it to my shoulder pads so it breathes better.”
“I’m not going to try to convince my teammates,” he continued. Everyone does their own thing and has their comfort zone. My neck brace is completely different than the one I wore as a junior.”
In another corner of the locker room, Pierre-Édouard Bellemare also spoke about this piece of equipment neglected by the vast majority of NHL players. In his eyes, it is time to change the discourse.
“I’m waiting for mine,” he said. At the moment, what he has, Yanni, is good, but there is none [protège-cou] on the market that protects well. As soon as one comes out, I’ll be sure to wear it. When I started in the league there was Plekanec, who was funny with his turtleneck sweater. But after the incident [en Grande-Bretagne], nobody laughs with the neck protection. If telling our children “It’s natural” can help, why not? I played in Sweden for 8 years and neck protection was mandatory. It never occurred to me to make a joke about the neck brace. It could save a life.”
Like Gourde, Bellemare will let his teammates choose whether or not to follow the wave.
“… it has to be voluntary,” said the 38-year-old Frenchman. The goal is for it to be voluntary over the next ten years [pour] This is no question for our children at the age when they can play professionally. Apart from a few players without visors, I don’t think young people today would play without visors. Back then it was the helmet. All of these things are done to protect us, but if I have a chance to influence a child by putting the neck brace on, I will put it on as soon as it arrives.
Mandatory internationally
The NHL does not yet have a requirement to wear neck protection, but the International Ice Hockey Federation (FIHG) will make this piece of equipment mandatory for all of its competitions in the near future.
The FIHG confirmed in a statement on Monday that wearing a neck protector will be mandatory. The best in the world will therefore wear this piece of equipment during the 2026 Olympic Games and ideally also during the World Cup in May, provided the piece of equipment is available.