More NHL Teams Join the Neck Guard Experiment in Honour of Adam Johnson

The Pittsburgh Penguins, Johnson's former NHL club, have already issued an organization wide rule stating that all players in their AHL and ECHL clubs must wear neck protectors in game.

The team has no authority to issue the same mandate to their NHL players but will strongly encourage them to be leaders on this issue. Now two new teams have followed suit, not by issuing a mandate, but by ordering equipment for their players to try out. NHL insider Chris Johnston was first to report the news.

We have already seen players begin to voluntarily wear neck protection outside the NHL. The Athletics' Scott Wheeler noted several Providence Bruins players were wearing neck protection in their last game. The Bruins have not made the protective equipment mandatory for their affiliate players. To this point, the Penguins are the only team that have done so publicly.

It is perhaps surprising that neck protection hasn't been more prevalent since the tragic accident last weekend. New era neck protectors are now built in to specialty base layer shirts that most players wear anyways. As often is the case though, players likely will not change their habits until they are forced to do so. After all there was once a time when goalies did not wear face masks and it was seen as cowardly when they were first introduced to the league. Hopefully, players will be more accepting of rules changes regarding their safety in the 21st century.

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