By Damian Cristodero, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Steve Yzerman at the end of the season will ask Lightning players who do not wear visors to consider adding them for 2011-12.
"We don't want people getting injured," Tampa Bay's general manager said. "We want to keep their eyesight and noses in place, so it's something we would like to push moving forward."
Yzerman's statement came two days after C Vinny Lecavalier was hit in the right eye with a stick blade during Sunday's victory over the Blackhawks.
The captain sustained a scratch and a bruise to his cornea, and though there was no structural damage, Lecavalier said he was "pretty lucky," so much so, he said, he will experiment this summer with wearing a visor with the intent of making it permanent.
Lecavalier, who played Tuesday against the Sabres and is under doctors orders to wear a visor for at least the rest of the regular season, said he took off the visor he wore in juniors because, as a rookie in 1998, "nobody really played with a visor."
"If I never took it off, I'd be fine with it," he said. "But once you take it off and you see perfect, when you put it back on, you feel a little restricted. It fogs up. The right thing to do would be to come from junior and never take it off."
Visors are now required in juniors, as well as the minor American League.
Lecavalier does not guarantee he will wear one full time. And W Ryan Malone, another of 10 Lightning players without a visor, pretty much rejected the notion outright:
"When I've worn a visor in the past, at the Olympics and so forth, it's more of a pain. I feel like I'm wasting more energy cleaning it."
Asked if he should wear a visor, Malone said, "I probably should. But we all are in this from the beginning knowing, knock on wood, there's a lot of crazy things that might happen out there with blades, sticks and pucks. It comes with the territory."
Territory Yzerman said he wants to make a bit safer.
"I never wore one until I got hit in the eye with a puck my second-to-last year," he said. "Once you get used to it, it's fine. We don't want people getting injured."
RECOVERY: Lecavalier said he was surprised he recovered fast enough to play against Buffalo. He said he is "not 100 percent" and still has discomfort but added, "Even the first night to (Monday night) was a huge improvement."
At Tuesday's skate, Lecavalier wore a tinted visor to shield his eye from the light. "But when I stepped on the ice, I felt fine," he said, and had a clear visor fitted.
Lecavalier tried to sneak into power-play practice. Coach Guy Boucher said no until the new visor was attached.
JONES SKATES: D Randy Jones (high ankle sprain) skated with the team for the first time since his March 7 injury.
Boucher said Jones might be ready for the playoffs. Jones said playing before that "would be difficult to do."
ODDS AND ENDS: D Eric Brewer (lower body) missed a second game. Boucher said he likely will play this weekend. … C Blair Jones has 177 points in 270 games for AHL Norfolk and is the team's all-time leading scorer. … D Matt Smaby also was scratched.