The Globe and Mail contends the day when the rest of the 27 per cent of the NHL's 740 players who still do not wear a visor on their helmets are forced to do so may be approaching faster than they think. And it will be the insurance industry calling the shots, not the NHL, which has long wanted to make visors mandatory but cannot because the NHL Players' Association prefers the matter to remain a personal choice.
Lalita Mohabir is a senior personal accident underwriter at Burns & Wilcox Canada. Her company has medical insurance policies with more than 24 minor-league and NHL players that cover them in the case of serious and career-ending injuries. Mohabir says Burns & Wilcox will not insure any amateur players who buy a policy unless they wear a mouthguard and a visor and any NHL player looking to supplement the coverage supplied by the league with a personal policy will soon be told he must do the same or be denied coverage.
"We are getting tougher in terms of any hockey leagues we're quoting on or any individual we offer coverage on," Mohabir said. "We are indicating we require mandatory use of a visor. We started doing this [before] Marc Staal got injured.
"Going through to the NHL, we have not requested this as yet but we will be doing that. When we look at a player fracturing a hand or bruising a knee it's quite different than the loss of an eye. The loss of an eye is a career-ending injury."
The insurance industry is simply reacting to the economics of the matter. With players like Shea Weber, Ryan Suter and Zach Parise signing NHL contracts worth more than $100-million (all currency U.S.), even one catastrophic injury could wipe out much profit in what Mohabir says is (so far) a profitable line of policies.
Mohabir says she has not talked to any of her competitors in the sports insurance field but "I do feel they will be taking this stand as well."
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