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“We can’t do that at the NHL level, but we can certainly strongly encourage, and that’s our hope,” Penguins Head Coach Mike Sullivan said, per the team’s website. “Hopefully, as a league, we can work towards developing more options for guys in the protective department. Hopefully, there will be an initiative here moving forward – I think that could be one of the positive things that could come out of this terrible tragedy.”
And though they can’t mandate the practice for their NHL team, the Penguins shared they did have the protective equipment available at practice for all players beginning Nov. 2. And, per the team, a number of NHL players began to try using the neck guards—including defenseman Erik Karlsson, who spoke to this choice.
“The magnitude of the situation that unfortunately happened puts a lot of things in perspective,” the Swedish native said. “We do this because we love to do this and we get paid well to do it and stuff like that. But at the end of the day, we do it because it’s a choice—I don’t think anyone would keep doing it if it meant risking your life every day going out there.”
He added, “If you can wear a small piece of equipment to hopefully prevent something like that again, I think that’s a win.”
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